Freshman Hendrick Makes His Noise on Court : Cal: Son of former outfielder has made a hit in his first year with Golden Bears.

Brian Hendrick is a lot like his father, George, who played major league baseball for 18 seasons, ending his career with the Angels.

Nicknamed the Silent One, George Hendrick declined to give interviews to the media. But Brian Hendrick said his father didn’t fit the image that resulted.

“He was quite the opposite of being silent with the people he was really close to,” Hendrick said of his father. “You have to know him to understand what he’s all about.”

Like his father, California’s redshirt freshman center is also shy, but he becomes a different person on the basketball court.

“If I’m around people that I know, I’m really vocal and outgoing,” Hendrick said. “But I tend to keep to myself with people I don’t know. When I get on the court I get vocal and aggressive. I do whatever it takes to win.”

A 6-foot-8, 220-pound player who shaves his head except for a small ponytail, Hendrick is an intimidating presence on the court.

“He’s a very laid-back guy, but when he gets on the court, that’s his domain,” Cal forward Roy Fisher said.

Hendrick has averaged 15.2 points and 7.4 rebounds a game. Despite playing with a pinched nerve in his back for the last half of the season, Hendrick set a school freshman season scoring record.

Playing for the Ft. Myers (Fla.) Sun Sox in the Senior Professional Baseball Assn., George Hendrick hasn’t gotten to see Brian in many basketball games, but he’s proud of what his son has accomplished.

“I’m not surprised at all by his success,” the older Hendrick told the Oakland Tribune. “I don’t give him advice on basketball. He teaches me. He’s a good kid with a great work ethic.”

Brian Hendrick’s teammates concurred.

“Brian killed us last year in practice when he was redshirting,” Fisher said. “He surprised the coaches, but he didn’t surprise the players.”

Hendrick said he expected to be successful: “Last year really helped me out because I was able to practice against (former Cal center) Leonard Taylor, and it helped me to adjust to the physical contact.”

Seeking to follow in his father’s footsteps, Hendrick went to spring training with his father and became a batboy. He also accompanied his father on trips.

An outstanding baseball player at Diamond Bar High, he hit .420 as a junior. But his father encouraged him to play basketball.

“Growing up around baseball my whole life, it was the sport I wanted to play at first,” Hendrick said. “I didn’t even get into basketball until junior high. I really had no interest in playing basketball, but my dad told me to try it out. And the more I tried it, the more I liked it.”

A prep All-American, Hendrick averaged 25 points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots a game as a senior at Diamond Bar.

Recruited by Arizona, New Mexico, Stanford and Cal, Hendrick chose Cal because he thought the basketball program was on the rise and he liked the academics.

There may soon be another Hendrick playing college basketball. Recruiters are interested in Hendrick’s 15-year-old brother, Damon, a 6-4, 195-pound freshman at Diamond Bar.