NBA champion hired to coach alma mater's rival: ‘Go Bears!’
Madsen led Stanford to the 1998 Final Four
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cal men’s basketball has announced its next head coach, and he comes with deep ties to the Golden Bears' biggest rival.
Mark Madsen, a two-time NBA champion and coach of Utah Valley for the past four seasons, was announced Wednesday as the head coach at Cal Berkeley.
Head coach Mark Madsen of the Utah Valley Wolverines talks to his team before their first round game against the New Mexico Lobos in the 2023 National Invitation Tournament at The Pit on March 15, 2023 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
"I am extremely grateful to Chancellor Christ and Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton for their belief in me, and for the tremendous opportunity to lead Cal's men's basketball team back to its winning tradition," Madsen said in a press release.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Having grown up in the area, I have always admired Cal as an institution and as an athletic program, with so many of my teachers, coaches and friends impressive Cal graduates. We will win with young men who have elite academic and athletic talent and who will represent Cal with pride. Hannah and I and our children are excited to return to the Bay Area and join the Cal community and I cannot wait to get started. Go Bears!"
Madsen played his college ball at Stanford, helping the Cardinal reach the Final Four in 1998 before being selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2000 NBA Draft.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Los Angeles Lakers Assistant Coach Mark Madsen looks on before an NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers on November 27, 2017 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Madsen spent three years in LA, winning two championships with the Lakers before finishing his nine-year NBA career with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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He served as an assistant coach with the Lakers for six seasons from 2013-19 before being hired to lead Utah Valley.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In his four seasons in Orem, Utah, Madsen led the Wolverines to two regular-season conference titles and was named the 2023 Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
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"I could not be more excited to welcome Mark, his wife Hannah, and their children to the Cal Family," Knowlton said. "We conducted an exhaustive search, and one name kept rising to the top – and that's Mark Madsen.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Head coach Mark Madsen of the Utah Valley Wolverines looks on during the second half of their first round game against the New Mexico Lobos in the 2023 National Invitation Tournament at The Pit on March 15, 2023 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Wolverines defeated the Lobos 83-69. (Sam Wasson/Getty Image)
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"Mark is a person of high character, high energy, high intensity, and he's done it the right way. He's intense. He's passionate. He loves his student-athletes, and he loves competing. We want an ambassador for this program who is going to make us proud and develop our young men – both on and off the court. I am absolutely thrilled that Mark will lead our program into the future."
The Golden Bears have struggled in recent years, failing to finish each of the past six seasons with a winning record.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In 2022-23, Cal went 3-29, and the program has failed to reach the NCAA Tournament since 2016.