Alex Jensen walked onto the Huntsman Center court Monday “at the same height and the same playing weight” as his playing days that ended with the Runnin’ Utes 25 years ago, University of Utah president Taylor Randall joked.
Yes, Jensen still towers over a crowd. That just comes with a territory when you’re 6-foot-9.
During Monday’s introductory press conference for the Utah men’s basketball program’s 17th head coach, though, it quickly became apparent why Jensen is the clear choice to lead the Runnin’ Utes moving forward.
“Mark my words. Today will be a historic day for University of Utah men’s basketball,” Randall said.
“... As we’ve gone through this interview process and we’ve gone through the evaluation of coaches, what we have here is a coach with incredible basketball acumen, an incredible sense for what this community — meaning the community of all of us — needs and also, particularly what our players need in terms of player development. He is the consummate player development coach.”
From Jensen to Randall to Utah athletic director Mark Harlan, the message was clear — Jensen won over the decision-makers behind the coaching search with his thoughtful approach.
“You know, it wasn’t X’s and O’s. It had nothing to do with that,” Harlan said. “When we met face to face, it was just getting to know each other better.
“As the process went on, he just asked such thoughtful questions. … I can tell his excitement was there, but he’s just a very thoughtful thinker, processor.”
Jensen, too, reflected on that thoughtful approach when asked about the timing of coming back to Utah.
“It’s funny, when I’ve been at a crossroads in my career — timing, it’s interesting how things happen, and it just felt right,” he said. “Through my conversations, I am extremely diligent. When I make decisions like this and I talk to a number of people, at the end, as hard as a decision it seems at one point, it becomes easy in the end. I think the excitement, the timing, just felt right for me.”
“When I make decisions like this and I talk to a number of people, at the end, as hard as a decision it seems at one point, it becomes easy in the end. I think the excitement, the timing, just felt right for me.”
— New Utah men's basketball head coach Alex Jensen
Jensen returns to Utah, a place where he thrived as a tough-minded forward in the late 1990s and early 2000s, after coaching 10 years as an assistant with the Utah Jazz, then the last two with the Dallas Mavericks.
That was preceded by several more years coaching, both at the collegiate level as an assistant under former Utah head coach Rick Majerus at Saint Louis, as well as a stint as a head coach at the NBA D League (now G League level).
He was considered for the Utah men’s basketball coaching job when it last opened four years ago, but he withdrew from the process then.
Instead, the job went to Craig Smith. On Feb. 23, Smith was fired before his fourth season as Utah’s coach ended.
This time, the timing was right — and Jensen made sure to lean on those he trusts for advice as he contemplated becoming a collegiate head coach for the first time in his career.
“It was a roller coaster, to say the least,” Jensen said. “It’s always hard, because there’s kind of a guilt going through a process like this while you have a job. But there’s a number of people, a lot I’ve met here through the university, that I call and I talk to when I make a decision like that.
“I went back and forth … the timing was hard, because we were going through some adversity in Dallas, and I wanted to give them everything I had.”
The thought process — and discussing it with others — led him back to Utah. On March 6, he was named Utah’s head coach, even with the 2024-25 season in progress.
“I went back and forth many days, but I think in the end, it became clear that it was a good choice,” Jensen said.
Then Jensen’s joking manner came out.
“You know, it was a lot easier when I was single to make choices. Obviously, I take my wife and my daughters into the equation now, which complicates it a little bit more, but it’s a good thing,” he said.
The crowd that showed up to Jensen’s reintroduction to the Ute faithful appreciated his candidness, laughing at his one-liners while also applauding the vision he shared for the program that will soon be under his leadership.
With the current Utah team preparing for the College Basketball Crown in two weeks and Jensen committed to finishing out the season with the Mavericks, it will be a few weeks before Jensen is full force on the job at Utah.
From finding his coaching staff to developing a recruiting strategy, Jensen shared his commitment to taking the time to find the right solutions.
“One of the things from the get-go is, I knew it would be difficult, but I felt like I needed to finish the season in Dallas and they’ve been great, and I don’t think they would mind if I left, but I just feel it’s the right thing to do to finish it out there, which makes … hiring a staff and getting going a little more difficult,” Jensen said.
“But when I’m making the decision, like I’m going through the extreme due diligence and I’ve had a lot of conversations with a lot of people, and, you know a lot of people want jobs, but again, I’m taking my time.”
While there may be angst from the fanbase over a lack of answers in regards to who will join his coaching staff, Jensen is more concerned with getting it right.
“I want to take my time and do it right instead of rushing,” he said. “In fact, I’ve talked to a lot of former college coaches that have said that, take time with your staff, do it and get it right.”
The last time Jensen was on the recruiting trail was in 2011, during his final season at Saint Louis under Majerus. He joked that things have changed a lot since then.
“It’s been a while. When I last stopped recruiting, last time they were just introducing text messages, and I thought, Oh, I’m glad I’m leaving,” he quipped. “In fact, I started my Facebook page because I thought that’s how I was going to recruit because they just legalized it, and I haven’t touched it since.
“I might have to get a Twitter account or something now.”
All kidding aside, he understands the importance of getting up to speed in this new age of recruiting with Name, Image and Likeness deals a big part of the equation, even with the NCAA basketball transfer portal window opening March 24, before he’ll be full-time on the job at Utah.
“It’s going to be a lot of work, and I know that. I’m excited. Again, it’s hard finishing up in Dallas, but I’m going to do my due diligence to get a staff that understands that and knows that, because there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and it never stops. That’s where a lot of the wars are won is in recruiting,” he said.
Jensen isn’t shying away from the ever-changing culture of college basketball, he said, or from the challenge of going from the NBA to the collegiate level.
“I think it’s ever-evolving. It’s changing. In six months or a year, it’ll even be different from now,” he said.
In some ways, it reminds him of one of his former jobs — being the head coach of the Canton Charge in the D League.
“It actually reminded me of my days in the D league, when you’re negotiating with players, and you try to make it a place or a team that they want to come, like there’s a reason to come besides just the money and things like that,” Jensen said.
“... I’m excited for the challenge and it’s a new world. It’s the Wild West, that’s for sure.”
His experience in the coaching world — both that brief time as a head coach and as a longtime assistant — have also taught him a valuable lesson about relationships and the importance of being genuine.
“I think the fortunate thing of being a head coach for a couple of years is you learn to find yourself and being genuine, you kind of find your cadence of when and when not to do things. And the more coaches you’re around, I think that helps you with that,” he said.
Jensen is also well aware he must forge his own path as Utah’s head coach.
“I realized today that I can’t be Coach Majerus, and I gotta find myself, and I can’t be the other way. But I think, I think players and people react and respond to you being genuine. You know, whether it’s encouraging or telling them to do it again and again and again,” he said.
“I remember playing here and the history, especially basketball, it’s rich. And I remember thinking like, you’re in a long chain of great players and great teams. Obviously it’s, I don’t want to say continuation of the past, I think it’s a connection, but I’ve specifically approached this (as) forward-facing, forward-looking, and to carry on the tradition.”
— New Utah men's basketball coach Alex Jensen
With that in mind, the one-time Runnin’ Ute legend is cognizant of the fact that he represents a bridge to the past, as well as a beacon of hope for the future of a program that is desperately aching to bring an end to a nine-year NCAA Tournament drought.
“I remember playing here and the history, especially basketball, it’s rich,” he said, of a program that made it to the 1998 national championship game during his playing days.
“And I remember thinking like, you’re in a long chain of great players and great teams. Obviously it’s, I don’t want to say continuation of the past, I think it’s a connection, but I’ve specifically approached this (as) forward-facing, forward-looking, and to carry on the tradition.”
Harlan is already seeing dividends from the fanbase related to the excitement of Jensen coming in as coach.
“I’ve had some donors call me, and I’m very excited, they remember Alex, and they’re really excited about it,” Harlan said. “I get it, this is a family. This program is a family. And you know, Alex is a key step, along with others joining in and getting this place (the Huntsman Center) filled up again.
“We’re so pleased (with) the response to our public and season tickets already and folks that we haven’t heard from in a while. It’s an exciting day for all of us.”
When that time comes to focus fully on the Utes, Jensen is looking forward to building the program.
“I’m excited to get a team, people that want to be here, a hard-playing, tough team that other teams do not like to face, with students that graduate and also where players want to come for a multitude of reasons,” he said.
“I am grateful and I’m excited and I keep thinking about all the work that I need to do.”
