OREM, Utah (ABC4 Sports) – One day after Utah Valley lost in the NIT semifinals to UAB, head coach Mark Madsen has accepted the head coaching job at Cal.
Associate head coach Todd Phillips will serve as the program’s interim head coach while a national search will be conducted for the program’s next head coach.
“Thank you UVU for the most incredible journey over the past four years,” Madsen wrote on Twitter. “We will miss you and will be back OFTEN! Thank you, UVU president [Astrid Tuminez] for your inspirational leadership of this great university and athletics program. Thank you for everything. We will never forget you!”
“Mark Madsen has taken our program to unprecedented never-seen-before heights,” said Utah Valley athletic director Dr. Jared Sumsion. “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.”
Madsen, who graduated from Cal’s arch rival Stanford, was long expected to eventually become the head coach at his alma mater. But Stanford has stuck with Jerod Haase, and Madsen did not want to wait to go back to the Pac-12.
In his four seasons at Utah Valley, Madsen compiled a record of 70-51, while also amassing 48 wins over the last two seasons. He also put together a 39-25 record in WAC play and won a pair of conference titles.
Madsen led UVU to its most successful season in UVU history this past year, guiding the Wolverines to a 28-9 overall record and a 15-3 mark in WAC play, earning WAC Coach of the Year honors.
He led UVU to non-conference road wins at Oregon, BYU, New Mexico, and Colorado. He also led UVU to a historic 74-68 win at home over Cincinnati in the quarterfinals of the NIT to send the Wolverines to their first-ever NIT semifinal appearance.
Utah Valley’s 28 wins this past season are the most wins ever recorded in a single season, surpassing the previous record of 25 set during the 2018-19 season. Madsen earned 2023 WAC Coach of the Year honors after claiming his second WAC regular season title in the past three seasons. Madsen led the Wolverines to back-to-back 20-win seasons (2021-22, 2022-23). His team hit the 20-win mark faster than any team in UVU history.
Madsen led Utah Valley to just its second NIT appearance in program history where he guided the team to a 3-1 record and a trip to the NIT semifinals in Las Vegas. He led the Wolverines to a 2-1 record against crosstown rival BYU during his four seasons at UVU, including wins over the Cougars in back-to-back seasons (2021-22, 2022-23). He knocked off a Pac-12 team three straight times on the road with wins at Washington (2021-22), at Oregon (2022-23), and at Colorado (2022-23).
Madsen was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham Coach of the Year award this season, which is presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball.
Utah Valley will immediately begin a national search for its next head coach.
