Apparently the search is still on

[HCHooligan]

Alex Jensen has withdrawn his name from consideration for the University of Utah job, league sources tell myself and @chriskamrani. Jensen had great conversations with Utah AD Mark Harlan but ultimately decided the timing wasn’t right.

— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) March 25, 2021

[KelVarnsen]

Enjoy the second round playoff exit, Alex! 

[Tednab]

.. little salty .. I would have been surprised if he had accepted it.

[KelVarnsen]

This is embarassing for Harlen. How did these conversations not take place prior to firing Larry? I have little confidence of how this ends up. 

[AZUteFan]

Timing wasn’t right? Seems like an odd excuse because the timing is perfect. The bar has been lowered big time since the glory days under Majerus.  By all accounts, Alex seems to be ready to be an HC and run his program. Plenty of experience as an assistant in both college under Majerus and in the NBA. Timing seems like a weird excuse and I wonder if Harlan went cheap. And if Alex prefers the NBA, then just come out and say it rather than the timing is not good. 

Time to go back to the drawing board. 

 

[Central Coast Ute]

He’s just being nice. Being an HC in college is a s**t job. I know I took heat on another thread, but Alex has a future in the NBA. Yes locker rooms in the NBA have cancers but to say they don’t in college in laughable at best and just plain naive. The difference is the pay to play aspect. I don’t think Utah has donors that are willing to pay as much as Arizona, USC, or Oregon are. It’s an uphill battle.

[AZUteFan]

I know you took a lot of heat on another thread, but you’re right. The college game has changed a lot and with the transfer portal, obvious cheating, etc, I have a hard time blaming Alex. 

I know I’ll take heat for this take, but I’d give Pope an offer he can’t refuse. The guy has overachieved at both UVU and BYU-P and has shown an ability to recruit and work the transfer portal.

I would argue Pope would actually be a safe choice than Alex Jensen or Johnny Bryant.

Let the thumbs down begin!

[Central Coast Ute]

Thumbs up from me. Pope from the TDS and Smith from USU would be two good coaches to go after.

[Charlie]

Alex was a good option to go after.  But that not working out, how in the world do we fall all the way down to Pope?  I don’t see anything there.  Please continue to hope for something that has a chance to be first class until 100 more turn us down.

[AZUteFan]

So give us a better, more realistic option? How is moving on from Alex Jensen who has never been an head coach in college to Pope who has an impressive track record at 2 different schools and a ton of momentum.

Would be curious to hear why you are not intrigued by Pope at the U?

[MDUte]

What do we know about Smith? I really like the idea of him getting Utah St to the tourney 3 years in a row and at the top of the MWC.

[AZUteFan]

Admittedly I don’t know much about Smith, but I like him as an option. Would be interested to know his track record as a recruiter. 

What stands out about Pope is how his staff was able to put together a tournament team after losing Childs, Haws, and Toolsen. And he did it through the transfer portal and stealing Lohner. The guy is a bulldog recruiter and that is what we were missing under LK.