Mark Madsen reveals plans for significant practice facility at Cal
Mark Madsen understands that Cal is in for a major rebuild, and he’s taken an optimistic approach to getting started with the Golden Bears.
Speaking on the College Hoops Today podcast with Jon Rothstein, Madsen is ready for big things next season.
“It’s not outside the realm of possibility that we could have one of the biggest turnarounds in (NCAA) history,” he said. “Going from 3 wins last year to, we want to be in the 20s.”
In terms of facilities, Madsen said Cal is not far off from having world-class facilities.
“The plans are drawn, and we are close to breaking ground on a $80 million to $100 million state-of-the-art practice facility,” he said.
Madsen agreed that that kind of investment is significant, and that if there are 25 to 30 checkpoints, 24 to 29 of them are done. Madsen added that there will be an image soon of university leaders and players at a ceremony to signal the start of the building. He said the facility would be at the top of the facilities across college basketball nationally.
“The excitement around the facilities, the team, the energy, is off the charts here,” Madsen said.
That will be a notable upgrade from the program under former coach Mark Fox. Cal went 38-87 during Fox’s tenure, and ended his final season on a 16-game losing streak. The Golden Bears haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2016 and haven’t won a game in the tournament since 2013.
Mark Madsen on the #CollegeHoopsToday Podcast:
His first month at Cal, what he learned from both Mike Montgomery and Phil Jackson, the state of the Pac-12, and much more.https://t.co/kxAKNtpSSV
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 8, 2023