New Cal Coach Mark Madsen `Almost Too Good To Be True . . . But He's Real'

The ex-Stanford and NBA player brings an infectious optimism to a tough assignment.

Mike Montgomery knows all about being a Stanford guy and coming across the Bay to Cal. And he says Mark Madsen will win Cal fans and win games as the Bears’ new coach.

“Mark is a very, very unique individual. He’s as good a person as you’re going to find. What you see is what you get,” Montgomery said of Madsen, who played for him at Stanford two decades ago.

“He’s got a great heart and I think he’ll be great with all the Cal people, the alums. You can’t help but like Mark.”

Almost too good to be true?

“Almost . . . but he’s not. He’s real. That’s what makes it cool,” said Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett, who has gotten to know Madsen on the recruiting trail. "He’s that guy and you just don’t see that guy anymore. He’s very humble, very appreciative, very respectful, yet he has become a really good coach. What he’s done at Utah Valley is really impressive.”

The Wolverines won 28 games this season, shared the regular-season title in the Western Athletic Conference and reached the semifinals of the NIT before losing 88-86 in overtime to UAB on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

Mark Madsen on the sideline for Utah Valley in the NIT / Photo by Candice Ward, USA Today

Madsen, 47, who spent nine seasons in the NBA before beginning his coaching career, inherits a Cal program that has suffered an unprecedented six consecutive losing seasons and went 3-29 this season under Mark Fox.

Kyle Smith, who worked for Bennett before head coaching stops at Columbia, USF and currently Washington State, first encountered Madsen back at the start of the 1997-98 season — the year Stanford made it to the Final Four.

Smith was an assistant coach at San Diego and Madsen was a 6-foot-9, 235-pound non-stop force of nature, who scored 18 points in a 30-point win over the Toreros on 7-for-7 shooting on the way to opening his sophomore season by making 20 of his first 21 attempts from the field.

“As a player, he was one of the hardest playing, most enthusiastic players you’d ever see,” Smith said. “When he started coaching, he was the same.”

It was when Smith later met him that he began the grasp the full Mark Madsen effect.

“Is this guy for real?” Smith said of Madsen’s irresistibly friendly nature. “I remember thinking he’s either really naive or he’s the real thing. Turns out he’s the real thing. He’s just that guy that’s super positive. A really, really nice guy.”

Montgomery coached 18 seasons at Stanford, leading the Cardinal to four Pac-10 titles and 12 NCAA tournament appearances before being lured to the NBA. Cal hired him in 2008 and by Year 2 the Bears won the conference crown — their first in 50 years. Montgomery guided Cal to four NCAA bids in six seasons.

What can Madsen achieve in Berkeley?

Montgomery believes the university is ready to provide the basketball program with greater resources, putting the Bears in line with the support others in the Pac-12 enjoy.

If that happens, Madsen will take it from there, Montgomery said. 

“His work ethic, the fact that he’s so genuine, he’s knowledgeable basketball-wise. He’s been around a lot of good situations with playing at Stanford and what we did, and on to the NBA and now at Utah Valley, that given half a chance I think he’ll be successful," Montgomery said.

“Now, what does that mean? Does that mean Final Four? No. It means let’s get it back to competitive, respectable and then build from there.”

Bennett, who just finished his 22nd season at Saint Mary’s, agreed that change won’t happen overnight.

“He’s just so genuine and no ego, no arrogance. He’s pretty refreshing. The kids will like him and he can coach,” Bennett said. “In the end, I think he’ll do a great job. I just think everybody has to be patient about where they are now, including himself.”

Madsen had to show patience before beginning his career at Stanford. After graduating from San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, he took a two-year mission to Spain for his LDS church, an exemption that allowed him to begin the experience before turning 19.

“He went out early because they deemed he was mature enough to handle it,” Montgomery said. “I called (in Spain) one time and he could barely speak English because he had been speaking Spanish.

“When he got out of the mission he was trying so hard to get back into shape he developed a stress fracture in his back. That’s sort of the nature of who he is.”

A full-speed-ahead approach in keeping with the “Mad Dog” nickname he developed as a youngster.

Stanford was 105-24 over Madsen’s four seasons (1996-97 through 1999-2000) and his contributions to that success came in a couple of forms.

“Just consistency of performance,” Montgomery said. “You could always count on Mark to be a physical presence. If there was another team that had a bully, Mark could pretty much handle that.

“We played Purdue (in the ’98 NCAAs) before we went to Rhode Island. Purdue’s style under Gene Keady was to be physical. They were going to take you out of the game physically. You couldn’t do that to us, not with Mark out there.”

Madsen had 15 points and 13 rebounds in the Cardinal’s 67-59 Sweet 16 victory over the Boilermakers.

Madsen also was a good fit as a teammate, a player who took the game seriously but not himself.

“Mark is such a likable guy in terms of a being a quality presence — he’s not a drinker, he’s not a carouser, he’s not a partier,” Montgomery said. “He’ll laugh at himself. You can make fun of him and he’ll chuckle. He brought a maturity to the thing that people really appreciated.

“Mark’s just consistently who he is. He’s not going to change. You’re not going to shame him into doing something he doesn’t want to do. But Mark was always one of the guys.”

Now he will work to rebuild a team that already has lost four players to the transfer portal. If Madsen is able to work with Cal’s admissions office, that same portal can be a path to retooling the 2023-24 roster.

"He’s way more knowledgeable about the transfer portal and all the stuff going on than one might think,” Montgomery said. “He’s infectious by his enthusiasm. I think he will be great, given a chance.

“It’s a pretty tough situation right now. Somebody’s going to have to help. You can’t just throw a guy in there and say, `Have at it.’ “

Cover photo of Mark Madsen by Candice Ward, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo