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We continue our season preview coverage with new Utah Valley coach Mark Madsen. It is hard to believe that it has been a couple of decades since he almost helped Stanford upset Kentucky in the Final 4, and after he joined the NBA he won a pair of titles with the Lakers. He later spent several years as an assistant coach with the Lakers before being hired to take over the Wolverines as head coach last April. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Madsen about winning a pair of titles and starting a new job.
Your nickname is “Mad Dog”: how did you get it, and how do you like it? I got it in 5th grade from my PE teacher who had a nickname for everybody. It has stuck with me ever since.
You played for Coach Mike Montgomery at Stanford: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He is a coach of the highest character and is a great human being. His schemes are very difficult to guard: I run the same stuff at Utah Valley. He is unbelievable at Xs and Os and remains a friend to this day.
Take me through the 1998 NCAA tourney:
You made a 3-PT play with 26.2 seconds left in a 2-PT win over Rhode Island: how were you able to overcome a 6-PT deficit in the final minute? Arthur Lee! He scored about 14 PTS during the final 3 minutes and just took over the game. Coach Montgomery told us to keep fighting and Arthur put the team on his back and things just worked out.
In the Final 4 you had 16 REB in a 1-PT OT loss to eventual champ Kentucky: how close did you come to beating the Wildcats? I think that all of us beat ourselves up after that game. You think about every little thing that you could have done better.
You were a 2-time All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? It was a testament to our team’s success: it is really a reflection of all 15 players and what they did as a group.
You won back-to-back NBA titles with the Lakers in 2001/2002: what did it mean to you to win a pair of titles? When you win them so early in your career you almost do not know anything different. After my 1st 4 years in the league I never made the playoffs again so I am glad for the great memories I made early on.
You were named head coach at Utah Valley in April: why did you take the job, and how is it going so far? I took the job because it is an unbelievable basketball school going back to coaches like Dick Hunsaker and players like Ronnie Price. It has a great basketball tradition and things are going great. We had a few transfers and signed some new players and have some great returning players: I could not be more excited!
Your non-conference schedule includes a road game against Kentucky next month: do you prepare to face the Wildcats in the same way that you prepare for any other team? You know that they are 1 of the top programs in the country and you want to go out and compete against whoever you play. We have a group of competitors and that is why you play the game.
You lost 5 of your top-6 scorers from last year (Jake Toolson/Conner Toolson/Baylee Steele/Ben Nakwaasah/Connor MacDougall): how will you try to replace all of that offense? I analogize it to a bucket of water: when you take your hand out of the bucket the water is still in there. We lost some great players but there is still a tremendous opportunity for the returning guys and the new guys: the sky is the limit.
You only have 3 players on the current roster from Utah: what sort of recruiting philosophy will you have? We will recruit Utah hard and also have a national/international footprint. I got hired late but we will bring in the best guys wherever we can find them.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? As a group we want to make a deep push into postseason play. We want to be peaking late in the season and hopefully make the NCAA tourney.