Fair or not, the main storyline surrounding the University of Utah basketball team during the 2025-26 season will often revolve around the head coach.
There’s a lot of turnover on this year’s squad, from the top down, and with former Ute great Alex Jensen taking over the program, the conversation starts with him.
Jensen is bringing a decade and a half’s worth of knowledge at the NBA level with him to Utah, where he’ll try to reshape a once-proud program that’s nearing a decade since its last NCAA Tournament appearance.
Jensen understands it will be a long-term process in rebuilding the Runnin’ Utes.
His 10-point plan for player development has attracted a team that is willing to work and unearthed talent that could pay dividends in both the short term and down the road.
“We’ve prioritized a few certain things, and this might sound like a simple thing, but the one thing is it’s players that like to play,” Jensen said at Big 12 media days in October, when asked about his roster construction for this year.
“I go back to the teams that have had success at Utah and they’ve been teams that I don’t think many top 50, top 100 players have been there, but it’s always been guys that have wanted to come, like to play, wanted to get better and then see where that takes you.
“But I think that they have to like the game and want to get better and realize that they need to get better.”
Utah has already played two exhibition games (losses to Nevada and at Oregon), and its regular season begins Monday when it hosts San Jose State at 7 p.m. MST at the Huntsman Center. The matchup will be televised on ESPN+.
“The vibe of the team is good. I feel the excitement with everybody. Even through the exhibition games, I felt an excitement, just everybody getting ready to play and play with each other,” said Utah guard Don McHenry, a fifth-year transfer from Western Kentucky.
“But it’s a different type of excitement knowing that it’s the real deal coming up, so practice has been high intensity, and I feel the energy is good right now.”
The opener starts a string of six straight home games for the Utes to begin the 2025-26 season, all against teams that land outside the top 150 of the KenPom ratings to begin the year.
It’s a manageable stretch for a team that, given the amount of turnover, will take some time to build the chemistry and cohesion it will need to compete night in and night out in the Big 12.
“To be honest, I think a great gift coach (Rick) Majerus gave me, I think everyone’s going to be a challenge for our guys. I mean that, and we should approach it that way,” Jensen said.
“Obviously everybody knows the Big 12 is a beast, one of the better leagues if not the best league, but I’m excited. All my thoughts are about San Jose — it’s our rotations and everything, but it is a challenge again. It’s nothing else. It’s to challenge ourselves.”
Expectations for the season
Outside expectations aren’t high for the Utes, which makes sense given that 80% of the roster (12 out of 15) is newcomers.
Stack that with a new coaching staff, and Utah’s learning curve should last some time into the regular season.
The Utes were picked by both Big 12 coaches and media to finish 13th in the league this season.
“Don’t look back, don’t look forward. Whether it’s good or bad, just keep going,” Jensen said, of what the team’s mindset needs to be. “And I think if you do that, you’ll find yourself in a place that you are happy to be.”
Can Utah exceed those expectations, though? That theory will get tested when the Utes head to a Thanksgiving week tournament, the Acrisure Series, where they will play Grand Canyon and either Iowa or Ole Miss.
Then in December, the Utes travel to a pair of former Pac-12 rivals, California and Washington, before starting Big 12 play Jan. 3 at home against Arizona.
Going into the season, KenPom predicts that Utah will be able to win nine games during nonconference play, including those first six games and a close victory over Grand Canyon.
KenPom’s analytics also have the Utes coming up short when facing other power conference programs.
Jensen has taken a measured approach to the expectations surrounding his first year as Utah’s coach.
“When I think about taking the job, building my staff and the roster, I remember (thinking), ‘I’m not going to be rushed. I’m going to do it the right way.’ Nobody hates losing more than me, but also I was smart enough to realize there’s going to be a learning curve. I knew I was going to be better now than I was three months ago, I’ll be better in six months or a year,” he told the Deseret News in September.
“It’s no excuse. I still want to win every game that we play. That’s the goal.”
Utah’s nonconference schedule
- Nov. 3 — San Jose State
- Nov. 8 — Weber State
- Nov. 10 — Holy Cross
- Nov. 15 — Sam Houston State
- Nov. 18 — Purdue Fort Wayne
- Nov. 20 — Cal Poly
- Nov. 25 — vs. Grand Canyon (Acrisure Series, Palm Desert, California)
- Nov. 26 — vs. Ole Miss or Iowa
- Dec. 2 — at California
- Dec. 6 — Cal Baptist
- Dec. 13 — vs. Mississippi State (Delta Center)
- Dec. 20 — Eastern Washington
- Dec. 29 — at Washington
What the lineup could look like
Junior forward Keanu Dawes is the lone returnee who played any significant minutes last season, and as such, he’s already viewed as one of the leaders for this year’s Utah team.
Dawes took big strides towards the end of last season and now has an offseason under his belt working with Jensen, who’s known for his player development skills, and his staff.
Jensen noted Dawes’ 6-foot-9 size and his length, as well as his athleticism, as attributes that would already translate well to the pro game. He also sees potential for Dawes to improve this season.
“The growth for KD is just being aggressive,” Jensen said. “... Trying to get him to be aggressive, come out of his personality and not be afraid to make mistakes.”
Junior guard Terrence Brown averaged 20.6 points per game last season at Fairleigh Dickinson, and in his first time in a Utah uniform, he scored 27 points in the exhibition opener.
Brown looks like one of the players the team will rely on for some scoring punch this season.
“He’s tough. He plays really hard,” McHenry said of his backcourt mate. “Throughout both of the exhibition games, (including) the one where I didn’t play and I just watched, he played really hard, he was giving it his all. He never asked for no subs, he’d get after them, for sure. That’s one of the main things that stood out to me.”
Then there’s a group of upperclassmen newcomers who should help provide the backbone of the leadership on this team, a group that includes McHenry, forward James Okonkwo and forward Seydou Traore.
That, mixed with some younger talent like guard Elijah “Choppa” Moore and forward Jahki Howard, as well as guard Jacob Patrick, who played the past five seasons professionally in Germany, gives Utah a base to build around.
Having a couple of exhibitions allowed the Utes to learn a bit about themselves, while giving the players an environment for growth in a live situation.
“I think (exhibition games) could always be a lot to learn from, in a good way. First game against Reno, our transition defense wasn’t great. Oregon, the unforced turnovers. So hopefully we can kind of deal with those two issues that we had, and move on,” Jensen said.
“You just learn a lot. And it’s been just the whole staff and all players being here for the first time.”
The Utes are already down one player before the season starts. Forward Babacar Faye, a Western Kentucky transfer who was expected to add some much-needed length in the post, was lost for the year when he was hurt in practice.
In the exhibition opener against Nevada, Traore, an Iowa transfer, went down with his own lower-leg injury and did not play against Oregon.
Jensen, though, shared a positive vibe about the team’s health heading into the season opener.
“As far as I know, I think it’s pretty good,” Jensen said, “other than unfortunately, Baba. It’s one of those things. I don’t think you ever don’t feel sore throughout the year, but I think we’re in a good place right now.”
What the players have already learned from Alex Jensen
When they sat down with the media prior to the start of training camp, Utah players across the board talked about Jensen’s strength as a teacher — that he takes the time to talk through the small details that define success.
Jensen made sure to spend 1-on-1 time with players over the summer, as they became familiar with him, his staff and what being a Runnin’ Ute meant.
For Jensen, those moments — and building relationships — are what he revels in as a coach.
“If they know that you care and you know what you’re talking about, then teaching can happen,” he told the Deseret News.
Now, the Utes have had a couple of exhibition games seeing what Jensen brings to the court as a head coach — a role that will continue to evolve as he goes through his first year as a head coach at the collegiate level after spending the past 12 years as an NBA assistant.
“He’s real patient. I mean, it takes a lot for him to really get to a point where he’s really angry. Like you said, he’s a good teacher,” McHenry said, of what he’s already learned about Jensen through the team’s two exhibition games.
“... That was one of the main things I pretty much picked up on, his teaching style is really good, and I think it’s effective.”
Utah Basketball at a Glance in 2025-26
- Key returners: F Keanu Dawes, F Ibi Traore, G Jerry Huang
- Key newcomers: G Terrence Brown, F Seydou Traore, G Elijah “Choppa” Moore, F Jahko Howard, F James Okonkwo, G Don McHenry, F Babacar Faye, G Jacob Patrick, F Josh Hayes, F Kendyl Sanders, G Alvin Jackson III, Obomate Abbey
- Key losses: G Gabe Madsen, F Ezra Ausar, C Lawson Lovering, F Jake Wahlin, G Miro Little, F Caleb Lohner, G Mike Sharavjamts, G Mason Madsen, G Hunter Erickson, F Zach Keller, C Joul Karram, G Brady Smith, G Brandon Haddock, F Ayomide Bamisile