Why the heck was the lifetime contract needed in this situation? Because UCLA wanted Mr. One And Done? Cool, they can have him. Judging by his performance the last five years, that would mean they would be stuck at 11 titles for a while
Yep, that is exactly why.
Cal met with UCLA, then made Mitch think he was very serious about jumping to UCLA, and it scared Mitch so shitless that he bent over and gave Cal the most insanely generous extension in the sport’s history to stay.
Cal played UK like a fiddle in that episode.