Mark Madsen and CAL finding success in the transfer portal

There wasn't much optimism surrounding Stanford's basketball team heading into this past season, and as expected by many fans the Cardinal underwhelmed and missed the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight year.

The number seven is by all means a lucky number in most cases, but for Stanford fans they thought it would mark the final year of the Jerod Haase tenure. That was not the case for the Cardinal with Haase being retained for yet another season. To the surprise of many might I add considering Bernard Muir implied after last year that the program was underperforming and needed to do better.

Following the conclusion of the final game, fans and analysts alike were operating under the assumption that Haase was on his way out. This led to many people discussing who the Cardinal should hire should he be replaced, which of course led many people to Utah Valley's Mark Madsen. The former Stanford hoops star led the Wolverines to an improved record every year, and emerged as the most sensible candidate to replace Haase.

The lone issue being the fact that Haase was retained, which of course led to Madsen receiving interest from other programs. As Stanford fans know and are still mourning about, Madsen ended up taking the head coaching job at Cal. The rival of the Cardinal are coming off a 3-29 season, and while many assumed it would take some time for Madsen to turn it around he has already been flourishing in attracting talent from the transfer portal.

In less than a month on the job Madsen was able to reunite with former Utah Valley standout Fardaws Aimaq who was at one point ranked as the No. 1 transfer in the portal. Aimaq currently ranks as the No. 19 player in the portal and while he only played in 11 games at Texas Tech he averaged an impressive 11 points and eight rebounds. Prior to his lone season in Lubbock he put up 19 points per game and nearly 14 rebounds per game under Madsen at Utah Valley. On top of landing Aimaq, he followed that up with landing Northern Arizona guard Jalen Cone, who was also a Stanford target.

Cone averaged 17.6 points while shooting 40% from three and 86.2% from the free throw line last season, and cited Madsen's professional experience as the main reason he chose Cal. In an interview with 247Sports Cone broke down why playing for Madsen is something he thinks will take him to the next level while also claiming the Golden Bears can compete as soon as next year saying:

"I chose Cal because Coach Mark Madsen is really a great coach who runs an NBA style offense," he said. "I think he’s going to put me in the best position to grow as a point guard and is going to turn things around asap. We’re picking up some pieces with Fardaws just committing and we’ll pick up some other pieces. I think we’ll make a run in the Pac-12 next season."

Stanford on the other hand hasn't been as successful in the portal. They have certainly casted a few lines, but have yet to secure a bite that they could reel in. There is still plenty of time and the return of Spencer Jones helps their chances for next year, but the Cardinal definitely need to bring in more guard help.

It hasn't been easy, and going up against Madsen at Cal is already proving to be difficult.