GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS Montgomery couldn't pass on NBA challenge

He spent 35 years in college coaching before taking the Warriors' job.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Mike Montgomery realizes he'll probably age more in the next six months than he did in the last 26 years. That's the price for making the move of his coaching life across the San Francisco Bay.
Last spring, Montgomery passed up his final years of eligibility for a life of Final Fours, conference championships and adoration of his basketball genius at Stanford.
The NBA lure doesn't just attract youngsters hoping for instant wealth and fame. Montgomery declared himself eligible for the huge paychecks and tantalizing challenges of the pro game.
"I just couldn't pass it up," Montgomery said. "It's something that I've always wanted to try. If not now, when? If not here, where?"
Montgomery eagerly stepped into the morass of defeat and turmoil that is the Golden State Warriors, who had just 13 more wins than Stanford over the previous 10 seasons despite playing 504 more games than the Cardinal.
So why would the 57-year-old coach curtail his Stanford legacy for a job that's certain to further whiten his temples and stretch the bags under his eyes? Why end 18 years at a big-time university for a hot seat in a league where 23 of the 30 teams changed coaches in the last two years?
The same answer
He had roughly the same answer given by Rick Pitino, Jerry Tarkanian, Tim Floyd, Lon Kruger, Leonard Hamilton and most of the college coaches who made the leap in recent years.
Because it was there.
"There are things that I miss about Stanford, but this is something that I really needed to do and wanted to do," Montgomery said. "If you have an athletic background, you always crave a challenge. Stanford was a challenge, but this is what I needed at this point in my life."
Montgomery, who spent 35 years in college coaching, knew all about his peers' dim track record in this transition. Floyd, Kruger and Hamilton all failed in recent years, with Pitino, Tarkanian and John Calipari among the casualties before them.
Last summer, Larry Brown became the only coach to win an NCAA title and an NBA championship -- 16 years and five pro jobs after he left Kansas.
Though Montgomery saw an opportunity he couldn't resist, other college coaches have stuck with their life's work. A few weeks after Montgomery was given a four-year, $10 million contract with the Warriors, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina's Roy Williams resisted the overtures of the Los Angeles Lakers.
"The allure of coaching in college has no price," Krzyzewski said. "It's one of those priceless things. I've never made a decision based on what was going to make me the most money. It was what was going to give me the most happiness, and I've been really happy and fulfilled at Duke."