Winners and losers from Utah basketball's transfer portal efforts

With the transfer portal closed and the roster near finalization, the Utah men's basketball program is almost ready to put a bow on its offseason plans.

After losing 11 players to the portal and another two to eligibility exhaustion, Alex Jensen and his staff were given a clean slate to work with as they continued their rebuild of a program that hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2016. In addition to its 2026 recruiting class, the Utes' coaching staff reeled in four transfers and a few international recruits to surround their pair of returners, Lucas Langarita and Babacar Faye.

As the dust settles on Utah's roster renovations, let's take a look at the winners and losers of the Utes' transfer portal efforts.

Winner: Alex Jensen

Jensen's experience with the portal going into his second season on the job has been much different than the circumstances he was dealt around this time a year ago.

When the former NBA assistant was hired to take the helm of his alma mater, he had 18 days to settle in and get his ducks in a row before the portal officially opened. Not to mention, he didn't have a general manager to work alongside until Wes Wilcox stepped into the role on March 26, two days after players were allowed to enter the transfer market.

As such, the Utes had to scurry to replace nearly 90% of their scoring production from the 2024-25 squad without much of a game plan to follow. Despite nabbing some talented mid-major players, the end results were a 10-22 overall record and last-place finish in the Big 12 standings in 2025-26.

What Jensen's first season at the helm provided him and his staff, though, was an opportunity to plan ahead for the offseason and truly begin rebuilding the program with their vision in mind, starting with the finalization of the 2026 recruiting class in November and working through the portal into April. It also included spending some time and resources to bring a few European prospects to Salt Lake City, like Israeli guard Noam Yaacov, German forward Alec Anigbata and Austrian big Fynn Schott.

In the portal, Jensen and company looked to address the team's inefficiencies on defense with the additions of 6-foot-7 wing Jackson Holcombe (2.2 steals per game at Utah Valley) and reigning Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, TJ Burch (2.6 steals per game at Wright State). Utah got a true playmaking point guard in Yaacov and a true post-scoring presence in Schott, as well as a solid 2026 class featuring some depth pieces.

Of course, the final product on the court remains to be seen. For now, though, we're chalking this offseason up as a "win" for Jensen.

Loser: Rest

While it would appear Utah's future outlook has benefitted from the staff's roster efforts, everyone involved in the Utes' rebuild probably hasn't taken much of a break from recruiting and game planning in the past year or so.

If Michigan's coaches were scheduling 2 a.m. Zoom calls with transfers in the hours following the national championship game, then it would make sense that all the other high-majors trying to reach the mountaintop like the Wolverines did would be working the phones day and night as well. The way the college basketball calendar is currently structured basically encourages an around-the-clock behavior — otherwise, the fear of fading into irrelevancy creeps in.

Given that Jensen was at the center of Utah's glory days as a player, one would think he's tirelessly doing what he can to revive the Utes and get them back to the NCAA Tournament. If that really is the case, he and his staff probably haven't slept much since the start of the 2025-26 regular season.

Winner: International Recruits

As mentioned, a key component of Utah's offseason plans has been signing European prospects with professional backgrounds. Yaacov (BNXT League), Anigbata (Bundesliga) and Schott (Primera FEB) all played on club teams affiliated with some of Europe's top leagues prior to their commitments to Utah, and have represented their countries on the international stage in various FIBA competitions.

College basketball has always had some sort of foreign flavor to it for years now, though the NIL boom and freedom of movement granted by NCAA rules have made playing in the states that much more appealing over the past few years. Illinois' 2025-26 roster was heavily Balkan-influenced, with Tomislav Ivisic (Croatia), Zvonimir Ivisic (Croatia), David Mirkovic (Montenegro), Andrej Stojakovic (Greece/Serbia) and Mihailo Petrovic (Serbia) making up what was known as the "Balkan Five." Obviously, that panned out well for the Final Four-band Illini.

It would appear Utah and its six international players are trying to replicate what Brad Underwood and so many other coaches across the country have done in supplying their rosters with European talent.

Loser: Continuity

There were times throughout his first season at the helm where Jensen would describe the idea of roster continuity as the sort of luxury every college basketball coach wants but often struggles to achieve.

Given the nature of the portal, it would be easy to surmise how he came to that conclusion within the first few months on the job. Jensen himself was managing a roster that had just one rotation player from the 2024-25 team (Keanu Dawes) and was composed mostly of one-year transfer rentals. And while some programs have been able to turn their fortunes for the better using that kind of roster-building strategy, the Utes looked disconnected and out of sorts with their rag-tag bunch.

Utah has, once again, assembled another batch of transfers and international recruits to compete with the big boys of the Big 12. Unlike this time a year ago, though, Jensen and company had time to identify their biggest needs and the types of players they wanted to plug those holes. And as it turns out, the newcomers joining the ranks have at least two years of eligibility left, with exception to Weber State transfer Malek Gomma (senior in 2026-27).

The opportunity to lay a real foundation for the future and establish a culture is there for Jensen and company this upcoming season — even if the win-loss total isn't exactly what fans hope for.

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