A First at Utah Valley: A Winning Record Under a First-Year Head Coach

Todd Phillips led Utah Valley to 16 wins in his first year as head coach in Orem.

Utah Valley finished with 16 wins under first-year head coach Todd Phillips. Courtesy Western Athletic Conference.

Since 205-16, the Utah Valley men's basketball team has had three head coaches. Mark Pope, Mark Madsen, and the outlier in Todd Phillips.

From 2015-2019, Pope lead the Wolverines to 67 wins in the first head coaching gig of his career.

In his first season in 2015-16, Pope's team finished 12-18 overall and 6-8 in WAC play.

Following the end of a 25-win season in 2018-19, Pope left to go across town to take the head job at BYU.

Enter first-year head coach Mark Madsen.

In his first season at Utah Valley, Madsen led the Wolverines to an 11-19 overall record, and a 5-10 finish in WAC play. I still remember being at the Denver Airport after WAC Media Day and Madsen asking me one question.

"Kyle, why did you rank us so low?"

Well, new team, first-year head coach, and a lot of unknowns.

Madsen went onto lead Utah Valley to two WAC regular season titles in 2020-21 and 2022-23. The Wolverines actually won the regular season title outright in 2022-23, Madsen's final year in Orem.

Following the 28-win season in 2022-23, Mark Madsen took the head coaching job at Cal.

It didn't take long for Utah Valley Athletic Director Jared Sumsion to find Madsen's replacement.

Madsen's associate head coach Todd Phillips was given the reigns to the Wolverine men's basketball program.