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Madsen is rarely overmatched on the court, even when guarded by two opponents.
(John Biever)
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Mark
Madsen,
Stanford
Class: Sophomore
Position: Forward
Height:
6'8" Weight:
235
DOB:
Jan. 28,
1976
Hometown:
Danville,
Calif.
High School:
San Ramon
Valley
Vital
Stats: 11.7 points per game, 7.8 rebounds, 58.1% field
goals
by Albert
Lin
There may be no more appropriate nickname in college
basketball than the one bestowed on Mark Madsen. The man
they call "Mad Dog" is just that on the court, an
endlessly hustling, physically punishing inside force with
enormous hands and feet (size
18EEEE). Madsen missed eight games this season due to a stress
fracture in his right foot, but has played through a
sprained ankle, a dislocated finger, a torn tendon in
another finger and a chipped tooth. In tournament play he
is averaging 16.3 points and
11.3 rebounds while shooting 62.8% from the field.
"Madsen is one of the strongest guys I've seen in
college athletics in years," said Rhode Island coach
Jim Harrick. "Don't ever shake hands with the
guy."
In the Midwest Regional final against Harrick's Rams,
Madsen put the Cardinal ahead with 26.2 seconds left when
he picked up Arthur Lee's steal and went in for an
authoritative two-handed jam while being fouled. He celebrated by walking toward the foul line and
letting out a yell, arms tensed and body convulsing. "I have no dance moves whatsoever,"
he said after the win that put Stanford into the Final
Four. "But I'll have to admit that was pretty
good."
Madsen's off-the-court demeanor is entirely different. The
fifth of 10 children, he never wore a letterman's jacket in
high school because he didn't want to seem boastful. He has
played the stock market since he was a fourth grader, when
he used to go
to school carrying a briefcase rather than a backpack. He
hands out business cards to reporters (Mark E. Madsen,
Stanford University Class of 2000), and he interned at
Hewlett-Packard last summer. He lives in the Spanish house
on campus. He is a devout
Mormon who served a two-year mission in Spain before enrolling
at Stanford and who, because of his faith, had to make a
difficult decision to play on
Sundays.
And we haven't even gotten to academics yet. At San Ramon
Valley High, he posted a 3.7 GPA and was student body
president. Last spring Madsen, who is
double majoring in economics and Spanish at Stanford, wrote
a 15-page paper for his
Writing and Critical Thinking class that contrasted Dennis
Rodman and Jackie Robinson as role models (he earned an A).
"If he was a politician, you might not believe
him," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said.
Mad Dog for mayor? Not yet. Madsen still has a lot of
basketball to
play.
Other Spotlights
March 24: Tamika Catchings, Tennessee
March 22: Jeff Sheppard, Kentucky
March 21: Khalid El-Amin, Connecticut
March 20: Andre Miller, Utah; Alisa Burras,
Louisiana Tech
March 19: Brian Cardinal, Purdue
March 18: Tim Young, Stanford
March 17: Sarunas
Jasikevicius, Maryland; Adia Barnes, Arizona
March 16: Mateen Cleaves, Michigan; Murriel Page, Florida
March 15: Jason Hart, Syracuse
March 14: Kris Johnson, UCLA
March 13: Lee Nailon, Texas Christian
March 12: Brian Earl, Princeton
March 11: Tyrone Weeks, Massachusetts
March 10: Brett Robisch, Oklahoma St.
March 9: Larry Hughes, Saint Louis
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