Thursday’s news that Alex Jensen will be the new head basketball coach at the University of Utah should have come as no surprise to most who follow local hoops.
When Craig Smith was let go a week earlier, it was obvious that Utah athletic director Mark Harlan had something in the works, and as someone with a history in the basketball program told me, “Alex is the only choice.”
Of course, Jensen had to be willing to make the jump back to the collegiate scene after apparently turning down an opportunity four years earlier when Smith was hired.
This time it made more sense.
In 2021, Jensen was the lead assistant to Jazz coach Quin Snyder, a job he’d held for eight years and would have for a couple more. He may not have been the “coach in waiting” under Snyder, but there was a good chance he would succeed Snyder if he ever moved on.
His name came up for some NBA coaching jobs, but his flame flickered with the change in Jazz management and the dismantling of the roster and coaching staff, although Jensen did stay for another year under Will Hardy.
Jensen found a home in Dallas for a franchise that made it to the NBA Finals in 2024 under coach Jason Kidd. But over the past month the Mavericks franchise has hit the skids following the shocking trade of Luka Doncic and injuries to star players Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving.
Jensen certainly has the pedigree to be the Utes coach.
He was a three-year starter and state champion at Viewmont High and was named Mr. Basketball by the Deseret News in 1994.
Jensen went to the University of Utah, where I covered him throughout his career. “Al” quickly became Rick Majerus’ favorite player and Jensen became a starter as a freshman on a team that featured Keith Van Horn, Brandon Jessie and Mark Rydalch.
After his freshman season, Jensen decided to go on a church mission and received support from Majerus, publicly, although privately, the coach was devastated to lose his treasured player. More than once, Majerus told me he felt his team could have been a Final Four team two years sooner had Jensen stuck around to team with Van Horn, Andre Miller and Michael Doleac for the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons when the Utes made appearances in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.
Weber State's Harold Arceneaux and University of Utah's Alex Jensen race for a loose ball in the first half on Dec. 9, 1998.| DNEWS
As it turned out, when Jensen returned for the 1997-98 season, Jensen teamed with Miller and Doleac to lead the Utes to the national finals, where they lost to Kentucky for the third straight season.
Jensen played two more seasons for Utah and was the Mountain West Player of the Year in 2000 and led the Utes to a couple more NCAA Tournament victories.
After playing professionally internationally for seven years, Jensen returned to join Majerus in 2007 on the University of St. Louis staff for four seasons. Then, after a couple of seasons coaching in the NBA’s D League, where he was coach of the year with the Canton Charge in 2013, he joined the Jazz, where he spent a decade as an assistant to Ty Corbin, Snyder and Hardy. Snyder often praised Jensen and said he was the key to several players’ development, especially Rudy Gobert.
Not only does Jensen have the necessary coaching experience, he’s also as fine a person as you’ll find. I can honestly say that in my 40 years covering sports and dealing with hundreds, perhaps thousands of coaches and athletes, Jensen is easily among my top five favorites.
Whether Jensen can bring Utah back to its heyday of the late 1990s when he was a major contributor, is unknown. College basketball is a lot different from the 1990s with NIL money and yearly transfers to deal with, and it won’t be easy. But Jensen is clearly the best choice for the job right now and I wouldn’t bet against him.
Utah Jazz summer league head coach Alex Jensen looks on during summer league game against the Philadelphia 76ers Thursday, July 9, 2015, in Salt Lake City. On Thursday, Jensen was named the new head coach at the University of Utah.| Rick Bowmer, AP