Cal Looks to Improves Basketball Image with NIL Campaign, Practice Facility

Talent acquisition is the key to college basketball success, and Cal is attempting to increase the appeal of the Bears’ basketball program to prospects with NIL campaigns and a new practice facility.

Money and facilities are major factors in luring prospective recruits and transfers to college football and basketball programs, with the former seeming to overtake the latter in recent years because of the large amount of money players can earn through NIL and revenue-sharing at elite college football and basketball programs.

Head coach Mark Madsen is now in position to ask for contributions to the Bears’ NIL account after the Bears won 22 games this season, the most wins since 2015-16. And he is claiming success.

I’m so appreciative of the amazing Cal community for meeting our $250,000 match in 72 hours!

Another generous donor has stepped up for another $100,000 in match funding - let’s finish strong before the portal opens: https://t.co/kNlmzPukwf
— Mark Madsen (@madsen_mark) April 3, 2026

While claiming success Madsen notes the importance of the fund-raising campaign in this one sentence within his letter to prospective donors:

“The only way we will build off the momentum from this year is by raising the necessary funds to retain our top talent and invest in new talent from the portal to deepen our team.”

Sophomore guard Justin Pippen and junior guard Dai Dai Ames are the two players Madsen would most like to retain. But Madsen also hopes to attract some transfer talent.

The other element is the announcement that Cal’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will have a dedicated practice facility.

Madsen has been advocating for a Cal practice facility ever since he was named the Bears’ head coach, and now he will have one in the form a renovated and modernized version of the current Blue Gym, which is on the third floor of the Recreational Sports Facility located adjacent to – in fact, attached to -- Haas Pavilion.

Cal is hoping the renovation project will be completed by the fall, so the facility can be used next season.

The money for the project was provided by a $10 million donation from the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund, and the main reason for having a practice facility is clear.

"It will allow us to continue to recruit elite student-athletes that are the right fit for Cal and be vital for individual and team development,” Madsen said in part of a statement provided by the school.

“A designated practice facility allows us to continue the pursuit of top talent and our quest for championships," said women’s basketball coach Charmin Smith in part of her statement provided by Cal.

The person responsible for the donation may have said it best.

"If a college wants to compete at the top level of Division I, a 24/7 practice facility is critical to attracting the top varsity basketball players," said Doug Goldman in the first part of his statement issued by Cal.

What is also important is the symbolic message sent by these actions, as hinted in one sentence in Goldman’s statement: “[W]e now have a commitment to excellence in athletics, especially the revenue-producing sports.”

The appearance of a commitment to basketball is important, because it presents the notion that Cal cares about success in basketball.

An increase in attendance would indicate whether that message is getting through. Cal averaged 4,210 in home attendance at men's home games this past season and 1,835 for Cal women's home games.

Whether Cal hires a general manager for men’s basketball will also tell us how much the university cares about success in that revenue-generating sport.

Cal has shown that commitment in football, with the hiring of general manager Ron Rivera and the firing of a head coach (Justin Wilcox) who had a winning record (6-5) at the time.

But the revenue generated by football far outweighs the revenue generated by basketball. So we’ll see.