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Alex Jensen introduced as Utah’s new men’s basketball coach

Former Runnin’ Utes star player is a connection to the glory days
Bernie Wilson|
Former Utah Jazz assistant coach Alex Jensen.
Former Utah Jazz assistant coach Alex Jensen. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

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Utah Runnin' Utes

The University of Utah trotted out the past and the future when it introduced new men’s basketball coach Alex Jensen on Monday evening at the Huntsman Center.

Jensen played on the Utah team that made it to the national championship game in 1998 under coach Rick Majerus. He’s being tasked with returning the Runnin’ Utes to March Madness after an absence that has now reached nearly a decade.

Jensen was hired on March 6 to replace Craig Smith, who was fired in late February in his fourth season at Utah. Josh Eilert has been the interim head coach.

Athletic director Mark Harlan presented Jensen with a No. 50 jersey, the same number he wore during his playing days. 

“I remember playing here and the history, especially basketball, it’s rich,” Jensen said. “I remember thinking, you’re in a long chain of great players and great teams. I don’t want to say it’s a continuation of the past. I think it’s a connection. I specifically approached it as forward-looking, forward-facing, of carrying on the tradition.”

Jensen was introduced several hours after the Utes (16-16) accepted a berth in the inaugural Basketball Crown Tournament against Butler on March 31 in Las Vegas.

Jensen has been an NBA assistant coach for 12 seasons. He spent 10 years with the Utah Jazz before joining Dallas in 2023. He said he’ll remain with the Mavericks through the end of the season. 

Jensen played under Majerus in the 1994-95 season, went on a two-year mission and then returned to play with the Utes from 1997-2000. He helped the Utes make it all the way to the national championship game in 1998, where Utah lost to Kentucky.

Utah hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2016. It reached the NIT once under Smith.

His vision is for Utah “to be a tough, hard-nosed competitive team that will make the fan base proud. We won’t cut corners.”

He met with the players earlier Monday and told them, “With the changing landscape, it’ll be a place where players want to come and play and want to be a part of after they’re done playing.”

University president Taylor Randall recalled the 1998 team playing with grit and heart.

“I’m going to tell you what coach Alex Jensen brings to the University of Utah today is the same grit and that same tenacity,” Randall said. “So today we do lean a bit into the successes of our past. But we also look forward to the future.”

Randall said Jensen is “a coach with incredible basketball acumen and an incredible sense of what this community needs, and also particularly what our players need in terms of player development. He is the consummate player-development coach.” 

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Bernie Wilson
BERNIE WILSON

Bernie Wilson recently retired from The Associated Press after nearly 41 years, including stops in Spokane, Los Angeles and, for the final 33 years, San Diego. He grew up in Coeur d'Alene and graduated from the University of Idaho.

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