Another follow-up story from our interviews Monday ...
Cal.rivals.com
The question just kept coming Monday as Mark Madsen was formally introduced as Cal's new basketball coach.
Athletic director Jim Knowlton joked about it in introducing Madsen, saying he was still trying to determine where the former NBA player had gone to college. ESPN/Pac-12 Network personality Roxy Bernstein joked that he'd never seen Madsen look so good, wearing the blue and gold.
Yes, the coach now tapped to revive Cal basketball started his rise in the sport at rival Stanford, where he helped lead the Cardinal to the Final Four in 1998.
Every time that rather interesting component of all of this came up Monday, Madsen had his stock answer ready.
COLUMN: New Cal coach Mark Madsen embracing, setting the highest of expectations
"I can't tell you how excited I am to dive in here at Cal," Madsen said in response to Bernstein. "I love my alma mater, I had a great experience there, but it's about building Cal and getting Cal back to where Cal belongs basketball-wise. Just couldn't be more excited about it."
And when it came up again in the subsequent press conference with media ...
"I would say this. I love my alma mater, I love where I went to school, I love every experience that I had. My excitement is for Cal," Madsen said. "My excitement is for building this into a championship program."
But what about when he takes his Cal team on the road to Stanford's Maples Pavilion next season?
"I absolutely understand the question," Madsen said. "I would say this -- of course probably the night before I'm going to have some emotions going back to a place where I spent time. But the season, the number of games for us next year, hopefully we're playing 38 games. So that's two games out of 38. As you guys get to know me you'll see that when I dive into something I give full commitment. Absolute full commitment, full excitement. And guys, I'm incredibly excited about this opportunity here -- about this opportunity.
"For a lot of reasons. Just, I see the potential. It's exciting for me to -- when it's all said and done I grew up with a lot of Cal grads as my high school teachers, some of my high school teammates went to Cal. ... It's really fun and exciting for me to be here."
In fact, Madsen tried to preempt the subject altogether in his opening statements Monday, explaining his own ties to Cal while growing up in nearby Danville.
As he shared, his first recruiting visit was to Berkeley.
"I want to turn the clock back to 1992. I was a young player in high school trying to find my way. I had never played a minute of varsity basketball, so John Raynor, my head coach [at San Ramon Valley HS], he kind of entrusted me to his assistant, Jim Barrons, who played here under Pete Newell in the program. So somehow, Jim was able to get me on an official visit to Cal. It was my first visit as a recruited athlete," Madsen said, telling the story. "I went over to Harmon Gym and I watched Jason Kidd practice. Lamond Murray was on the team, Monty Buckley was on the team. I was blown away at the talent level of the basketball team. I was in heaven. Lou Campanelli was the coach, I went into his office, I'd barely played any high school basketball, but they treated me incredibly well.
"Then they took me to the football game and I was just enjoying myself, and at some point somebody walked up the stairs and was walking across the aisleway and the entire crowd just started yelling at this person, and the chant was simple -- 'Take off that red shirt.' Later there was a coaching change and my recruitment dropped off, as sometimes happens in the recruiting process, but that was my first introduction to Cal. ... I was surrounded in a lot of ways with Cal graduates and people affiliated with Cal."
Now, Madsen is the fresh source of optimism for Cal basketball fans that their program can be returned to those previous heights.
GoldenBearReport - How former Stanford star Mark Madsen is embracing his new role at Cal
Mark Madsen was asked several times Monday about his ties to the other side of the Cal-Stanford rivalry.
Cal.rivals.com
The question just kept coming Monday as Mark Madsen was formally introduced as Cal's new basketball coach.
Athletic director Jim Knowlton joked about it in introducing Madsen, saying he was still trying to determine where the former NBA player had gone to college. ESPN/Pac-12 Network personality Roxy Bernstein joked that he'd never seen Madsen look so good, wearing the blue and gold.
Yes, the coach now tapped to revive Cal basketball started his rise in the sport at rival Stanford, where he helped lead the Cardinal to the Final Four in 1998.
Every time that rather interesting component of all of this came up Monday, Madsen had his stock answer ready.
COLUMN: New Cal coach Mark Madsen embracing, setting the highest of expectations
"I can't tell you how excited I am to dive in here at Cal," Madsen said in response to Bernstein. "I love my alma mater, I had a great experience there, but it's about building Cal and getting Cal back to where Cal belongs basketball-wise. Just couldn't be more excited about it."
And when it came up again in the subsequent press conference with media ...
"I would say this. I love my alma mater, I love where I went to school, I love every experience that I had. My excitement is for Cal," Madsen said. "My excitement is for building this into a championship program."
But what about when he takes his Cal team on the road to Stanford's Maples Pavilion next season?
"I absolutely understand the question," Madsen said. "I would say this -- of course probably the night before I'm going to have some emotions going back to a place where I spent time. But the season, the number of games for us next year, hopefully we're playing 38 games. So that's two games out of 38. As you guys get to know me you'll see that when I dive into something I give full commitment. Absolute full commitment, full excitement. And guys, I'm incredibly excited about this opportunity here -- about this opportunity.
"For a lot of reasons. Just, I see the potential. It's exciting for me to -- when it's all said and done I grew up with a lot of Cal grads as my high school teachers, some of my high school teammates went to Cal. ... It's really fun and exciting for me to be here."
In fact, Madsen tried to preempt the subject altogether in his opening statements Monday, explaining his own ties to Cal while growing up in nearby Danville.
As he shared, his first recruiting visit was to Berkeley.
"I want to turn the clock back to 1992. I was a young player in high school trying to find my way. I had never played a minute of varsity basketball, so John Raynor, my head coach [at San Ramon Valley HS], he kind of entrusted me to his assistant, Jim Barrons, who played here under Pete Newell in the program. So somehow, Jim was able to get me on an official visit to Cal. It was my first visit as a recruited athlete," Madsen said, telling the story. "I went over to Harmon Gym and I watched Jason Kidd practice. Lamond Murray was on the team, Monty Buckley was on the team. I was blown away at the talent level of the basketball team. I was in heaven. Lou Campanelli was the coach, I went into his office, I'd barely played any high school basketball, but they treated me incredibly well.
"Then they took me to the football game and I was just enjoying myself, and at some point somebody walked up the stairs and was walking across the aisleway and the entire crowd just started yelling at this person, and the chant was simple -- 'Take off that red shirt.' Later there was a coaching change and my recruitment dropped off, as sometimes happens in the recruiting process, but that was my first introduction to Cal. ... I was surrounded in a lot of ways with Cal graduates and people affiliated with Cal."
Now, Madsen is the fresh source of optimism for Cal basketball fans that their program can be returned to those previous heights.
