Once BYU found their shot, Utah couldn't keep up:

Jensen met with the entire team today over a video call, there were no individual meetings. The overwhelming sentiment is that the team is really excited, really intrigued, and likes Alex a lot. There will be numerous players hitting the transfer portal with the hopes that they still stay at Utah. It’s just them doing their due diligence, which I agree that they should.

Additionally, two things on Andre Miller… Now that Alex has been hired, those two are engaged in active conversations on getting Andre to Utah. I’ve also been told that Andre, in a conversation a little under a week ago made a comment that he was going to be coaching college basketball next year.

Definitely exciting times for Utah Basketball! Hopefully everyone that remembers the glory days is celebrating in their own way tonight.

Credit to Sean O’Connell for being the first media member to break this, two days ago. The deal was basically agreed to on Sunday and then the contract was written up:

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HC - Alex Jensen. Welcome home! Let's go!!
Assistants - Andre Miller, David Evans, Lo Leath and 1 tbd.
Roster - two of the following three Ezra Ausar, Keanu Dawes, Jake Wahlin, plus Ibi Traore, Miro Little Zach Keller and the following transfer portal additions: Collin Chandler, a serious three level scorer from the wing, a three point sniper a starting center and a perimeter guy that can defend.

The search continues to be all-in on Alex Jensen. Utah didn’t let Craig Smith go without knowing that there was a serious and likely chance to land Alex. There was enough dialogue with Alex to feel comfortable firing Craig.

Two different times this week, I’ve had people tell me that the deal was done, neither time I fully bought that, including one of the times being this morning. I’ve talked with enough people around those times to hear other things that lead me believe it’s close and that boosters expect it to happen.

Here’s the thing, Alex is happy in the NBA, but Nico Harrison destroying souls in Dallas, has led to a messy situation there and Alex’s contract is also up after this season. That gives Utah an opening. I’ve also been told that some family close to Alex would prefer him moving to the college ranks as a head coach.

There is no national search unless things go south with Jensen, but even at that, focus would shift to Andre. The reason I say this is, it continues to be all in on Alex. The move was made with the intention on Alex being the next head coach and knowing Andre is a golden 1B option or also Alex’s perfect lead assistant. The boosters, Harlan, and Randall view this as perfect timing.

So what needs to happen? Utah still needs an impressive sales pitch to get Alex to leave the comfort of the NBA. At differing times the last week, it has sounded like that pitch needs to be better. That being said, zero hope has been lost. Utah still needs to pay Alex well, but ultimately he needs to see a continuous path to competitive NIL resources.

If it’s indeed Alex like expected, I don’t see the negotiations going much longer. The boosters are dead set on Alex being the guy. They just need to understand that sufficient resources for the basketball program need to follow.

A tough, close loss after having a lead for a majority of the game:

While OC’s announcement yesterday was walked back a little bit over the timing, everything remains on track. I remain highly confident that Alex Jensen will be Utah’s next head coach. The boosters have met Alex’s requests, including his NIL needs for the program.

Regardless of the national report yesterday morning about an offer not yet being given, it in fact had been given and it was in line with all of the things that had been negotiated back and forth from Sunday night.

Stay tuned…

I’m reaching out to my contacts to get more details. I think the AD’s office isn’t ready to say it’s official:

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I’ll get a collection of them a little later today, there’s been numerous scholarship offers going out the last few days. Utah’s assistants aren’t going to stop, as they still want to audition to be on the next staff. I’m told they have two year contracts. The local ones are being given out by David Evans. I see him being a value to the new staff, so we’ll have to see how things shake out.

A contract has been sent to Jensen… Now we wait.

I’m sure he’s meeting with more, but I’m told that Harlan met with Ezra Ausar today, a move to be on the same page and likely discuss NIL.

The latest on some big names from LA:

I’ve been told they did conduct additional interviews this weekend, but likely just to cover their bases. One could be interesting to see if he’d being willing to come as an assistant because he was out of the game this last year. More on that later. There’s been some developments today telling me that movement could be happening fast. The reality is that the focus is still on Alex Jensen, with a decision potentially coming soon. Also, I continue to hear that Andre really wants to come back regardless.

For everybody not watching the game, I’ll post the highlight in here when the video gets put up. Madi Wilkie just hit a running half court three-point shot in overtime with the game tied to beat BYU. BYU had a girl score 36 points and absolutely go off, giving BYU the chance for the upset. Kneepkens got Utah into overtime, to begin with. Such an unreal ending.

If the Bball program can’t win with Jensen or Miller or both and booster support it may never happen again.

I really get the sense that the conversations with Alex Jensen on this have been going on for a bit and that the U felt confident enough where they were at in those conversations to let Craig Smith go.

Alex Jensen has always been the preferred choice, but it sounds like they weren’t sure how realistic it would be until recently. I’ve talked with some people close to the situation that believe it’s close to the finish line and several expect it to happen. I’ve even had one say it was a done deal today, but I haven’t had the confirmation I need on that to say it’s definitely happening. That being said there are still things being discussed behind the scenes that my hands are tied about talking about.

The consensus is that everyone would be shocked if it’s not Jensen. But, it’ll be up to the top boosters like the Huntsman and Smith families, plus others to seal the deal. Just as a reminder, Richie Smith is like another father figure to Jensen from Jensen’s time at the U. The boosters sound hellbent on getting this done.

Going to play Arizona is a tough y'all for anyone, especially after program-altering news:

Let’s see how the boys respond for Eilert tonight:

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Let’s see how the boys respond for Eilert tonight:

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What are the chances Jensen doesn’t want to work for Harlan after getting disrespected by him last time?

What kind of working relationship would they have with Jensen knowing Harlan was forced to hire him this time.

Harlan has no say in this hire. It will be Randle and the boosters that pick the next coach

Harlan has been completely emasculated when it comes to the basketball program.

Well, wow. I knew it was coming, but wow.

Last offseason, I got a call from someone with ties to the Crimson Collective and they told me that they were asked to make marketing material on Andre Miller coming home. This was as a member of Utah’s staff. From there, some of the boosters had a realization that they had their guy in the program and why not buy Craig out at that time last offseason. There was some internal back-and-forth on figuring out how that would go, and there were also boosters that pledged NIL money contingent on Andre being on staff.

As all of that stuff was going on behind the scenes, things were dragging, and I was told that Andre basically said that he already had a good job and that he would see everybody next year. The dragging on had nothing to do with Harlan, he was fully on board and ecstatic.

The timing of this leads me and a few of my sources with close ties to the scene, believing that there has already been back-channel communication, and a form of an agreement made. Again, I’m not saying that something is already in place, just piecing the puzzle together, and that makes a lot of sense to me with the timing of this. Whether that is Andre Miller or Alex Jensen, time will tell. There’s always the outside chance of Johnnie Bryant, although I don’t see it as likely this year.

At this rate, if it’s anybody other than those three and especially Andre or Alex, I’d be shocked. Everything that I have heard behind the scenes over this last year, makes me lean heavily towards Andre at the moment. There has also been times in the past two years, where the belief is that if Alex Jensen came as the head coach, Andre would be willing to come along with him. I’ve also been told recently, that people close to Andre have been saying that he’s just waiting for the call.

I feel bad for Craig Smith and all of this. He’s a great coach and a great person, but minds have been made up for a while and they’re really was unfortunately no way of him escaping this.

The best news in all of this is that if it’s one of the guys I’ve mentioned, the Huntsman family will be heavily involved in Utah basketball again.

I’ve obviously been hinting at this, but I am surprised that it happened during the season. I caught wind this morning that a change was coming, so it’s definitely anticipated. Again just not immediate. I’ll have more soon, but the attention immediately turns to Andre Miller or Alex Jensen. Johnny Bryant could be an outside shot, but with him just moving to Cleveland this year, I don’t see that as likely.

Miller and Jensen are the guys at the boosters want. And now I’m gonna be able to fill you guys in a little bit more on everything that went down last off-season.

Stay tuned…

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