Mark Madsen officially added a second assistant to his Cal basketball coaching staff as the Golden Bears formally announced the hiring of Matt Scherbenske, who was most recently the director of recruiting the last two years at Texas Tech.
Scherbenske also previously spent three seasons at Cal under former coach Mike Montgomery.
He is the second assistant coach officially announced by the program, joining former Vanderbilt assistant Adam Mazarei.
“Matt was instrumental in the roster-building success at Texas Tech the past two seasons and is a workhorse on the recruiting trails,” Madsen said in a statement. “He knows what success at Cal looks like with his previous experience on Mike Montgomery’s staff and he’ll make an immediate high-level impact on our program and our student-athletes. I’m excited to have Matt wearing the Blue and Gold once again.”
Madsen's hires make it clear he's prioritizing adding successful recruiters.
In the 2022 recruiting cycle, Mazarei helped Vanderbilt sign the ninth-ranked recruiting class, including three four-star prospects, while Scherbenske helped Texas Tech rank 13th that cycle, also signing three four-star prospects. Texas Tech also brought in five notable transfers last year, and Madsen and his new staff will continue mining the transfer portal after already adding coveted big man Fardaws Aimaq (from Texas Tech, coincidentally or not) and guard Jalen Cone (from Northern Arizona).
It has to be noted that Texas Tech has several other players in the portal still: forward Daniel Batcho (7.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG), forward Jaylon Tyson (10.7 PPG, 6.1 RPG), guard Elijah Fisher (3.3 PPG) and forward Robert Jennings (2.7 PPG),
Prior to Texas Tech, Scherbenske spent six seasons (2015-21) at Central Arkansas. He was the Bears’ associate head coach in 2020-21 after five seasons as an assistant coach. Scherbenske helped UCA set a program Division I record with 18 wins and win its first postseason game in the CBI first round in 2017-18.
Scherbenske’s first stint in Berkeley was from 2011-14, in which the Golden Bears won 66 games and made three postseason appearances – including two NCAA tournament berths – under Montgomery. After spending the 2011-12 season as a graduate assistant at Cal, Scherbenske accepted the director of basketball operations title at The Citadel, only to quickly return to Berkeley when Montgomery hired him back as the Bears’ video coordinator ahead of the 2012-13 campaign.
“I’m elated and thankful to return to Cal and help Coach Madsen lead this program back to its winning ways,” Scherbenske said in a statement. “I first came to Berkeley more than 10 years ago and saw firsthand what it takes to make this program great. I’m excited to work alongside Coach Madsen and lead Cal men’s basketball into a new era.”
After earning his undergraduate degree in business management from Kentucky in 2010, Scherbenske interned with NBA skill trainers Mike Procopio and Tim Grover and helped work out a multitude of NBA stars including Kevin Durant, Dwayne Wade, Anthony Davis and Gilbert Arenas. He served as the head coach at Christ Prep Academy (Lenexa, Kansas) in 2010-11 and was also an assistant coach for the AAU KC RUN GMC squad.
Scherbenske, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, played two seasons at Kentucky (2007-09) after transferring from Oral Roberts following his freshman season (2006-07).
