BERKELEY – John Sproul, former Cal men's basketball player and longtime enthusiastic supporter of Cal Athletics throughout his entire life, passed away June 7 at his home.

A member of the seminal Sproul family that means so much to the history of the University of California, John Sproul grew up on campus as the son of former University of California president Robert Gordon Sproul. He served as a bat boy for the Cal baseball team and was a fixture at Cal sporting events from a very young age.

He went on to play basketball at Berkeley High and lettered in men's basketball for the Golden Bears in 1943. Those early experiences shaped a lifetime of support for Cal Athletics and paved the way for years of rooting on his alma mater.

Sproul went on to donate to several Cal programs and was an integral part of the "Save Cal Baseball" campaign in 2010 and 2011. He was also an avid supporter of Cal Softball and was a member of head coach Diane Ninemire's Blue and Gold Team. 
He also had two sons who ran track at Cal (one lettering) and a grandson who was a four-year letterman in baseball.

Rememberances for John Sproul can be made in his name to the Sproul Family Scholarship Fund of the Cal Alumni Association (1 Alumni House, Berkeley, CA 94720-7520) or to the Cal Baseball Foundation (3470 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Suite A110, Lafayette, CA 94549).