San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
First-year coach Madsen eyes ‘historic turnaround’
Exactly five weeks after he referred to the Cal men’s basketball program as a “sleeping giant” at his introductory meeting with Bears fans, head coach Mark Madsen sat down for a one-on-one interview with The Chronicle in his Haas Pavilion office Monday afternoon.
Madsen, who spent the past four seasons as Utah Valley’s head coach, has taken over a distinguished program with a dismal recent past: a 54-134 record over the past six seasons, including a 3-29 mark in 2022-23 that ended Mark Fox’s fourseason tenure.
Through the transfer portal, Madsen has added five players: 6-foot-11 Texas Tech forward/center Fardaws Aimaq (who played for Madsen at Utah Valley) and guards Jalen Cone (Northern Arizona), Keonte Kennedy (Memphis), Mike Meadows (Portland) and Jaylon Tyson (Texas Tech).
A San Ramon ValleyDanville alum who was a power forward for Stanford and for nine seasons in the NBA with the Lakers and Timberwolves, Madsen discussed several topics with The Chronicle.
Some questions and answers were edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: What was the best thing you’ve experienced in your first five weeks on the job?
A:
I think the best thing has just been the energy of a place like Cal. The energy of our current players. The energy of the players that we are recruiting, signing and eventually will be bringing here to Cal. And so, I think that excitement is real, it’s palpable and it’s moving us very rapidly into the team that we want to be going into the Pac-12 this coming year. I want to be very clear: The goal is to compete for a championship.Q: Next
year?
A: Yes.
Q: That’s saying a lot for a team that was 3-29.
A:
When a team’s coming off a season like we had last year, there is so much opportunity, so much room for growth. We want to have a huge turnaround here, we want to have a historic turnaround here – and we
believe it’s very possible.
Q: Of the players that you have still in the program, the guy I think has the biggest upside is (forward) Grant Newell. How do you get that upside out of him?
A:
I’m really excited about Grant. Grant can play multiple positions on the court. He can shoot the 3. He’s very athletic. He wants to be great. He puts time, energy and work into his game. Grant has been phenomenal.
Q: What’s one thing that you did at Utah Valley that you can’t do at Cal, and what are a couple of things you can do at Cal that you couldn’t do at Utah Valley?
A:
At Utah Valley, we could call a McDonald’s All-American, but … it’s not a long conversation just because your typical McDonald’s All-American coming out of high school is going to want to go to a larger, more prestigious school in a Power 5 conference.
And here at Cal, you can engage in those serious conversations. You can not only put the offer out to a top-20 player, but you can recruit in a way believing that we have a legitimate shot to bring a top-20 player here to Cal. That’s really, really exciting.
I haven’t really run into a major roadblock of something that we were able to do at Utah Valley and we can’t do here. I think the sky’s the limit
here at Cal for this program and we’re moving forward with great speed.
Q: In this recencybias age in which we live, how do you get (people) to both look forward and look back beyond the (past) six years?
A:
People remember just the last few years, but there are so many other amazing parts of the basketball history here at Cal that people need to be reminded of. And I think that those reminiscing moments will come back as we really strive for and achieve more and more success here going forward. People can embrace the history, people can embrace the present and people can see that this is a serious basketball school.
Q: If somebody says, “Hey, Mark, if you get 10 or 12 wins next season, people at Cal are going to love you. Don’t set yourself up for such a lofty goal,” how do you respond to that?
A:
My response would be, “Why would we be shooting for such a low bar?”
Q: So what would you consider success for next season, either a certain number of wins or a certain way that the team plays or a certain sense that Cal basketball is back in the Bay Area’s consciousness?
A:
First of all, winning. Winning and academic success. Those are the two biggest things, and
the character piece of the entire program. Winning, a high level of success in the classroom and then on top of that, an environment that is a family environment for the players.
Q: What’s one thing from Mark Madsen the player you want to instill in University of California players?
A:
I would say just never give up. Never give up. Tex Winter (Phil Jackson’s longtime assistant coach) had a great saying: “Everything can turn on a trifle.” … So, the message would be, no matter what’s happening — in basketball, in life, academically, socially — keep trying, keep fighting, keep working. The tide can change quickly.
Q: Again harkening to the “sleeping giant” reference, is that belief even stronger than it was when you said it five weeks ago, or do you realize there are some hurdles to waking that giant?
A:
No, that belief is even stronger now than it was five weeks ago. (With) this university, this basketball program, this geography of being able to recruit California, being able to recruit the Bay Area, I’m even more excited now than I was five weeks ago — and I have even more conviction now than I had five weeks ago. I’m telling you, this can be special.