Utah Utes Looking at Familiar Face as Hoops Head Coach
8 days and two games is all it took for the University of Utah’s men’s basketball program to dial in on a new head coach after canning Craig Smith in the midst of his 4th year.
The sudden dismissal of Smith was unexpected, as Utah was 15-12, 7-9 in conference play and had just recently strung together wins over Kansas and K-State.
It wasn’t perfect but it was progress for a Utah team that hadn’t had a winning record in any conference play since the 2018 season.
They were competitive in the Big 12 in year one and that in it’s own right warranted some respect.
But Utah had higher expectations, and made it evident that Smith’s progress wasn’t coming along quickly enough with a 65-62 overall record and zero tournament appearances to boot.
Utah clearly had a short list of options when they made the move on February 24th, likely being a big reason why they pulled the plug when they did rather than letting Smith finish the 4 games left on the schedule.
They wanted to act and they wanted to act now.
The results of those swift and purposeful actions were made known today when Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweeted that Alex Jensen, a longtime NBA assistant coach was at the “top of the Utes list”.
Jensen, most recently know for his role with the Dallas Mavericks has been in the NBA as an assistant since 2014 where he was a member of the Utah Jazz coaching staff up until the 2022-2023 season.
If the Jensen talk comes to pass, Utah wouldn't just be getting a former NBA coach, but a lifelong friend, a well versed leader and a strong history of knowing ball on every level you could imagine.
Jensen, an All-State forward out of Viewmont High up in Bountiful, was named the 5A player of the year by multiple local publications after going 72-5 with the Vikings.
With averages of 17 points, 10 boards and 4 assists, a college career was a no brainer and Jensen stayed close to home suiting up for Rick Majerus and the Utah Runnin’ Utes.
Jensen was an impact player from the get go, never averaging less than 24 minutes a night in his 133 total games played as a Ute.
Jensen’s teams were highlighted with some of Utah’s proudest moments, seeing the likes of Andre Miller and Michael Doleac alongside him.
These Utes were constant threats, even going 30-4 in the 1997-1998 season, where they advanced to the national championship game before falling to Kentucky.
Jensen finished his senior season in Salt Lake City averaging 13.1 PPG, 7.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists all while shooting about 54 percent from the field.
Some of his career accolades included All-WAC team, WAC all-defensive team, and a conference tournament MVP.
In the Mountain West Conference’s debut, Alex Jensen was the first ever player to capture the honor of conference player of the year in the 1999-2000 season.
After a successful 4 years of collegiate ball, Jensen went overseas and played pro ball from 2000-2007.
His coaching career began in 2007, when he joined up with former head coach, Rick Majerus, in Saint Louis.
That path led him to the NBA Development league where he led the Canton Charge for two straight season, capturing the coach of the year award in 2013.
From Bountiful to Salt Lake City to Spain, Japan, Turkey, Ohio, back to Utah then a pit stop in Dallas all roads eventually led back home to the beehive state.
Will they do so again?
Will the call of the Mountains lead Alex back to the land of Swig and Honey?
Utah seems hard pressed to make it happen, and although nothing is official yet, things seem to be gaining momentum especially with Sean O’Connell, an ESPN 700 radio personality in Salt Lake City and Steve Bartle of KSL chiming in on the reports.
The local connection, the varying degrees of success on and off the hardwood, and the pure love of basketball make Jensen a home run hire for Utah if this goes down the way many Ute fans are hoping for.
Time will tell, and one never want’s to put the cart before the horse, but an official announcement may be sooner than we think
In the mean time, Utah still has two games to round out the year before the Big 12 conference tournament, starting tonight with West Virginia.
The game is scheduled for a 7:00 mountain time tip in the Jon M. Hunstman Center where Utah has won 5 straight games.
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