×
×
homepage logo
SUBSCRIBE

Mark Madsen leaves UVU men’s basketball to take Cal job

By Staff | Mar 29, 2023

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

UVU head coach Mark Madsen directs his team during the WAC game against Southern Utah at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday, Feb 11, 2023.

Utah Valley head coach Mark Madsen has announced that he is departing UVU to become the men’s basketball head coach at the University of California. Associate head coach Todd Phillips will serve as the program’s interim head coach while a national search will be conducted for the program’s next head coach.

“Mark Madsen has taken our program to unprecedented never-seen-before heights,” said Utah Valley athletic director Dr. Jared Sumsion. “I appreciate how much he cared about our student-athletes and we thank him for his service to our program. We wish him and his family the very best in his new role at Cal.”

According to the press release from Cal, Madsen will be formally introduced at a press conference on Monday, April 3.

“I could not be more excited to welcome Mark, his wife Hannah, and their children to the Cal Family,” Cal director of athletics Jim Knowlton said in the press release. “We conducted an exhaustive search, and one name kept rising to the top – and that’s Mark Madsen. Mark is a person of high character, high energy, high intensity, and he’s done it the right way. He’s intense. He’s passionate. He loves his student-athletes, and he loves competing. We want an ambassador for this program who is going to make us proud and develop our young men – both on and off the court. I am absolutely thrilled that Mark will lead our program into the future.”

In the meantime, UVU now has to start searching for a new head coach. The school said it will start a national search immediately but some local candidates that have been mentioned as possibilities include Phillips, who is currently a Wolverine assistant coach, BYU assistant coach Cody Fueger and Utah assistant coach Chris Burgess.

Whoever gets the job will have big shoes to fill.

In his four seasons at Utah Valley, Madsen compiled an impressive 70-51 (.578) record while also amassing 48 wins over the last two seasons. He also put together a 39-25 record in WAC play and won a pair of conference titles.

Madsen led UVU to its most successful season in UVU history this past year, guiding the Wolverines to a 28-9 overall record and a 15-3 mark in WAC play. He led UVU to non-conference road wins at Oregon, BYU, New Mexico, and Colorado. He also led UVU to a historic 74-68 win at home over Cincinnati in the quarterfinals of the NIT to send the Wolverines to their first-ever NIT semifinal appearance.

Utah Valley’s 28 wins this past season are the most wins ever recorded in a single season, surpassing the previous record of 25 set during the 2018-19 season. Madsen earned 2023 WAC Coach of the Year honors after claiming his second WAC regular season title in the past three seasons. Madsen led the Wolverines to back-to-back 20-win seasons (2021-22, 2022-23). His team hit the 20-win mark faster than any team in UVU history.

Madsen led Utah Valley to just its second NIT appearance in program history where he guided the team to a 3-1 record and a trip to the NIT semifinals in Las Vegas. He led the Wolverines to a 2-1 record against crosstown rival BYU during his four seasons at UVU, including wins over the Cougars in back-to-back seasons (2021-22, 2022-23). He knocked off a Pac-12 team three straight times on the road with wins at Washington (2021-22), at Oregon (2022-23), and at Colorado (2022-23).

Madsen was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham Coach of the Year award this season, which is presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball.

Under his guidance, Fardaws Aimaq became the first player in UVU history to win both a WAC Player of the Year award and WAC Defensive Player of the Year honors in the same season. Aimaq would go on to win back-to-back WAC Defensive Player of the Year honors. Aziz Bandaogo became the first player in program history to earn both a WAC Defensive Player of the Year award and a WAC Newcomer of the Year honor in the same season. For the first time in program history, three players earned First Team All-WAC honors with Trey Woodbury, Le’Tre Darthard, and Bandaogo all receiving the honor this past season.

Utah Valley will immediately begin a national search for its next head coach.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)