In the seven months since Cal hired Mark Madsen to resurrect its basketball program, a buzz of optimism has gradually grown.
Madsen, the former Stanford star who won two NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, has retooled the Bears’ roster, smiled at passsersby from freeway billboards, greeted countless boosters of the program and worked enthusiastically with his new team.
Cal’s players hope their fans are excited about the season as they are.
“I’m beyond excited,” senior guard Devin Askew said. “I had an injury last year and I’m just excited to be out there on the court again, wearing a Cal jersey. Excited to play for our new coaches, our new players and new fans that come in. We’re ready to get this thing started.”
It gets started Monday evening at Haas Pavilion, when the Cal men tip off a doubleheader with a 6 p.m. matchup against St. Thomas of Minnesota.
The Cal women take on Cal State Bakersfield at 8:30 p.m. A single ticket gets fans a chance to take in both games.
Senior transfer Fardaws Aimaq played for Madsen for three seasons at Utah Valley before one season at Texas Tech.
“I’ve been counting this down since I left Texas Tech,” he said. “Knowing this is my last year, this is my last first game. I tell that to myself every single day.
“The biggest thing is to have fun with it and not put too much pressure. Right now that is the mentality I’m trying to instill in our guys. When we huddle up the last thing we say is, `Have fun.’ That’s what we’re trying to do.”
All signs point to this season being infinitely more fun than any of the past six at Cal, all of which ended with losing records. Last season was the worst in program history, with the Bears staggering to a 3-29 record before Mark Fox was relieved of his coaching duties.
Madsen has more than once thrown out the idea the Bears hope to engineer the biggest turnaround in NCAA Division I history. For now, he’s just eager to see what his team looks like in a real game.
“What I really like is the ball movement. Our guys are very unselfish. The ball’s been moving, guys have been sharing opportunities on the court,” he said.
“We have a lot of different way to attack. A lot of guys who can score it in different ways. On the defensive side, we have great rebounding and we have the ability to play strong transition defense. And excitement.”
Fardaws, who won WAC Player of the Year honors in 2021 with Utah Valley, said the Bears have looked good in practice.
“wThe biggest thing I’m excited about is how versatile we are. We have size, we have shooting, we have defense,” he said. “With the pieces the coaching staff have put together, I think we have a real chance to make a run in the Pac-12.”
St. Thomas is in its third season transitioning from Division III to Division I. The Tommies went 19-14 last year, including 9-9 in the Summit League. They battled No. 9 Creighton before losing 72-60 in the opener a year ago but were overpowered 95-66 by Utah.
Coach Johnny Tauer, in his 13th season, led the program to a Division III national title in 2016. They have returning starters from last season, led by graduate Parker Bjorklund, a 6-foot-7 forward who averaged 15.1 points.
“They’ve had a lot of good wins in the history of their basketball program.” Madsen said. I know them well also because I lived in Minnesota back when they were D-II or D-III and they were knocking off people then.”
Madsen, who played six of his nine NBA seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, has not announced a starting lineup for tonight. The Bears will be without one of their top players, junior guard Jaylon Tyson, whose bid for immediate eligibility as a two-time transfer was denied. Cal awaits word from the NCAA on its appeal.
Cal’s average home attendance careened to 2,155 a year ago, worst in the Pac-12 and worst in the 25-year history of Haas Pavilion.
Askew, one of five returning scholarship players, was asked what fans can expect to see at a game this season.
“The love of basketball," he said. “How exciting basketball is and how much love we have for the game. I would say they’re going to be very happy.”
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