Cal Hires Utah Valley’s Mark Madsen As Men’s Basketball Head Coach
Mar 27, 2023, 10:21 PM | Updated: Mar 29, 2023, 1:21 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – Cal hired Utah Valley’s Mark Madsen as the next head coach of the Golden Bears’ men’s basketball program.
After he was reported as a leading candidate by Jon Rothstein on March 26, Cal’s hire of Madsen became official on Wednesday, March 29.
An East Bay native is coming home.
The new head coach of the Golden Bears is @madsen_mark!
📰 » https://t.co/QDi2kVAReM#GoBears pic.twitter.com/UvrOV7ZrLf
— Cal Basketball (@CalMBBall) March 29, 2023
Madsen had served as the Wolverines’ head coach since 2019.
“Mark Madsen has taken our program to unprecedented never-seen-before heights,” said Utah Valley athletic director Dr. Jared Sumsion. “I appreciate how much he cared about our student-athletes and we thank him for his service to our program. We wish him and his family the very best in his new role at Cal.”
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Earlier in March, Cal fired Mark Fox after four seasons as the Bears’ head coach. The Bears posted a 3-29 record for the 2022-23 season.
Madsen, 47, is a native of Walnut Creek, California. He attended San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, California, and played college basketball in Northern California at Stanford.
The University of California, Berkeley is about a 24-minute drive from Walnut Creek.
Following Madsen’s college career with the Cardinal, the forward was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the No. 29 overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft. Madsen played for the Lakers until 2003. During his time in Los Angeles, Madsen helped the Lakers win a pair of NBA titles. In 2003, the forward joined the Minnesota Timberwolves. Madsen played in Minnesota until 2009. Following his time with the T-Wolves, Madsen entered the coaching world.
Madsen’s first job came with the NBA D-League’s Utah Flash. Before taking the Utah Valley job, Madsen coached at Stanford and with the Lakers. He was head coach of the D-League’s Los Angeles D-Fenders in 2013.
Report: Utah Valley’s Mark Madsen Leading Candidate For Pac-12 Job
Under Madsen, Utah Valley won two Western Athletic Conference regular season titles (2021 & 2023).
This season, Madsen led UVU to a 28-8 record and a spot in the NIT semifinals. Madsen was recently named the WAC Coach of the Year. During his four seasons at UVU, Madsen had an overall record of 70-50, including 39-25 in league play.
