I would imagine there is quite the gnashing of teeth going on in Utah County.
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One must accept one’s call.
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I hope the Utes are in the mix if/when he wants to play near home after a couple of years at Kentucky.
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I was thinking the same thing. I could see him transfer in a few years.
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BYU apparently hiring Kevin Young (Phoenix Suns assistant) so hopefully Burgess will stay with Utah.
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Remember when Utah hired an NBA assistant, a guy named Boylen. Let’s hope BYU’s new coach works out like he did.
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With the G League closing shop, there will be a lot of guys looking for a job.
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What are the odds that someone with the last name “Young” would be hired as a coach at byu-p? Staggering!
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Never heard of him but as the highest paid assistant in the league interviewing for top jobs, he must be doing something right.
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This is the place.
Some rumors floating around that Burgess might be joining Pope at Kentucky.
He has quite a few former UK players with experience to fill out his staff: Mark Pope could hire former Kentucky basketball players for staff
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I hope this wont hurt byu’s reputation as the premiere religously persecuted bible college clogging destination.
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He also has practically no college coaching experience. No recruiting contacts, experience. For the first two or so years, depending upon which assistant coaches he hires, he’ll just concentrate on signing all the best LDS hs players across the country.
Does byu-provo still require that their head coaches be LDS members? I know that used to be the case, but haven’t thought about it in years.
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Yes they do. And he is.
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Everything you said is equally true of Alex Jensen and Johnie Bryant, but many Utah fans viewed them like they would immediately turn the Utes around. That guy, like both Jensen and Bryant, is likely a really good coach. There are some inherent advantages at BYU with LDS kids, but many disadvantages with other populations. Pope’s approach to recruiting and the portal was different then any prior BYU coach and it served him well. Who knows if this guy can do it. Hell, we are 3 years in and I don’t know if Smith can do it. If he doesn’t show some chops in the portal this year, the Utes will be introducing a new HC next March.
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Jensen did have some experience coaching in college. I agree on Smith. It’s do or die with recruiting the portal this off season.
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This Young guy started this coaching as an assistant at Oxford college then Utah Valley, 1 year each. But yeah, main tenure was 10 years asst/HC g-league, 8 years asst/assoc NBA.
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Apparently his brother runs a high school hoops talent evaluation service (link below). That, plus his NBA experience should help with recruiting.
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