Life is good for Mark Madsen.
The head coach of the Utah Valley University men’s basketball team just earned his first Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award after leading the Wolverines to the WAC regular-season championship, the team’s second title in Madsen’s last three seasons at UVU.
Madsen’s Wolverines, 24-7, reached the 20-win mark faster than any team in UVU history since the program moved to Division I status. The team’s 24 wins are also just one win away from tying the UVU record for wins in a season at 25.
The No. 2-seeded UVU Wolverines play in the WAC Tournament this week against the winner of a first round matchup between No. 7 Tarleton State and No. 10 Texas-Rio Grande Valley at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Thursday at 7 p.m.
As exciting as all that sounds, the former NBA center who is also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has something even more important happening at home.
“Hannah and I are expecting a little girl in a few weeks,” he said with a smile. “You don’t alway choose the timing on these things, but it’s better March 25 than Feb. 25.”
When the child is born, the couple will have four children under the age of 6.
If Utah Valley is still playing in late March, it will mean the Wolverines reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
“We will cross that bridge when we get there,” Madsen said.
While anything is possible with March Madness, there is no question about the 6-foot-9 coach’s devotion to his family.
Madsen praised his wife as the “ultimate pillar” in their family and for him as a basketball coach. In their seven years of marriage, there have been three or four separate times when one or all members of the family were super sick. The latest round came in the middle of the current season.
“It was tough, and we weren’t sleeping much,” he said. “We were just doing the best we can.”
Following UVU’s afternoon game at Northern Arizona in December, Madsen informed his team he needed to get home right away. He couldn’t wait for the originally scheduled flight home the next morning.
“I felt guilty. I’m leaving the team,” he said. “But I need to get back to my family.”
He got an Uber from Flagstaff to Phoenix, Arizona, then caught a direct flight from Phoenix to Salt Lake City that evening. Madsen has needed to leave his squad two or three times during the season under similar circumstances to return to his family.
“I’ve explained it to the staff, my players. My family comes first. There will be a few times when after a game I’m racing to the airport to catch a flight,” Madsen said. “For me, given that Hannah’s pregnant, we have young kids, I’ve got to get home and help. Everyone is really understanding, and when family things come up with our players, we try to be equally understanding there as well.”
During such experiences, Madsen and his wife have been grateful for their faith and testimonies of the gospel. The couple has a goal to study the scriptures together every day, even if it’s only a few verses.
“It’s incredibly important,” said Madsen, who served as a full-time missionary in Spain. “We love our ward and have an unbelievable ward community. I love being a member of the Church.”
Madsen is also grateful to be the head coach at UVU. The team lost three of its first five games and had other “potholes” to overcome during the season, but the Wolverines have persevered.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with great young men and staff. They are great people and want to be the very best in basketball,” he said. “Sometimes there are potholes in the road ... but it’s fun to work through all these challenges, successes and failures together. I view it as a privilege to be here.”
Madsen feels confident going into the WAC Tournament.
“I‘m really excited. We’re playing well right now. The ball movement has been good. Our defense has been our anchor,” he said. “You want to be peaking at the right time, and I think we are. We’re excited to go down there and play our best basketball.”
