Alex Jensen reflects on leaving NBA for Utah, sets expectations for first season

Utah is another college program under new leadership, and one under an alumni at that, with their hire of Alex Jensen at the start of March. It’s been a transition for him from the pros back to the college game over the past four months but it’s one he’s beginning to fully adjust to being back in Salt Lake City.

Jensen joined an interview with Jon Rothstein at CBS Sports to discuss his return to the Utes. He said it’s been a lot at times but there’s been plenty of pros to go with the cons to this point in becoming a collegiate head coach.

“Adjectives? There’s probably a lot of them you could use. Drinking from a fire hose,” Jensen joked. “You know, I will say this. It’s been fun and I’ve learned a lot. And I think, with the landscapes changing, I think that’s actually been enjoyable in a lot of ways, the learning part of it.”

Jensen was part of the program for Utah from 1994 to 2000, appearing in 133 games with 101 starts in four years playing with averages of 9.6 points (53.2% FG, 41.3% 3PT), 6.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game while earning conference honors like First Team All-WAC in 1999 and being Mountain West Player of the Year and First Team All-MWC in 2000. The Utes would be 165-39 (.809) in that six-season span there under Rick Majerus, making the NCAA Tournament in each of those seasons including one finish in the Sweet 16, one in the Elite Eight, and one as runner-up in the national title game in 1998. That would get Jensen inducted into the Utah Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.

Since then, Jensen has coached all around with nearly two decades spent in the NCAA at St. Louis, the D-League with the Canton Charge, and most recently in the NBA with the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks. He also has worked internationally with roles for Team USA and with Germany.

Again, it’s a transition, especially in this new era in college, for Jensen having spent the past decade and a half in the pros. There’s enough changes to the collegiate level, though, that it has actually reminded him of some of his other coaching stops.

“You know, I think, you know, with the Settlement, I think it’s going to evolve a lot more in college. But I think there’s, you know – since taking the job and even before, you know, it reminded me a lot about my D-League days and, you know, some aspects of Europe. You know, most European teams, they build a new team every year,” Jensen explained. “But, you know, I think it’ll change. I think there’ll be more guardrails put in place. But, you know, I think it was more, it was appealing because I think there was a way to do it. I could see a path forward to being successful.”

With the coaching change, Utah saw 17 transactions in the portal with nine new players, seven transfers and a pair of freshmen, incoming for next season. That’s not to mention bringing in an entire coaching staff as well. That was a lot of work as he finished his duties out with Dallas through the Play-In Tournament in mid-April but, in the end, Jensen likes where the Utes ended up and is interested to see how it’ll all come together for ’25-’26.

“You know what, like I said, I feel good about it. It was drinking from a fire hose. But, you know, one of the things I’m real excited about was the staff I put together. You know, I took my time, I was deliberate with that. You know, you build your staff and we were kind of halfway through and I was still in Dallas when we were building the roster. But, you know, I like our guys, I like our guys, ” said Jensen. “I never wanted to get into bidding wars. I wanted guys to, you know, come here because they wanted to be here and they saw they wanted the same things we did as a staff.

“I’m excited to see how they fit together. We have some good guys that I – it’s kind of fun, how I said, because they’re getting together, they’re playing together and we’re all getting a better feel for that. But I’m excited about all of them.”

However, as for this upcoming season, Jensen doesn’t have any true expectations. Utah has been right at average over the past seven seasons through the turn of the decade at 111-109 (.505) under Larry Krystkowiak and Craig Smith, at 65-62 (.512) the past four years under Smith, and hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in nearly a decade now since 2016. That said, Jensen isn’t focusing on the short-term successes, although trying to win in his debut, as much as he is the long-term plans for his tenure at his alma mater to work out.

“You know, going back to when I took the job, hired staff, put together a roster? I’ve hired people. I think we have players that, the goals are for what we do here. Like, I’m thinking long-term. You know, the things off the court. Just building a program and having the things that enable success for the long run. Not trying to hit it out of the park in the first year,” said Jensen. “I mean, obviously, you’re going to try to win every game we have. But, I think, it seems like that’s the mentality right now. It’s like a rush year to year. And, going back to continuity, I want to build for the future.”

Utah has been a so-so program during the past two decades. That’s why Jensen is now in place to try to lead them back to where they were, during the span when he was a player, as a name in the 1990s.