Once upon a time, Utah was a regular in the madness of March.
In hopes of resurrecting those successes of the program’s golden era, the Runnin’ Utes are turning to one of their own. Utah is set to hire Dallas Mavericks assistant Alex Jensen as its new head coach, a source briefed on the negotiations said. The move comes a little more than one week after the university fired former coach Craig Smith near the end of his fourth season in charge. ESPN first reported news of the hire.
Jensen, 48, was one of the key figures during Utah’s most prominent years as a program under legendary coach Rick Majerus in the late 1990s, a period that featured an appearance in the 1998 national championship game and an Elite Eight appearance the year prior. The Utes are banking on Jensen’s coaching prowess and skills as a player development coach in the NBA over the last decade to get back to the days of NCAA Tournament berths.
Jensen joined the Dallas staff in 2023 after spending a decade as an assistant for the Utah Jazz. He is credited with being the primary development coach for All-Star center and four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, who was drafted by the Jazz the same year Jensen joined the staff. Jensen eventually became the top assistant to former Utah coach Quin Snyder and was, at one point, believed to be an attractive head-coaching candidate in the NBA.
Jensen was named the NBA D-League Coach of the Year in 2012-13 with the Canton Charge and interviewed for the vacant Cleveland Cavaliers job in 2019.
Since Majerus’ last year at Utah in 2004, the Utes have made just four March Madness appearances. The most recent was in 2016 under former coach Larry Krystkowiak. The program hasn’t had a player drafted in the NBA Draft since Kyle Kuzma in 2017. Smith, who was hired after Krystkowiak’s dismissal in 2021, went 65-62 in nearly four seasons at Utah between stints in the now-defunct Pac-12 and the university’s first season in the Big 12.
This season, Utah is 16-14 (8-11 Big 12) as it prepares to take on BYU on Saturday in Provo in its final regular-season game of the season.
This isn’t the first coaching cycle in which Utah zeroed in on one of its most beloved former players. After Krystkowiak’s firing in March 2021, Jensen was one of the leading candidates to replace him but opted to stay with the Jazz. Two days after Jensen informed his alma mater of his decision, Utah hired Smith, the former Utah State head coach.
Utah’s slow drift toward irrelevance has left the fan base in a state of apathy in recent years. The upper bowl of the 15,000-seat Huntsman Center was often covered up by large curtains during game days to avoid showcasing so many empty red seats on broadcasts. The Utes haven’t finished ranked in the AP Top 25 since the year of their last NCAA Tournament in 2016.
(Photo: Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)
