This feature originally appeared in the 2020-21 Winter edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.



Matt Bradley bore an unmistakable expression of confidence as he drained two consecutive jumpers, pulling the Cal men's basketball team within striking distance of visiting San Francisco as time winded down in a mid-December game at Haas Pavilion.
 
Grant Anticevich wore a similar look of looseness as he hit his fifth shot of the first half earlier in the same game.
 
Those calm demeanors turned into smiles that afternoon as Anticevich, a senior forward, and Bradley, a junior guard, finished with 18 and 17 points, respectively, to help the Golden Bears claim a buzzer-beating 72-70 victory over the Dons on Dec. 13. Such performances have become expected of the two Bears, who have emerged in key roles since head coach Mark Fox took the program's helm in 2019-20.
 
"If I'm playing loosely, I'm playing the way I love to play," Anticevich said. "That's when the fun begins."
 
While Anticevich and Bradley have found their own unique successes, internally and externally, throughout their Cal careers, both have overcome hardships along the way through tireless work behind the scenes.
 
The two student-athletes arrived in Berkeley with something to prove, not just on the basketball court, but as young men taking the next big step in their lives. For Anticevich, a native of Sydney, Australia, playing college basketball in the United States was the chance to fulfill a childhood dream. For Bradley, Cal provided the perfect blend of a new location to explore and a basketball destination where he could build himself into an impact player. Paired with the opportunity to attend the No. 1 public university in the world, they entered situations that suited them well.
 
"It's one of those specific memories I have of my childhood, watching college ball on TV and just knowing it was something I wanted to do when I was older," Anticevich said. "The chance to play basketball at this level, and prove I was capable of doing so, was the top reason I came to Cal."
 
Choosing a school like Cal on the West Coast also meant Anticevich was just one flight away from home in Sydney.
 
Bradley, a product of San Bernardino, knew he wanted to remain in California for college, but sought the chance to live somewhere that would broaden his horizons. Having never spent time in the Bay Area before arriving at Cal, Bradley fell in love with riding his bicycle and taking BART to corners of the region.
 
"I felt I could make a difference on the court at Cal," Bradley said. "I knew Cal had struggled the year before I arrived (in 2017-18), and I wanted to be a part of the solution. I wanted to help turn the program around."
 
Anticevich and Bradley's first year of playing together, 2018-19, did not prove to be any better than 2017-18, as Cal went 8-23 overall and 3-15 in Pac-12 play. Though Bradley achieved individual success – he set the program's freshman record for 3-point field goal percentage (47.2 percent) – he faced the challenge of becoming a more mature, complete player.
 
"I struggled to get up to the speed of the older guys on the team, and in the league," Bradley recalled. "Being that younger guy on the team, there were definitely levels of maturity I had to go through to become a better player."
 
For Anticevich, the individual successes were few and far in between. He played just over seven minutes per game as a freshman, and saw that number only slightly increase to 11.7 minutes as a sophomore in 2018-19 while averaging 2.1 points per game combined through his first two seasons.
 
"My first two years at Cal were very rough, in terms of basketball," Anticevich said. "I didn't have confidence in myself, and I wasn't playing freely. While I was learning to love Cal as a school, it was very stressful time."
 
When Fox came aboard in March 2019, Anticevich felt an immediate shift in the program's direction.
 
"It clicked for me on day one, honestly," Anticevich said. "I have a great memory of the first day I met Coach Fox. Ever since that day, he's had confidence in me and helped me build myself into the player I always knew I was capable of being."
 
Nearly as quick as the shift in Cal's trajectory – the Bears ranked third among all major conference teams with a plus-six win differential from 2018-19 to 2019-20 – was a change in Anticevich's role on the team. The 6-8 forward started all 32 games, logged 30.8 minutes per game and averaged 8.3 points and 5.6 rebounds as a junior. The expectations Fox and his staff put in place for Anticevich – and the program as a whole – instilled a belief from top to bottom.
 
"Grant really went from zero to 100, from not playing at all, to playing all the time, in a very short period," Fox said of Anticevich's jump in production from his sophomore to junior seasons. "Something underappreciated about his development is there really wasn't a middle step – he just made the jump. I think that proves that he's always had it in him, and he just needed to trust himself to go do it."
 
Meanwhile, Bradley developed into an All-Pac-12 player, increasing his scoring production to 17.5 points per game as a sophomore. With 11 20-point performances, the lefty gained respect as one of the Pac-12's more dangerous offensive threats.
 
"It's clear to see how much more of a complete player Matt is becoming," Fox said. "He's more consistent than a lot of people thought he would become, and I credit him for finding ways to be threat in a variety of ways on the court. His competitiveness facilitates more than just his scoring; it's his ability to rebound or to take a charge on defense, too."
 
Bradley challenged himself, and succeeded, in stepping into a bigger role under Fox and the new coaching staff.
 
"With the coaching change and with losing some key players from that 2018-19 team, I told myself I had to be a guy who could be depended on," Bradley said. "I made it known that offseason that I wanted that role."
 
The strides Anticevich and Bradley took one year ago have continued to progress in the current 2020-21 season, despite mental, emotional and physical challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Bradley has increased his scoring prowess, averaging over 19 points per game while getting to the free throw line at a high rate. He's improved his rebounding as well, averaging a career-high in the category. On Dec. 9 at Pepperdine, Bradley scored a career-high 27 points to become the 48th player in program history with 1,000 career points.
 
"The circumstances of this season haven't been ideal at all," Bradley said. "We all wanted to be better versions of ourselves this year, and simply matching who we were a year ago is tough enough. It's been a reminder that we just have to trust in ourselves as brothers and as teammates, and pick one another up every day."
 
Anticevich – Cal's lone four-year senior – knows what a normal preseason looks like. Even with the daily challenges the team faces, Anticevich is focused on leading the team by example and providing positive influence to the younger members of the program.
 
"It was a difficult offseason and start to our season, to say the least," Anticevich said. "Not being able to spend time with teammates is hard, but it's an opportunity for us to do the right thing every day, and find ways to continue to become stronger as a unit. I take pride in being a four-year senior at Cal – it's a place I love and I want to finish things the right way."
 
Leading by example, the two Bears' preferred way of setting the tone has not gone unnoticed by Cal's younger players.
 
"I have a few role models on the team, but I'd probably say Grant is someone I look up to the most," said freshman guard Monty Bowser. "He's one of the older guys on the team, and you don't see him making a lot of mistakes. He's always looking out for the younger guys."
 
No matter the circumstances, hard work and determination have prevailed for the Cal tandem.
 
"I think we're underdogs, to tell the truth," Bradley said. "It's been my mentality, and it provides that mental edge I need. I'm not the tallest guy out there, and I'm not the most athletic. I don't jump all over the place. A lot of what I do on the basketball court is strictly because of hard work, and pushing myself to play harder than the guy in the opposing jersey."
 
"Both of these guys, Grant and Matt, are true examples of the magic being in the work," Fox said. "They aren't scared of working hard to accomplish their goals. It's that type of mindset that leads to success, not just in basketball, but in life. When you work hard like those two guys do, results will come."