Utah reportedly hires Mavericks assistant, former Utes star Alex Jensen as next head coach

Alex Jensen is headed back to Utah.

The Utes reportedly struck a deal to make Jensen their next head coach according to ESPN. He will now replace Craig Smith, who was fired last month after nearly four seasons on the job.

Jensen, who is currently an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks, played at Utah himself from 1994-2000. He helped lead the Utes to the national championship game in 1998 under head coach Rick Majerus, too, though they fell to Kentucky that spring. He was also the Mountain West’s Player of the Year as a senior.

Advertisement

Jensen has been an assistant in the NBA for the past 11 seasons, most of them with the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. He spent nine years there before joining Jason Kidd's staff in Dallas ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. Jensen also spent time as an assistant at St. Louis University, with Team USA and as the head coach of the Canton Charge in the NBA's D League — where he earned Coach of the Year honors in 2013.

Jensen will leave his post with the Mavericks amid a brutal stretch for the organization, which has seen both stars Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis go down with injuries after the shocking trade to deal star Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers. That move has prompted incredible backlash from fans in recent weeks, especially toward general manager Nico Harrison.

Utah will mark Jensen’s first head coaching job at the college level. He will take over for Smith, who has largely struggled both in the Pac-12 and the Big 12. The Utes went 65-62 under his watch and failed to make the NCAA tournament in any of his four seasons with the program. The team hasn’t been to the tournament since 2016. Utah fired Smith last month with four games left in the regular season.

The Utes hold a 16-14 record and sit in 11th in the Big 12 standings heading into Saturday’s regular season finale against No. 23 BYU.