Tony Madlock, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Memphis University alongside former NBA All-Star Penny Hardaway, was announced as the new South Carolina State head men’s basketball coach Thursday (March. 25th) by Bulldog Athletics Director Stacy L. Danley.
Danley expressed his excitement for a new era in Bulldog men’s basketball.
“During this process we were able to look at a number of potential candidates,” Danley said. ” Tony Madlock, who I have had the opportunity to know and evaluate as a person and coach for over10 years, is everything we were looking for: winning with integrity, amazing pedigree, incredible understanding of what it takes to win, and experience as the architect of several national ranked recruiting classes. He is a teacher, evaluator, recruiter and first class coach. He is the kind of coach that I would want my son to play for,” said Danley.
“I am excited to join the Bulldog family. I am looking forward to getting on campus and beginning a new era in Bulldog Basketball,” said Madlock. “Thank you to President Clark, Athletic Director Stacy Danley as well as the South Carolina State for this opportunity”
Madlock, who has 25 years of experience as a college assistant and one season (2017-18) as interim head coach at Ole Miss, spent four seasons with the Rebels prior to Memphis.
During his time at Memphis, he re-united with Hardaway, a teammate of his with the Tigers during the 1991-92 season. Madlock and Hardaway helped the Tigers reach the Elite Eight in 1992.
As an assistant coach on the Tiger staff, he helped guide Memphis into a national powerhouse from 2018-present, with the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation in 2019.
While at Ole Miss, 2015-17, Madlock helped guide the Rebels to back-to-back 20-win seasons, including a trip to the NIT Quarterfinals. He coached the Rebels’ Sebastian Saiz to all-league honors and to a record-breaking senior season, as well as Stefan Moody, who earned first team All-SEC honors for two years straight.
Prior to his tenure at Ole Miss, Madlock spent four seasons as an assistant on Tony Barbee’s staff at Auburn and four seasons as an assistant at UTEP. He was an assistant for nine seasons at Arkansas State, where he spent six of his nine years as the assistant head coach prior to going to El Paso.
He helped Arkansas State to the 1998 Sun Belt Conference regular season championship and the 1999 Sun Belt Conference tournament title, during a stint in which he recruited six JUCO All-Americans and the only junior college player in Arkansas State history to score 1,000 points in two seasons. He is also credited with developing four all-conference players and the Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year.
An All-American honorable mention and first-team All-State point guard, Madlock began his coaching career as an assistant coach and teacher at his alma mater, Melrose High School, in Memphis. The Golden Wildcats posted a 67-29 mark over the three seasons with Madlock on the staff, and Melrose was the 1997 state tournament runner-up with a 32-7 record.
The 51-year old Memphis, TN native, earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from then-Memphis State in 1991 in 3.5 years. A four-year letterman and three-year starter for Memphis from 1988-92, Madlock was a member of four postseason tournament teams for the Tigers, reaching the NCAA Tournament and NIT two times each.
He still ranks among the school’s all-time leaders for games played (128), and averaged double figures as a junior and senior. Madlock played one year of professional basketball in South America before starting his coaching career.
Madlock is married to the former Stacie Bryant of Memphis. They have two children — a daughter, Kyndal, and a son, T.J.
Madlock named Head Basketball Coach at SC State
