The NIT might be the last thing on your radar at this point in time, but low and behold, the Cal men’s basketball team is drawing some national attention. During the first half of its 68-66 win over New Mexico last Wednesday, Jerome Randle raced up the floor on a Bears fastbreak with one man between him and a trailing Patrick Christopher. Randle passed the ball off the backboard to Christopher who caught it for the slam dunk, sending the one thousand or so Cal fans in attendance into a frenzy. Sunday night, it was No. 1 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of the week, not including NCAA Tournament plays. Jamal Boykin had said after the game, “Hopefully that makes the Top 10!” Well, what do you know?

Point guard Jerome Randle just went down with an injury with 14:30 to go in the second half and Cal up seven. He twisted his ankle while driving to the hoop and look to be in immense pain.

Patrick Christopher responded by draining a three, possibly a sign that the Bears will not wilt without their only legitimate ball-hander.

But Cal will have no chance in the Pac-10 tournament without Randle handling the ball. Nikola Knezevic will have to show some aggressiveness instead of just trying to avoid making mistakes.

Cal men’s basketball officials cleared Jerome Randle yesterday for practice and said that he will be available for Thursday’s game against Arizona in Tucson, Ariz.
Randle suffered a concussion in a collision with Ryan Anderson in Saturday’s 92-70 loss to Oregon at Haas Pavilion. In addition, he has an ankle sprain and a thigh contusion, but neither seemed to bother him against the Ducks, as he scored a team-high 17 points.
Randle better be healthy, because he will probably have to deal with the Wildcats’ leading-scorer, Jerryd Bayless.