COLUMN: New Cal coach Mark Madsen embracing the highest of expectations
New Cal basketball coach Mark Madsen could have left the bar resting at a very comfortable level as he takes over a Golden Bears program coming off its worst season ever.
Expectations would be modest for Year 1 and probably Year 2. Show a clear upward trajectory from that 3-29 nadir this past season, some marked signs of growth and stability, tangible evidence of improved recruiting and most Cal supporters would likely be content to remain optimistic and trust in the process.
Madsen could have underscored patience and emphasized a long-term plan for turning around what was the worst major conference team in the country this year.
Instead, he chose to use all of his 6-foot-9 frame to reposition that metaphorical bar himself Monday during his formal introduction inside Haas Pavilion.
"I have a vision in the not-too-distant future of hanging banners here in Haas Pavilion. I have a vision in the not-too-distant future of traffic jams of people coming across the bridge to this arena to watch this style of play and this brand of basketball and the players in the Cal program. I have a vision of greatness with Cal basketball," Madsen said in his comments to university officials, supporters and a Pac-12 Network television audience.
He was only getting started ...
"This is a sleeping giant. This is a program that could be a nationally-ranked program year in and year out," Madsen said.
Then, as he joined a room of reporters upstairs after the formal on-court ceremony, Madsen really got going ...
"My excitement is for building this into a championship program. My excitement level is the tradition of the past -- we can get there and we can do it, and it's not going to take us as long as everyone thinks," he said, amplifying and expediting expectations further.
Like a charismatic real estate agent convincing a buyer that what looks from the outside like a major fixer-upper is actually move-in ready, Madsen compellingly sold his vision for immediate results.
"There's a group of really talented players already in the program, so now you add three or four key players from the [transfer] portal, you add some players that are already in the program from an existing standpoint and then you bring in a couple young guys and you make some tweaks, good things can happen quickly," he said.
Madsen said he's watched a number of Cal's games from last season and noted how competitive many were, how injuries played into that dismal record and how with better health, some in-game Xs and Os changes and that boost from the transfer portal ... voila!
"I'm telling you, this thing can turn around very, very quickly -- and it will," he said, punctuating his message.
Throughout the 25-minute press conference, Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton, sitting to Madsen's right, watched and smiled.
It was Knowlton who hired former head basketball coach Mark Fox, who went 38-87 over four straight losing seasons at Cal. The AD got a second chance to fix Bears basketball and now has as much riding on Madsen's success as anyone.
"I think this is the coach that is going to bring us to the promised land," Knowlton said.
Off to the side as the press conference broke, Knowlton wanted to continue the conversation. He excitedly emphasized how much work Madsen has already done behind the scenes, calling boosters and demonstrating that he knows how important those relationships are now more than ever in the age of NIL-fundraising collectives.
Knowlton didn't have to overtly say it to convey that Madsen's eager investment in those efforts is one positive change already paying dividends for the future potential of Cal basketball.
Indeed, that was among the more specific tenets of the vision that Madsen emphasized publicly as well -- the priority importance of building a strong NIL program.
He touched on it in his remarks down on the court, again in the press conference and even further while talking off to the side with a few reporters.
"I believe that Cal in some ways is already on its pathway to becoming a national leader in NIL, in accordance with all NCAA rules and in accordance with all the mandates and statutes set out by Congress. I'm incredibly excited and encouraged by NIL," Madsen said while making clear that NIL does not mean "pay for play" -- a distinction that seems at best blurred across the current college athletics landscape.
Madsen was pressed on whether he was given any guarantees or assurances that Cal would have more NIL resources to utilize for its basketball players than it has to this point. He didn't give a direct answer, but his response made it sufficiently clear it was a priority conversation for him in evaluating the job.
"The truth of the matter is if you are not in Name, Image and Likeness, it's going to be very difficult for you to compete at a high level. That's the reality. That's the reality. Being in basketball every day, that's the reality," Madsen said. "So when I saw how on board Jim is for Name, Image and Likeness but done the right way, it's incredibly exciting. ...
"When you think about ... the excitement around the donor base for NIL, we've seen some incredibly exciting things happen. And Jim will have more to announce on that as time passes, but I believe that Cal is going to be one of the national leaders in NIL."
And then there is recruiting, which has severely languished in recent years for a program that has previously shown the ability to reel in some top talent -- like five-star forward and now-NBA star Jaylen Brown back in the 2015 class.
Cal ranks 66th nationally in this recent 2023 recruiting cycle with a pair of three-star signees. The Bears haven't signed a four-star prospect since the 2018 recruiting class.
Again, Madsen didn't hesitate to set expectations much higher in that regard.
"I want to put up a chain-link fence around the state of California and keep the best California players at Cal," he said. "We will be aggressive in the transfer portal. When players enter that portal that are great basketball players and great students, we're going to be all over them. We're going to be all over them and we're going to bring them here to Cal. We're going to recruit nationally and internationally and have great success doing that."
In fact, that was the first "pillar" to the "plan for success" that Madsen outlined. The others were player development, an uptempo style of play attractive to recruits and conducive to better offensive success, creating a family environment within the program, the aforementioned commitment to NIL, a "world class" coaching staff yet to be announced, calling on his rolodex of resources as a former NBA player (with the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves) and assistant coach, and an alignment from the university in regard to admissions.
"We need to cast a broad net. I don't want a player, a prospective student-athlete to be penalized because maybe his high school doesn't offer enough AP courses," Madsen said. "And in talking with university leadership, I'm extremely encouraged at the case-by-case basis at which admissions will look at each student-athlete. I think that's a sign of a great institution."
In general, Madsen dismissed the notion of "institutional challenges" as impediments to building a successful college basketball program at Cal.
"The history of Cal basketball is winning and winning at a high, high level. Obviously, the national championship, multiple Sweet 16s, repeated NCAA tournaments. I'm going to do everything in my power, and we will restore Cal basketball to that level of play," he said. "... There is absolutely no reason why Cal cannot be restored to the rich tradition that has been such a part of this university and this athletic department."
As much as Madsen's stirring statements and confident pledges surely fired up a Cal fan base desperate for change and fresh optimism, Knowlton might have been the most pleased of all Monday.
He watched intently during many of Madsen's responses, seeming affirmed that he'd made the right hire this time in betting on the up-and-coming head coach whose Utah Valley teams got successively better in each of his four seasons there, capped with a 28-9 finish and NIT semifinals appearance this year.
"Everything you saw today was why he was so interesting to us," Knowlton said. "When we finally got to the Zoom calls, we were absolutely blown away. And then when we got in person and spent 3 or 4 hours with him, we said, 'This is the next coach at Cal.' So it felt right. We want to win the right way, we want to do it the right way, but we want to, just as someone said, knock someone down and help them back up. We want to be that team you don't want to play, and we want to be competitive.
"He brings every one of those [characteristics] while also being just an incredible human being, so we're excited and we're excited that we got our man."
Madsen certainly won the press conference Monday afternoon -- now he just has to deliver on the talk and do it on the court for a program that hasn't had a winning season since 2016-17.
But indeed, there is a fresh optimism for Cal basketball again.