Utah Valley’s Mark Madsen, the former Stanford star and NBA veteran, has been hired to be Cal’s next head coach, the school announced Wednesday.Madsen directed Utah
Valley to a regular-season WAC championship this season, and the Wolverines advanced to the NIT semifinals before losing 88-86 to UAB in overtime Tuesday night. They finished their season 28-9 total and 15-3 in conference play.Over the previous three seasons, Madsen and Utah Valley are 34-15 in WAC play.Editor’s Picks![]()
1 Related Prior to replacing Mark Pope at Utah Valley in 2019, Madsen invested 6 seasons as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers. He also spent time coaching in the G League and one season at Stanford as an assistant coach.A two-time all-conference choice in college, Madsen is best understood for leading Stanford to the 1998 Last Four. He was a first-round pick of the Lakers in 2000, winning 2 NBA championships with the franchise before relocating to the Minnesota Timberwolves for six seasons.Madsen was long perceived as the preferred to take control of at his alma mater, but Stanford has actually decided to keep Jerod Haase the past two seasons regardless of the group’s battles. Cal made overtures to Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett, sources informed ESPN, but after Bennett decided to stick with the Gaels, the search relied on Madsen. He chose not to wait another year for Stanford and will now take over at its Northern California rival.At Cal, Madsen replaces Mark Fox, who was fired earlier this month after a 3-29 project. The Golden Bears haven’t been to the NCAA tournament considering that 2016.
