28 Comments

Delighted to hear this. I believe he will be a program builder and does right by his young men and our University. He brings so much energy and passion, it is wonderful. Go Bears and Go Mad Dog!

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Definitely has work to do to fill out the roster and sad that we get this particular roster only for one year but this was the year that rescued Cal men’s basketball. 2023-24 is the start of the turnaround.

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Thought for sure that Jim K woudl find a way to screw this up.

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Day ain’t over yet… ;-)

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Mar 12·edited Mar 12

Mad Bear took Cal from the ashes to mediocrity! The sky's the limit! Grrrrrrraaaaaa!

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love the MadBear moniker. Can I steal it?

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Wasn’t mine to begin with so sure! 😁

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Wilcox extension coming soon next.

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are you sure that has not already been signed, Oprah-like: "you get an extension, you get an extension, and you too get an extension. Everyone gets an extension."

Memo to Carol C: rumor (started by JK) has it that Larry Scott called JK looking for his services in a new Power Conference that Larry is starting from scratch. Better extend, JK too.

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Mar 12·edited Mar 12

Given our recent trend of doling out premature extensions, I should be a little more nervous than I am. But this is a surprisingly astute move to head off any noise that otherwise would start tomorrow as soon as we vanquish the Furd,

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Exactly. Completely fine with this move.

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I love Madsen back from the Laker days until now. Great work this past year.

But I don't know about the extension. I guess the benefit is, if things get even better, then we don't have to sign him to a bigger contract? It's so early though. Would prefer to have waited a bit to see how things play out in ACC before trying to lock down something longer term. Oh well! Go bears!

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Anything to try to ensure that Madsen stays for the long haul. If he could come close to matching his mentor that would be a good goal.

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Mar 12·edited Mar 12

Stanford job is likely opening up. Had to head that off.

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Seems kinda soon for an extension but I'm most definitely on Team Madsen based on what I've seen this year. If we project his floor, it's probably "very good" and his ceiling is possibly "elite."

I, of course, always worry about a Wilcox-type situation but I have a better feeling about Madsen. Unlike Wilcox, he assembled this team instead of inheriting much of it and managed to coax significant improvement despite injuries.

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This is Stanford insurance…

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I was thinking that but I'd imagine they can still afford to buy out his contract regardless. Unless there's some sort of poison pill in there.

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It would be extremely shady to jump ship days after signing an extension. Madsen doesn’t seem the type to do that. I think he wasn’t kidding when he said he wants to do a long-term rebuild.

We should send momma Madsen a card.

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I agree, he's a standup guy. If we're going to roll the dice on a long-term contract, he's absolutely the guy I'd do it with.

We need Erlyn to come to a tailgate so we can deliver said card personally. Though, being Mormon, she may want to excuse herself before the traditional shotgunning of beers.

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As another member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I’m sure I could find a good soda or other nonalcoholic beverage to share while you shotgun the beers.

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To match the vibe you may need a large dirty soda. Shotgunning one of those will probably make one even more likely to puke than the beer.

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Well his buyout is probably more expensive now. So at least there's that.

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BOOYAH!!

Nice.

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Fourth most wins for a first time coach but no doubt the greatest percentage increase in wins from the prior year!

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Mar 13·edited Mar 13

Even more important than that IMHO is relevancy. This team was in almost every game…they battled. And despite this rough patch to close the year, which is exacerbated by the fatigue factor for a team that’s not deep, the program has just shown genuine improvement. It’s great to see. The staff needs to replace a lot, but you’ve got legitimate confidence that it can be done.

As opposed as I was to the Wilcox extension after the Oregon foray, I’m the exact opposite here. Make sure Stanford doesn’t get their greasy little hands on Butch’s birthright….(Major Koons, Pulp Fiction)

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I don’t usually love long coaching contracts, but I’ve got a good feeling about this one.

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I approve! Let’s gooooooo!!

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