LAS VEGAS, Nevada — It wasn’t the ending the Utah Valley University men’s basketball team wanted to cap its most historic season in school history.
After repeatedly fighting back from early deficits to take the lead late in the game, the Wolverines lost to the University of Alabama at Birmingham 88-86 in overtime of the program’s first-ever NIT semifinal appearance Tuesday, March 28, at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It also marked the end of a coaching era.
In his postgame remarks, Mark Madsen, UVU’s now-former head coach and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, did something he was known to do — he showered his players with praise.
“I‘m incredibly proud of our entire locker room of players,” Madsen said. “This team has great players, players that work. They just completed the best basketball season in UVU school history. So I want to celebrate these players and the job that they have done. We fell a little bit short tonight. But just the fight, the energy and the enthusiasm out there was incredible.”
While the loss is disappointing, it allows Madsen to focus more on his family and a new job opportunity.
His wife, Hannah Madsen, is overdue and could deliver their fourth child, a girl, any time.
Madsen, who won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and helped lead Stanford to the NCAA Final Four as a player, will be the new men’s basketball coach at the University of California-Berkeley, according to multiple reports.
UVU athletic director Jared Sumsion, administrators and fans are grateful for what Madsen has accomplished at Utah Valley.
“Mark Madsen has taken our program to unprecedented never-seen-before heights,” Sumsion said in a news release Wednesday, March 29. “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.”
Cal’s new head basketball coach
Madsen was all business two hours before Tuesday’s game, offering no clues about his future plans.
“The entire focus is on one thing, the NIT with Utah Valley,” he said outside the locker room before the game. “That’s the entire focus of this week. That’s what I’ve told the players. That’s what I told the coaching staff.”
News of his departure came Wednesday afternoon.
Madsen will be the 19th head coach in California men’s basketball history, Cal Athletics Director Jim Knowlton said in a news release.
“I could not be more excited to welcome Mark, his wife, Hannah, and their children to the Cal Family,” Knowlton said. “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.”
Madsen expressed gratitude to the Cal administration for the opportunity to coach in the area he grew up in, he said in a statement.
“Having grown up in the area, I have always admired Cal as an institution and as an athletic program, with so many of my teachers, coaches and friends impressive Cal graduates,” Madsen said. “We will win with young men who have elite academic and athletic talent and who will represent Cal with pride. Hannah and I and our children are excited to return to the Bay Area and join the Cal community, and I cannot wait to get started. Go Bears!”
In his four seasons at Utah Valley, Madsen compiled a record of 70-51 and won a pair of conference titles. UVU’s 28 wins this past season are the most ever recorded in a single season, and he was named the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
Madsen said he is grateful for his Latter-day Saint faith when it comes to making big decisions and dealing with the challenges of fatherhood and coaching. Daily exercise also helps to relieve stress.
“Faith plays an absolutely huge role, because you realize what is truly important in life,” he said. “When it is all said and done, it is hugely important to do your best in every scenario of life, whether that’s athletics or whether it’s a test. But there are many things much, much more important than basketball.”
The deal and a baby girl
Leading up to Tuesday’s NIT semifinal game, Madsen had a deal with his wife.
“After her due date, I’m not going to be gone nights, to the best that I can,” he said. “Every child we have had has come at night.”
Madsen flew from Utah to Las Vegas on a 6 a.m. flight and flew home after the game to be with his family. As of Tuesday night, the baby had not come.
“This is the joy of our life — our kids,” Madsen said after the game. “The joy of my life as well is our team. ... These players have been incredibly understanding. ... They gave me that flexibility. No baby yet, but hopefully we will have the baby soon.”
Both Madsen’s parents, Duane and Erlyn Madsen, and his in-laws, Wally and Annette Harkness, attended the game.
Madsen’s mother-in-law acknowledge his merits as a coach, but appreciates more his willingness to help with the house chores.
“He just jumps up and helps with the dishes,” Annette Harkness said. “All of my children are helpful with the dishes, but I didn’t expect it from a former NBA player.”
Friends who attend games with Harkness see Madsen get stern with officials, then ask her what the college basketball coach is like at home?
Harkness says she has never heard him raise his voice with his wife or children. But she has watched the 6-foot-9 father perform the actions to the favorite children’s song, “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” at breakneck speed and fall to the floor laughing with the children during family home evening.
“He’s such an involved parent. The intensity he brings as a father is a strong gentleness, kind but firm,” she said. “Mark is very grounded. He knows what is really important. Everything else is interesting, fun and fulfilling. But what matters is what you find in the family and in the gospel, and Mark knows that.”
What UVU players appreciate about Madsen
One of the big lessons that UVU senior guard Trey Woodbury has learned from Madsen is how to handle himself on and off the court — “professionalism.”
“That is what he has really tried to just pound into me and teach me — being a professional. I think I’ve developed that well over the years,” Woodbury said before scoring 16 points in Tuesday’s game. “I’m thankful for that.”
Teammate Tim Fuller admires his coach’s leadership qualities and the emphasis Madsen places on family.
“That is something he is really open about with our team,” said Fuller, who scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds against UAB. “It’s something he can have because he extends that same privilege and right to us. ... We’re basketball players, but we also belong to a family as well.”
Leadership and people
Cheering courtside Tuesday with her green and silver pompoms, UVU President President Astrid Tuminez gave her evaluation on Madsen’s coaching performance at Utah Valley.
She applauded his track record of “excellence,” “character” and ability to redirect praise to others.
“I think it was a terrific hire. I’m proud of that hire,” Tuminez said. “Madsen has truly built a team and given so much credit to his players. You don’t see an ego. I think that is inspiring.”
Before the game, Madsen credited his father, Duane, with teaching him many important life lessons, including optimism in the face of challenge and the importance of people.
“With my dad, the very worst thing could happen and he would say, ‘This is a huge opportunity,’” Madsen said. “That is what he sincerely believes. That, to me, is great leadership.”
Despite Tuesday’s loss, Duane Madsen said his son coached a “magnificent” game. He said he was proud of Mark’s leadership, integrity, gospel commitment and how he treats his players.
“I have appreciated seeing the way he respects every player on the team and the way he is trying to help each and every player become the best they can be, and not just in basketball,” Duane Madsen said. “He is always looking for the best in people.”
