BERKELEY, Calif. — It wasn’t even two days after the Cal men’s basketball team ended its 2007-08 season with a lopsided loss in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament that the gloom surrounding the program suddenly lifted and transformed into optimism.

When the decision was announced, the word spread like wildfire on everything from newspaper headlines to Facebook walls: Sandy Barbour finally did it. Ben Braun is gone.

Sure, Braun was supportive of his players and dedicated to his job, but in a business where results matter more than all those qualities combined, it takes no stretch of the imagination to come to the conclusion that Barbour, at long last, has made the right decision.

So when the news reached my ears, thoughts instantly raced through my mind: This program could actually go somewhere. The first step has been taken. The possibilities are endless.

I’ve since received a flood of emails seconding my sentiment. Phone calls relating the news have been received with shouts of joy. Facebook groups have been created in commemoration of the occasion.

After all, a decade of mediocrity is a long while.

But this is not the time for anyone surrounding the program-be it Barbour, players or fans-to celebrate. Firing Braun alone is not enough to rejuvenate the men’s basketball program.

Particularly for the last five years, Braun has been an easy scapegoat for the reason behind the Bears’ lack of success.

And while there may have been a plethora of reasons to criticize his coaching, Cal’s inability to get over the hump cannot be solely placed on his shoulders.

When Braun came under fire for yet another losing season toward the end of conference play, his players began harping on the fact that he alone wasn’t to blame. And of course, they were right.

Getting rid of the head honcho does not take the onus off of the players themselves.

Now, more than ever, with the direction of the program completely in the air, they’ll be tested to see whether they can rise to the occasion and do with a new coach what they couldn’t with the old.

Neither is Barbour’s job even close to finished. She has finally done what people around the program have been hinting at for years, and it cost nearly $1 million to do it.

But removing Braun from the head coaching post was only the first step-finding a replacement who can inject new blood into a program that has been comatose for years will be no easy task. Finding a way to rejuvenate the attitude toward the Cal men’s basketball team will be even tougher.

The program is at a crossroads, and just because Braun is gone doesn’t mean all of Cal’s problems are history.

Rebuilding the program will be a long, arduous process, and the hard part is yet to come.