While the NBA world recently has been focused on the draft and free agency — two building blocks that franchises hope will deliver a championship someday — former NBA assistant Alex Jensen is pursuing development of the next generation of talent.
Jensen has returned to his alma mater, the University of Utah, where he and his staff were knee-deep in recruiting during the month of June, as well as gathering their new-look Runnin’ Utes together for summer workouts.
There’s not been much time for an offseason for the former Utah star big man.
Nearly four months after officially being hired as the Utes’ head coach, Jensen is appreciative of the challenges and learning curves he’s already experienced in a collegiate world that looks different from his last venture in college coaching 15 years ago.
It’s all happened amid the uncertainty surrounding the House vs. NCAA settlement that allows schools to directly pay players, which went into effect on July 1.
“It’s been good. I mean, there’s definitely an adjustment,” Jensen told the Deseret News during a recent one-on-one interview about his adjustment back to the college game and taking over as Utah’s coach.
“I think everybody in college is adjusting to it because of the (House vs. NCAA) settlement, and I think the landscape is evolving as we speak. There’s a lot of unanswered questions with everything, but the adjustment has been good. I’m smart enough to realize that there’s a learning curve, and I have a lot to learn. I’ve learned a lot, and it’s been fun putting it all together.”
Working with his new team in the gym
June provided Jensen and his coaching staff the chance to get inside the gym with his players — a welcome opportunity for someone known for his development skills.
Jensen, who said he doesn’t plan on having a big staff, has focused on bringing in small groups of players on a team with nine new faces thus far, in order to get more personalized time with his players.
“I told them, even though I’m a head coach, I’m a player development coach. And I think it’s hard to coach a kid unless you spend time with them on the court,” Jensen said. “That’s one priority of mine when they got on campus was to spend time with them on the court, and we wanted to start (with) small groups where it was more individualized and personal.
“... Almost everybody is new here, and hopefully we will have some continuity moving forward, but especially with everything being new — staff and most of the players — I think it’s crucial to have that small group time with everybody.”
Putting together his coaching staff
When Jensen was introduced as the program’s 17th head coach back in early March, he stressed the importance of not rushing the process of hiring his coaching staff and putting together the roster.
The team’s roster that was announced three weeks ago had only three holdovers from last season, and it required plenty of man-hours finding players via the transfer portal or searching for freshman talent that was still available.
To help rebuild that roster, Jensen brought in a new general manager, Wes Wilcox, who had lengthy experience as an NBA executive.
Raphael Chillious, Eric Daniels and Martin Schiller have filled assistant coach positions, and each of them brings diverse skills to the program, ones that Jensen hopes will pay off over time as together they focus on long-term success.
“Talking to recruits and other people, the thing that I’ve realized — and it’s kind of dawned on me with some of the Zoom calls — is the unique thing is, almost everybody on my staff had a good job before they came here, like myself. They came here because they want to be here. They didn’t come here to use it as a stepping stone to get another job,” Jensen said when asked why these guys were the right fit.
“It’s kind of gone in line with doing things right, because it takes time to do things right. And every decision we’ve made, we’ve made for the long term.”
Wes Wilcox, men’s basketball general manager of the Utah Utes, speaks to members of the media at an informal gathering at the university in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.| Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Alex Jensen, men’s basketball head coach of the Utah Utes, speaks to members of the media at an informal gathering at the university in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.| Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Wes Wilcox, men’s basketball general manager of the Utah Utes, speaks to members of the media at an informal gathering at the university in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.| Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Wes Wilcox, men’s basketball general manager of the Utah Utes, speaks to members of the media at an informal gathering at the university in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.| Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Alex Jensen, men’s basketball head coach of the Utah Utes, speaks to members of the media at an informal gathering at the university in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.| Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Wes Wilcox, men’s basketball general manager of the Utah Utes, speaks to members of the media at an informal gathering at the university in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.| Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Wes Wilcox, men’s basketball general manager of the Utah Utes, speaks to members of the media at an informal gathering at the university in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.| Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Alex Jensen, men’s basketball head coach of the Utah Utes, speaks to members of the media at an informal gathering at the university in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.| Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Wes Wilcox, men’s basketball general manager of the Utah Utes, speaks to members of the media at an informal gathering at the university in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.| Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Wes Wilcox, men’s basketball general manager of the Utah Utes, speaks to members of the media at an informal gathering at the university in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.| Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Rebuilding the roster
One of the challenges Jensen, Wilcox and company have faced is retooling the roster, after nearly every Ute with eligibility remaining after last season hit the transfer portal and only one player with significant playing experience in 2024-25, Keanu Dawes, stuck around.
The Utes have added eight players from the portal thus far, as well as a couple promising freshmen.
That incoming transfer group includes guard Terrence Brown, who averaged 20.6 points per game last season at Fairleigh Dickinson, along with forward Jahki Howard (a transfer from Auburn), guard Elijah Moore (Syracuse), forward James Okonkwo (Akron), guard Don McHenry (Western Kentucky), forward Babacar Faye (Western Kentucky), forward Seydou Traore (Iowa) and forward/center Joshua Hayes (Northwest Florida State College).
Jensen had something in mind when he was scouring the portal looking for new talent to add to the roster — and while name, image and likeness (NIL) money is a dominant theme in college athletics these days, he wanted something more than just to be the highest bidder.
First-year basketball coach Alex Jensen has focused on working with players in small groups during summer workout sessions.
First-year basketball coach Alex Jensen has focused on working with players in small groups during summer workout sessions.| Utah Athletics
“First and foremost, just like my staff, I wanted to get people that wanted to be here. I didn’t want people to come just because we paid the most,” Jensen said. “I think we did a good job with those guys, but we wanted to get guys that love the game, that will compete and want to get better, and (are) just a good fit.”
Jensen said that as each domino of the roster fell into place, “it became more clear what we needed next.”
“I love the group we have,” he said.
Dawes will be a major piece of that puzzle in Jensen’s first season.
He came on strong at the end of his sophomore season last year, and will be counted on to lead the Utes into a new era of basketball.
“The thing I see in him, I think he’s not close to what he could be like. I think he has great potential, and I think he sees it in himself, too,” Jensen said.
Dawes showcased that potential in Utah’s final six games last season, when he averaged 13.1 points and 10.0 rebounds over that stretch.
Jensen is also encouraged by Dawes’ desire to stick it out through a tough situation at Utah.
“That was the one big thing with him that excited me was his desire to be here,” the coach said.
Utah forward Keanu Dawes, right, drives to the hoop against Butler during a first-round game at the College Basketball Crown at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Monday, March 31, 2025.| Anna Fuder, Utah Athletics
Utah’s first schedule under Alex Jensen
The schedule for Jensen’s first season is getting closer to completion, and that included recently learning the Utes’ matchups for Big 12 play.
Among the highlights, Utah hosts Houston and Iowa State — two of the league’s premier programs — and travels to Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since joining the conference. The Utes will also face BYU twice this season.
“I’m excited to learn (more about) the Big 12, learn college basketball more,” Jensen said. “I think it’s a good schedule, especially from a fan’s perspective — we have Iowa State and Houston at home. And those are great teams, well-coached teams that would be a really fun game to watch. Obviously, we have BYU twice, so it’s great for fans.”
Utah’s nonconference schedule is still coming together but getting closer to finalization.
Even with Jensen coming in late — he finished up the season as an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks before jumping full time into the Utes position — he is encouraged by the schedule his staff has managed to assemble.
“That’s a whole job,” Jensen said, while adding that Chillious has done most of the work in getting the nonconference slate together. “Yeah, we’re getting close.”
Jensen said the Utes made a call to every Tier 1 team west of the Rockies.
“We got some good teams that we scheduled home and home with,” he said. “It’ll be a good schedule for fans that want to buy tickets.”
What’s been the biggest challenge so far?
There are 123 days until the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season begins, and it’s been 119 days since Jensen was officially hired as Utah’s coach.
Jensen is no stranger to the grind of coaching — he’s been on the job at either the college or pro levels for nearly two decades — but the 49-year-old admits that the off-court, “get all your ducks in a row” type things have been the most challenging thus far.
“Probably the hardest thing, and I knew it was going to be this way when I took the job, is all the time spent with things off the court,” Jensen said. “I knew what’s going to happen. Like most coaches, you enjoy being on the court and with your players. But hiring a staff, recruiting and then just getting everything smooth and right off the court — an onboarding process for when our guys get here — I wouldn’t say it’s hard, but you want to get that right.
“... Unless everything’s right off the court, it’s hard to get everything good going on the court.”
Utah Director of Athletics Mark Harlan speaks at a press conference to introduce Alex Jensen, right, as the new head coach for the University of Utah men's basketball team at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News