(AP Photo/Janie McCauley)

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Well off campus and a town away in another kind of gym, Charmin Smith greets her fellow boxing friends with a "What's up?" or wave. She offers a hug or bumps gloves, shares some small talk about what's going on in everyone's life.

Smith pulls on a navy blue bandanna to keep her hair back, then sits alone on a bench with a pile of protective gear and methodically adds each piece to prepare for her 90-minute Muay Thai class in a sprawling West Oakland warehouse.

This is how the first-year California women's basketball coach might spend her Friday nights, as she did recently surrounded by friends with a passion for fitness and the martial art from Thailand.

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