Cal Basketball: Mark Madsen May Be Just What The Golden Bears Need
If former Stanford star and nine-year NBA power forward Mark Madsen accepts Cal’s reported offer to become the Bears’ coach, no one will benefit more than the team’s two freshmen from this season.
Grant Newell and ND Okafor, both first-year forwards during the Bears’ gruesome 3-29 campaign, could not do better than Madsen, who maximized his abilities playing the position at the highest level.
Madsen, 47, whose Utah Valley team is 28-8 and playing Tuesday in the semifinals of the NIT at Las Vegas, certainly wasn’t an NBA star. But he was an All-American at Stanford, where he made it to the Final Four, and he played on championship teams with the Los Angeles Lakers his first two seasons in the pros, earning the respect of those in the organization.
“Mark is a good man,” Lakers legend Magic Johnson told the Deseret News in May 2019 after Madsen was named head coach at Utah Valley. “He has a good heart; he has integrity. He gets along with everybody and always has a smile on his face. He was a fan favorite. He played hard. He just battled.
“Everybody loved him. I don’t think anyone could say anything bad about him. He’s one of the best people I’ve ever met to this day. He’s a guy who’s going to always see the glass as full."
The Bears, who have suffered through six consecutive losing seasons, certainly could use a leader about now who brings a positive approach to what will be a challenging rebuild. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday night that Cal has offered the assignment to Madsen, who grew up in the East Bay community of Danville.
Mark Madsen helped lead Stanford to the 1998 Final Four.
Photo by RVR Photos, USA Today Sports
The Lakers' two biggest stars at the time were big fans of Madsen, even though he averaged just 2.6 points and 2.6 rebounds over 183 games from 2001-03 with the franchise.
Shaquille O’Neal, the Lakers’ star center at the time, famously took Madsen shopping and bought him more than $2,500 worth of clothes he believed his young teammate needed to look the part of an NBA player.
The late Kobe Bryant, told Stanford Magazine in 2001 how much Madsen’s teammates embraced his work ethic.
”I respect the way he plays," Bryant said. "Shaq whines at him sometimes because the Mad Dog tries to beat him up. I love the way he practices. He goes all out. And he has fun doing it, which is even more enjoyable."
After three seasons with the Lakers, Madsen spent six years with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Jeff Munneke, who spent decades working in the T-wolves' front office, told the Deseret News the story of Madsen volunteering to be a part of the team’s youth basketball camp.
“What day would you like to come?” Munneke asked.
“No, no, I’ll be there every day,” Madsen said.
“Mark, the way it usually works is …”
“I know the way it works. But if my name is on a camp, I’ll be there every day.”
Recalled Munneke, “I almost fell out of my chair.”
Madsen took the responsibility to the extent of greeting parents as they dropped their kids off at camp, and collecting gear from players across the NBA to share with campers.
“Mark Madsen was the coolest dude ever to come through here," Munneke told the newspaper. "He’s my favorite player of all time. He was the most sincere.”
It’s no surprise that he’s been successful in four seasons as Utah Valley’s coach, compiling a record of 48-20 the past two years, with regular-season Western Athletic Conference titles in 2021 and ’23.
Madsen began collecting and poring over books written by or about successful coaches, including UCLA icon John Wooden and Phil Jackson, who was his coach with the Lakers.
He also paid attention to how coaches approached their craft. “I took notes at different points as a player,” he told the Deseret News.
“I always thought I’d want to be a coach,” he said. “I read ‘They Call Me Coach’ (by Wooden) in high school and then read it again in college. It inspired me. I wanted to have a positive impact on players.”
Cover photo of Mark Madsen courtesy of Utah Valley Athletics
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
