What Utah's Alex Jensen said at Big 12 men's basketball media day

Utes head coach fielded questions from the media at the league's annual media day

Utah Runnin' Utes head coach Alex Jensen enters his first season at the helm of his alma-mater. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Wednesday marked the Big 12's introduction to a new era of Utah basketball, as first-year head coach Alex Jensen and a couple of his players descended upon the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, for the league's annual media day.

Accompanied by junior forward Keanu Dawes and Akron transfer James Okonkwo, Jensen and company gave fans and the media an inside look at how the Runnin' Utes roster came together over the offseason, and how all the pieces fit together with some light film breakdown of Dawes and Okonkwo's game.

Dawes, the only returner with significant playing time from last season, is coming off averaging 8.3 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting 61.4% from the field. He'll be looking to carry over some momentum from a strong end to the 2024-25 campaign, when he put up 13.2 points and 10 rebounds per game over the final six contests.

Okonkwo, a fifth-year forward from Maidenhead, England, joins Utah after scoring 6.9 points and grabbing 7.2 rebounds per game for the Zips, helping guide them to a 28-7 record and a Mid-American Conference regular-season title. Akron earned a 13-seed in the NCAA Tournament before being blown out by 4-seed Arizona in the first round.

Okonkwo, who also has postseason experience from his time at North Carolina and West Virginia, will look to help Utah clinch its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2016.

The Runnin' Utes officially tip off the Jensen era with a six-game homestead, starting Nov. 3 with a matchup against San José State (ESPN+) and continuing through the first three weeks of November. 

But first, Utah will wrap up exhibition play on Friday with a game against Oregon. The Runnin' Utes unofficially started the Jensen era last week with an exhibition against Nevada at the Jon. M Huntsman Center. Despite a big night from Terrence Brown (27 points) and a cold stretch from the Wolf Pack offense down the stretch, the Runnin' Utes couldn't complete their comeback bid in an 80-77 loss.

Here's what Jensen had to say at media day.

On the reception of being named Utah's head coach in the spring

"The reception was great. I got to see a lot of people that I got to know while I played there, but the reception has been great. And hopefully we can win and play the right way and get more people in the arena."

On his player development strategy coming from the NBA

"Coming from the NBA, I've been a part of a lot of different player development plans. So it's a big thing that a lot of teams have four or five player development coaches, but, the first week I got there, we didn't do any basketball. It was all like measuring, testing and weight room. But I think we lay it out, and actually, we spent a lot of time on it, pretty thorough and and it's actually, in the few short months we've been here, everybody's made improvements."

On what he prioritizes when constructing a roster

"It's interesting because we've prioritized a few certain things. This might sound like a simple thing, but the one thing is, players that like to play. I go back to the teams that have had success at Utah, and they've been teams that, not necessarily, I don't think many top-50, top-100 players have been there, but it's always been guys that have wanted to come, like to play, wanted to get better, and then you see where that takes you. But I think they have to like the game and want to get better and realize that they need to get better."

If he's received any advice from another Big 12 coach

"I kind of knew it before I came, but since I've been here, I've realized that — and I'm not just saying it because we're in the Big 12 — but there's not a better basketball conference, and the coaching is great. And I'm actually excited too because I know there's a learning curve for me. There's some great coaches to learn from and and I'm sure that speaking to them or not, I'm going to learn a lot."

"I'd take a brief conversation with Kelvin [Sampson] and what he's done in Houston in his 13 years. Not a, you know, traditional powerhouse, but I admire that and [was] kind of curious to how he went about it. But [there's] a lot of good coaches that have built programs and run programs for a long time, and that's what we're trying to do; be good for a long time, not just a year or two."