Utes basketball 2022 offseason thread

I want some of the liquor you are drinking. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

3 Likes

Angel’s Envy :slight_smile:

and Ava Gardner Bourbon

It occurred to me that Utah has only qualified for the NCAA Tournament three times since Andrew Bogut left in 2005. Three times in 16 seasons. That is sad and unacceptable.

6 Likes

Yet you say Harlan, who has tried to do something about it, is a bad athletic director.

L

I didn’t check. But it seems that the last time we were good in both football and basketball at the same time was 2004.

Well, I was BSME '04, so that’s why.

So far Harlan hasn’t proven anything one way or another.

While I think LK was a good coach the program had grown stale so it was probably time for him to go. The jury is still out on if Smith is any better. So far nothing tells me he is and a few things tell me he may not be as good as LK.

Now, if Harlan could have hired Alex Jensen I would be a believer.

This is SOOOOO true. It drives me crazy when I see posts talking about a 3-5 year rebuilding plan. The right coach will get this done. Fast. It only takes 5 good players to have an amazing basketball program. It takes 20-30 to have a great football program.

Think: Fab 5

1 Like

Yeah, there are no excuses not to be significantly better in two years from now. By year three a new coach should have it dialed in if he’s any good.

2 Likes

You have absolutely no basis to conclude Alex Jensen would have been successful. Indeed, since he doesn’t want to be a college coach the evidence suggests the contrary.

Stop making stuff up.

On the other hand, every sports analyst in the field loved the Smith hire.

The Jensen love here reminds me of Peronistas in Argentina. Makes me want to barf. Pathetic.

2 Likes

It’s pretty rare to see an NBA coach come back and coach a college team. The recruiting, glad-handing boosters, and working through all the student-athlete rules is a major change and a ton of work. Add to it the NIL and transfer portal and the job, to be quite blunt, doesn’t seem all that alluring anymore.

Maybe when the NBA finally drops it’s draft age to 17, like baseball did a long time ago, and expand their developmental leagues, coaching college basketball at a P5 will become more fun again.

1 Like

What am I making up?

1 Like

Look, Smith is the horse we are riding. There is a reason to believe he can coach like crazy. He can motivate, in a positive way, better than any Utah coach I’ve seen, and I’ve been watching them since 1966. We will know a lot more one year from now. In fact, we will know more three or four months from now when we see how his recruiting goes and how he uses the transfer portal. I am hopeful. There’s every reason to be hopeful.

2 Likes

Georgetown hired Patrick Ewing just because he was a great and beloved player there. See how well that turned out.

A number of people hoping that Smith hires Chris Burgess to replace the guy who is leaving to become a HC. It has been suggested that Smith did not talk to Burgess last year. I don’t know if Burgess would be interested or not. His daughter recently signed to play volleyball at Utah so it would not appear that he has anything against the U. He seems to be doing a very good job at BYU and I think he would add a lot to the staff.

2 Likes

I think Burgess would be a good hire for the Utes. How long was he an assistant here? I don’t remember.

1 Like

I don’t believe he was an assistant at Utah. He was either a grad assistant or something similar.

I have heard the same things, he was never offered the job.

1 Like

There are twitter reports on the Utes contacting 2 portal guys.

Isaiah Cottrell (West Virginia) is a 6’10" post out of Las Vegas. He has 3 years left. 4 stars out of HS.

Camren Wynter (Drexel) is a 6’2" G with gaudy numbers. He has 1 year left. He will be one of the more coveted players in the portal.

2 Likes