How bad would losing Burgess be?

[UteDuke]

Can someone please quantify for me how bad losing Burgess to TDS would be? I have heard very high praise for him in the past, some seeming to suggest that he was the real mover for Utah basketball.

I guess what I really want to know is this: As a dedicated Utah fan, is Mark Pope spurning BYU a net positive or negative in your view?

[radioUte]

I hear the deal is done – Burgess going back to BYU. I felt like he was holding things together for Smith, so IMO this is bad news for us.

[AZUTE]

On the court Burgess is a good big man coach.
Off the court his one job is to recruit top LDS and local talent. That will be the biggest loss if he does go back to BYU. Pope was not well liked by the local AAU team where as Burgess has a very good relationship with the Utah Prospects.

[BoxerUte]

Get rid of Smith and turn the team over to Burgess. That is the move.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Burgess would be a big loss in recruiting. He is well connected with local prospects and can recruit LDS players. The portal can make recruiting not as big of deal. Coaching wise if he’s working with the Utah big men there wasn’t much improvement with Keba and Lovering. They seemed to regress if anything. Replace Burgess with a financial advisor that can raise money for NIL. Money trumps all. Just buy a good team with players already developed. Sad reality for college sports.

[The Miami Ute]

I’m not certain that Burgess is #1 on the list for the simple reason that he has zero head coaching experience. For a tourney team like BYU, I would think that they’d be going for someone that at least has a head coaching track record.

Regarding Burgess, yeah well, I get what a lot of people say on this site that Burgess is actually the glue that keeps the Utes together, etc…but that’s an opinion and certainly not an undisputable fact. The reality is that the vast majority of us here really don’t exactly know how much of a role Burgess played in Utah’s success. Maybe a lot, maybe some, maybe not much. Listen. I’m one of Smith’s biggest detractors on this site and think that his days are numbered but I can also admit that the guy has won every place he’s been and had a proven track record before signing on with the Utes.

[NarfUte]

I hope they go after Barrett Peery first but their pool is so limited unless they decide the HC doesn’t need to be LDS

[FountainofUte]

I just don’t see what BYU’s options are. If they can’t pry away Madsen — and that’s not looking good — then their next best option has to be Burgess, right?

The funny thing is that it’s neither ideal for BYU or Utah, but BYU’s tiny hiring pool puts us in this position. Oddly, I think both schools will be worse off than they were before if Burgess moves on.

As for what it means long term, BYU’s gotta hope that Burgess is ready for the bright lights. If he is, he could be a great option for a long time or until Utah steals him back.

As for Utah, we’d once again be losing an important piece of the staff that’s connected back to: the Majerus era, the local community, the LDS community.

Here’s the weird part about this…I think we’ll be looking for a new coach soon and I think whether Burgess is HC at BYU or still on our staff a year from now, it’ll be too soon to hand him the reins of Utah. A year from now, I STILL think our best options are Alex Jensen, Jonny Bryant, or the best current HC we can lure away from another school.

[Utesbyfive]

Alex Smith?

[The Miami Ute]

Just guessing, but I think he meant to say Alex Jensen.

[The Miami Ute]

Some may laugh, but I’m definitely of the opinion that the Utah job is too big to give to somebody that’s never been a head coach before. The last time that occurred, Chris Hill hired Jim Boylen and we all remember how that turned out. Yeah, I get that hiring someone that’s been a success with other programs (like Giacoletti or Coach K) isn’t going to always pan out. But, for me, I want to see a body of work before committing to anyone.

[Hahnenwk]

Two questions
1. Who has Burgess recruited?
2. Are you happy with the progress our bigs have made?

[The Miami Ute]

I looked up his bio and there’s no mention of him being instrumental in any player’s recruitment. It’s just conjecture on my part, but I would guess that he probably played a large role during the last couple of years in recruiting whatever local guys are on the team.

As far as player development, he’s given credit for Brandon Carlson’s progression into an All-PAC 12 Center. However, I don’t wholly buy that seeing as Carlson was already showing tremendous potential well before Burgess’ arrival. Carlson did have slightly better stats during his last two years with the Utes but that could have been a function of him playing more minutes, which he did, and leveraging his maturity vis-a-vis the competition. Burgess is also given credit for the development of Ben Carlson and Keba Keita but, at this point, I don’t see those guys as anything beyond rotation players. I’m especially disappointed in Keita’s performance as the year went along. Maybe next year, if he stays, is when the lightbulb comes on and Keita becomes a double-double machine.

[UTEopia]

I am guessing Burgess played a significant role in the recruitment of Jaxson Johnson who will be headed directly on a mission. I believe Johnson is the No. 2 rated Utah HS recruit this class. There are supposedly a number of highly regarded Utah recruits in the 2025 and 2026 classes.

Having said that, I believe mens basketball will be primarily built through the portal and not HS recruiting.

[UTEopia]

I am guessing Burgess played a significant role in the recruitment of Jaxson Johnson who will be headed directly on a mission. I believe Johnson is the No. 2 rated Utah HS recruit this class. There are supposedly a number of highly regarded Utah recruits in the 2025 and 2026 classes.