Mark Ellsworth Madsen is an American former professional basketball player and current head coach of Utah Valley University of the Western Athletic Conference. Due to his hustle and physical style of play, he received the nickname "Mad Dog" while playing for the San Ramon Valley High School Wolves - the moniker continued during his time with the Stanford Cardinal and beyond.
College
Madsen played NCAA basketball at Stanford, where he finished his career ranked in the school's career top 10 in blocks and rebounds. In addition, Madsen helped the Cardinal to four NCAA tournament appearances, including a Final Four berth in 1998. Perhaps his signature moment at Stanford was his dunk and free throw that gave Stanford a lead over Rhode Island, propelling the team into the Final Four, where it lost to eventual champion Kentucky. Madsen was a two-time All-American and a two-time All-Pac-10 selection.
NBA
The Los Angeles Lakers selected Madsen in the first round of the 2000 NBA draft. He contributed to the Lakers' NBA championships in 2001 and 2002, and became well known for his goofy dances at the victory parades for those championships. Talking about his prime with the Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal said that the only player who could thwart him from his dominant play was Madsen. "He used to beat me up in practice", O'Neal said. Madsen signed with the Timberwolves as a free agent before the start of the 2003–04 NBA season. He played six seasons for the Wolves. On July 20, 2009, Madsen was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers along with Craig Smith and Sebastian Telfair in exchange for Quentin Richardson. On August 21, 2009, he was waived by the Clippers. His career averages were 2.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.4 assists and 11.8 minutes played per game.
Coaching
Following being waived, Madsen was hired as the assistant coach for the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League. In 2012, he was hired as an assistant coach at Stanford. On May 13, 2013, he was named head coach of the Los Angeles D-Fenders, a D-League team owned by the Los Angeles Lakers. On July 19, 2013, Madsen was promoted to a player development coach position with the Lakers. On September 16, 2014 Madsen was promoted to full-fledged assistant coach by Byron Scott. After Byron Scott was dismissed as head coach of the Lakers, new head coach Luke Walton retained Madsen as assistant coach on July 1, 2016. Madsen was hired as the head coach at Utah Valley University on April 14, 2019.
