One is a small-town girl from Spain’s northern coast whose family once owned a world champion cow and today supplies milk for much of the country and parts of Europe. The other is a well-traveled city girl from Barcelona with a deep basketball pedigree, as her mother played professionally.
Marta Suárez and Claudia Langarita first became teammates and friends a decade ago as they were just starting out playing club basketball near the countryside where Suárez was raised. They later wound up playing on the same renowned high school team before going their separate ways once more. Now, thanks to the transfer portal and a little bit of good luck, they are back together again on the California basketball team and are each other’s support system as they play across the globe from family and everything familiar.
“The main thing is she just made the whole transition of me coming to Cal easier. I came very shortly after my mom passed, so I was a little scared how everything was going to go,” Suárez said. “Just knowing her, actually like really knowing somebody here and being able to be honest and talk about stuff and then how she got me into the team and how Cal works, it made the transition much easier.”
Suárez has emerged as Cal’s second-leading scorer so far, averaging 14.2 points in an 8-2 start for the Golden Bears heading into Friday’s home game against Eastern Washington. A back injury has sidelined Langarita, but should be ready to play soon.
The two women began their basketball journey together at ages 10 and 11 outside Suárez’s hometown of Oviedo, then reunited in high school at Joaquim Blume Institute in Barcelona when Suárez received a spot for her final two years.
In Berkeley, they feed off each other. Like when it comes to the Suárez family cows, Langarita suggests they attend some feel-good “cow therapy, just to cuddle them.”
