Mark Madsen says Cal basketball needs over $10M for roster: 'Resource gap? 100%'
Cal head coach Mark Madsen said he is enjoying his job in Berkeley and laid out keys to success, including player retention and a competitive budget.
Cal went 22-12 (9-9 ACC) in 2025-26, Mark Madsen's third season in charge of the men's basketball program.
The Bears racked up their most wins since 2015-16 (23), including victories over nationally ranked UCLA and North Carolina, and Cal swept the season series from Stanford for the first time since 2009-10.
However, two of the players most responsible for the Bears' resurgence, guards Dai Dai Ames (team-high 16.9 points per game) and Justin Pippen (14.2 ppg, team-high 4.6 assists per game), have transferred. Ames is at Tennessee, Pippen at Ohio St.
Madsen doesn't have to remake his entire roster; the Bears return nine players, including starting center Lee Dort and backup guard TT Carr. Cal has added six players from the transfer portal and three freshmen.
And on the home front, Madsen and his wife Hannah are about to add a sixth child to their family as she is due in early August.
What follows are excerpts from an interview with Madsen in Berkeley on Tuesday afternoon. Some questions and answers have been edited for clarity and/or brevity.
Q: Toward the end of the season, one of the big words you used was "retention." Retention was important. And obviously, a couple of guys you would like to have weren't retained. How do you balance that disappointment with the excitement you've got already in June?
A: I'm focusing on all the players we did retain. That's Lee Dort. That's TT (Carr). That's Jovani Ruff. That's Sammie Yeanay. Jorell (Clark). Luke (Butler) and BJ (Fisher). Mantas (Koanas). DK (Dut). … Were there a few additional guys that we would have liked to have retained? Of course, but it was actually a banner year in terms of retention. It was probably the best we've had on record. So that's outstanding.
Q: I know a lot of Cal fans who like what you've done with the program but say it's hard to root for a team when it's a different team each season. To some extent, that's not endemic to Cal; that's almost everywhere in college basketball. But how would you answer Cal fans who have that sentiment?
A: I would say this: There's a resource gap between the top 40 teams in the country and where we are right now and so that plays heavily into an ability to retain. Every year, we're closing that gap, but you can just go on Twitter. There's some information that's wrong, but a lot of it's right. There are basketball teams with payrolls in excess of $20 million for one season. And it's not just one or two. … We have to get to half of that level.
Q: If you can close the money gap, how much can you leverage the value of the Cal degree, the opportunity to play for you and associate head coach Adam Mazarei and be in the Bay Area?
A: That's what we're doing, and we've been able to get some outstanding players doing that but we have to get to half of the level of what the top 10 or 20 teams have. And if we can get to half of the level, then it's going to really improve retention. It's going to allow us to do a lot of additional things here at Cal. And by the way, there is massive improvement every year, but is there a resource gap? 100%. If we're talking about the top 20, 30 teams. … That dramatically affects retention. That is probably the singular most important input of many inputs to being able to retain (a player): Can we make a competitive offer?
Q: What have you learned over the past three seasons in building and rebuilding a team, so to speak, in the months of June, July, August, September and October that will help you once you get to November of this year?
A: Well, if you look at our team now … I think we have three or four players under two-year contracts, so that is a step in the right direction in terms of continuity. … We were very aggressive in the portal. We were very aggressive with high school players. I love the roster we've put together.
Q: Certain teams have an identity. When Randy (Bennett) was at St. Mary's, the Gaels were going to rebound the ball and they were going to play defense. Have you gotten to a point where (your team) has an identity, or some coaches say, "You know what? I just mold the team to the best abilities of the team." How do you look at that?
A: Well, you're seeing our defensive identity. We jumped over 100 spots in our defensive efficiency (from 2024-25), and that's unheard of. … The fans can see exactly what we're doing defensively. It's much more aggressive. There's more trapping. There are more rotations. From an analytics perspective and from a winning perspective, the defensive identity was outstanding. … Defensively, there's a clear identity and everyone sees that. Offensively, we will always try to play to our players' strengths and allow players to play in space, really encourage ball movement and unselfish play. I think those are some of the constants.
Q: Guys who are back whom people know Lee Dort, TT Carr how much better can they be in 2026-27?
A: Well, Lee took a huge jump to get to the level of play that he was doing this last season and I think he's going to take another massive jump. He's continued to really work on his body and home in on nutrition, strength training. His footwork already has taken a step up. The voice, the leadership, just the presence on the court Lee has been outstanding.
TT decided to go into the portal to explore. He was looking at a lot of great things and when it was all said and done, he wanted to come back. So, I think that speaks to who TT is as a person and I think that speaks to the type of family environment we're trying to build here.
Q: One transfer whom Bay Area fans probably will recognize is former St. Mary's and Georgia guard Jordan Ross. How do you see Ross fitting into this team?
A: Jordan Ross is an outstanding point guard. He is a leader. He has a great voice. He knows exactly what to do on the court. Jordan is a point guard who can score the ball. He's an efficient point guard. He's someone who I think has a lot of upside even from the great career that he's already had. … Jordan got here early and he's putting together a very good summer.
Q: You've been here three-plus years. What's the best thing about being the head coach at Cal and what's the most challenging thing?
A: The best thing is the people. This university, this city, this Bay Area is full of really, really good people. Our players in the program, the coaching staff are great people and (so are those) in the administration.
The challenge is when I accepted the job, we were in the Pac-12 and now we're in the ACC. And so, the travel's brutal and it wears you down. And you have to do a lot of creative things to maintain your energy and to maintain the energy and focus of the players. Nobody signed up for that travel, but we're embracing it and it has been awesome. Duke came here and played at Cal in front of a sellout crowd. North Carolina, the stands were full. We get to go out there next year and try to get a win on the road against those guys. So, it's exciting.
Q: I know how much being the head coach at Cal means to you, but you've got a life outside of that, too. How do you and Hannah balance five kids, trying to raise a family, and knowing how much this job means to you and means to your family?
A: My family is everything to me, and we try to really make things a family environment for our players as well. All of that being said, Hannah and I carve out very important quality time by ourselves. … That's Priority No. 1. And then Priority No. 2 is she kicks me out all the time. If I say, "I might need to go to Turkey for recruiting," she says, "Get the first flight out of here." If I need to be gone for a week, she says, "Be gone for longer. Do your job. Make this the best team possible." She is the most supportive wife of a coach you could ever imagine. It's unbelievable.
