Head Coach

Mark Madsen

Following a decorated playing career which included a trip to the NCAA Final Four at Stanford and two NBA championships while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, Madsen is considered a rising star in the coaching ranks, having most recently led Utah Valley to the semifinals of the 2023 NIT. Madsen was named the 2023 Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and led the Wolverines to a pair of conference titles during his four seasons at the helm. He was well-recognized for his efforts during the 2022-23 campaign as he was named District Coach of the Year by both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and a finalist for the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year award, which is presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball.
 
'Mad Dog' – the nickname Madsen received from his fifth grade P.E. teacher at Montair Elementary School in Danville – didn't waste a second in implementing his vision for Cal men's basketball. He's aggressively pursued some of the top recruits in the country in the transfer portal and on the high school level, and On3 ranked the Bears' 2023 transfer class as the eighth-best in the nation.
 
Madsen was 70-51 (.578) overall and 39-25 (.609) in WAC play in four seasons at Utah Valley. Following an 11-win season in his first year in 2019-20, Madsen led the Wolverines to a share of the WAC regular-season title in 2020-21 and back-to-back 20-win seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Madsen’s 2022-23 squad won a program record 28 games and was an impressive 15-3 in WAC play. Led by sophomore Aziz Bandaogo, the 2022-23 Wolverines led the country in blocks per game (6.6) and ranked fifth in field-goal percentage defense (39%) and sixth in rebounds per game (40.06), nationally. Utah Valley earned a road victory against Pac-12 Conference foe Utah, 77-72, in Eugene on Dec. 20. In 2021-22, Madsen’s Wolverines finished 20-12 overall and notched signature wins against No. 12 BYU and at Washington.
 
Under Madsen's guidance, Fardaws Aimaq – who reunited with Madsen as the first transfer to join the Bears ahead of the 2023-24 season – earned back-to-back WAC Defensive Player of the Year honors and was named to the All-WAC first team both years (2020-21, 2021-22). The big man posted a WAC record 27 double-doubles during the 2021-22 season, tied for the fifth-most in a single-season in NCAA history with Oscar Robertson, Lew Alcindor, Artis Gilmore, Bill Walton and Pascal Siakam.
 
Madsen spent six seasons as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers (2013-19) prior to leading Utah Valley. During his time on the Los Angeles bench, he coached NBA superstars LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, among others. He also played alongside some of the NBA’s greatest players, including Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Garnett. Following three seasons played with the Lakers (2000-03), Madsen played six further seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
 
Madsen’s first coaching position came as an assistant coach for the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League during the 2009-10 season. He later returned to his alma mater to earn an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2012 and spent the 2012-13 season as an assistant coach for the Cardinal, working in recruiting, opponent game planning and player development.
 
A 2019 Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Madsen earned All-America honors twice while helping lead the Cardinal to four NCAA Tournament appearances – including the 1998 Final Four – in as many seasons played from 1996-2000. He averaged 10.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in his Stanford career and ranks fourth in field goal percentage (.587) and sixth in rebounds (857) in program history. Madsen earned an undergraduate degree in economics from Stanford in 2000.
 
Madsen served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Spain. Madsen and his wife, Hannah, have two sons (William and Leroy) and two daughters (Alexandria and Anastasia).