This feature originally appeared in the 2023 Summer edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.
 
 

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that Mark Madsen may be one of the nicest humans on the planet.
 
But he may not be as cordial when he finds himself in the trenches competing for wins – whether that be on the court, the recruiting trail, or elsewhere.
 
Madsen, whom Cal hired as its new head men's basketball coach in March, seems to have universal support of his character. From former NBA teammates like Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, to current student-athletes, to former coaches and more, Madsen has always been thoroughly admired.
 
But as he had already exhibited in recruiting, Madsen's care for others doesn't preclude him from being ambitious, competitive, and possessing an unwavering will to win.
 
"You don't get the name, 'Mad Dog' without a reason," Cal center Fardaws Aimaq said.
 
'Mad Dog' – the nickname Madsen received from his fifth grade P.E. teacher at Montair Elementary School in Danville – didn't waste a millisecond in implementing his vision for Cal men's basketball after being named the 19th head coach in program history on March 29. He's aggressively pursued some of the top recruits in the country in the transfer portal and on the high school level, and On3 ranks the Bears' transfer class as the ninth-best in the nation.
 
It's that character, along with his pedigree as a player and coach, that makes Madsen so attractive to recruits.
 
Madsen won two NBA championships as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers, where his teammates included O'Neal and Bryant. Madsen also played with Hall-of-Famer Kevin Garnett with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and coached LeBron James and Steve Nash as an assistant with the Lakers.
 
"Mark is able to say, 'Do you know who I played with? I played with Kobe. I played with Shaq. I won championships'," said seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry, Madsen's teammate for three years with the Lakers. "When you have that pedigree, guys have a tendency to listen up. Guys are going to really perk up and listen."
 
Madsen may have attended that other Pac-12 institution in the Bay Area, but he has strong life-long connections to Cal. He grew up about 20 miles away in Danville and followed the Bears' memorable teams from the early 1990s that featured Jason Kidd and Lamond Murray. The first college football game he ever attended was at California Memorial Stadium, and he took an unofficial recruiting trip to Cal while at San Ramon Valley High School.
 
While at San Ramon Valley, Madsen played for assistant coach Jim Barrons, who was a member of Cal's 1958-59 NCAA championship team. Madsen's brother-in-law, Jed Johnson, earned his Ph.D. in physics from Cal. And Madsen himself spent a couple of summers as a kid attending a nature camp at the Lawrence Hall of Science, just up the road from campus.
 
"With every step in the interview process, I got more and more excited about Cal," Madsen said. "This is a great academic institution – second to none. Cal does not take a backseat to anyone. You look at the rigor of the academics, you look at the Nobel Prize winners – everything about here is incredible. This was an absolute no-brainer."
 
The feeling was mutual. Madsen emerged from a strong pool of candidates for the job, with character being a primary selling point. There was a consensus about Madsen's philosophies both on and off the court, and his ability to connect with student-athletes, coaches, donors and the rest of the Cal Athletics community rose to the top.
 
"From the moment I met Mark, I knew he was an extraordinary individual and destined for greatness," said Madsen's high school coach at San Ramon Valley, John Raynor. "I don't say that with hyperbole. Mark is just an exceptional human being. We throw out excellence in our society all too often, but Mark embodied excellence at a very young age."
 
After graduating from San Ramon Valley and before attending Stanford, Madsen – a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – went on a mission to Spain. He said not only did he share his faith with others, but he learned extensively from other Spanish religious traditions.
 
"I learned great respect and tolerance of the faith of others," Madsen said. "As a young missionary, you spend time knocking on doors. I interacted with missionaries of other faiths. It was one of the all-time greatest experiences of my life."
 
Madsen had an All-American college career before spending nine seasons as a serviceable NBA player. He is most remembered for a couple of iconic moments during his playing days. The first is a pivotal three-point play he converted against Rhode Island during the Elite Eight of the 1998 NCAA Tournament, prompting him to partake in an emotionally cathartic celebration and helping the Cardinal complete an improbable comeback to send Stanford to the Final Four for just the second time in school history. Perhaps even more visible were Madsen's dance moves at the Lakers' parade after winning the NBA championship in 2001. With O'Neal rapping to the crowd, Madsen was caught on film dancing to the music – a few seconds in real-time that still gets mileage today.
 
"In this day and age, if people remember me at all for anything, I'm flattered," Madsen said. "It was a snapshot in time of a great team, unbelievable memories and great people. Kobe was on that team - what a man, what a person, what a force. Shaq – he is one of the most unique players and people that have ever lived. You have fun with it, you roll with it and you live life with it."
 
Madsen retired from playing in 2009 and shortly after was hired as an assistant coach of the Utah Flash from what was then called the NBA D-League. He went on to coach at Stanford before getting hired as an assistant with the Lakers, and remained in that role for six seasons. From there, Madsen took the head coaching job at Utah Valley, where he won two conference championships and was named the WAC Coach of the Year last season before deciding to come to Berkeley.
 
"I always knew he'd be a fierce coach because he is such a fierce competitor, but that he would do it with a high level of emotional intelligence, thoughtfulness and collaboration – because that's who he was as a player," Raynor said. "As I reflect, I'm not overly impressed with the accolades he's received because I knew something like that was going to happen. Mark is just an exceptional human being."
 
Madsen said he first thought about coaching after reading John Wooden's book, "They Call Me Coach," while on a plane with his Stanford teammates on their way to a game at Washington. He highlighted certain portions of the book – which he still owns – and went on to regularly take notes while serving as an assistant to legendary head coach Phil Jackson with the Lakers.
 
His biggest takeaway was that the coaches he interacted with placed an emphasis on helping and supporting the athletes with which they worked.
 
"All of my coaches tried to help me," Madsen said. "It was something I really appreciated, so that really resonated with me. What better thing to do than to try to help people through coaching? That was the person I wanted to become."