Two former in-state men's college basketball players are set to take jobs with their alma maters.
On Friday morning, the University of Utah announced Chris Jones, who has spent the last eight years as an assistant coach at Utah State, has been hired as the program's new director of basketball operations. To replace Jones, the Aggies are set to hire former star Spencer Nelson.
Jones played for the Runnin' Utes from 1993-1994, while Nelson was part of the Utah State program from 1999-2005.
Jones replaces Phil Cullen, who the NBA's San Antonio Spurs hired as its director of basketball strategy last month.
Nelson has most recently been working at 1280 The Zone in Salt Lake City after a lengthy playing career in Europe.
After graduating from Utah in 1994, Jones served as the Runnin' Utes' video coordinator from 1995-1997, their director of basketball operations from 2005-2007 and as an assistant coach from 2006-2008 before moving to Logan.
Jones' son Rylan is already considered a top guard prospect for the Class of 2019 and holds scholarship offers from Utah, Utah State and BYU.
Ryan McDonald is a sports reporter at DeseretNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanwmcdonald.