Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Mark Madsen will become a head men’s basketball coach in Utah County after all.
Madsen, 43, will replace Mark Pope as the head coach at Utah Valley University, The Salt Lake Tribune has confirmed. The hiring was first reported by ESPN.com.
Pope was chosen as BYU’s new head coach last Wednesday, beating out Madsen, Portland State coach Barret Peery and BYU interim head coach Quincy Lewis for the job to replace Dave Rose.
Madsen let it be known during that process that he would be interested in replacing Pope if he didn’t get the BYU job, and that pursuit was surely sped up when head coach Luke Walton and the Lakers parted company on Friday, leaving Madsen without a job.