It came as a surprise to some when Utah basketball fired Craig Smith. But developments in recent weeks prove that the Utes are no longer satisfied as being an afterthought in the highly-competitive Big 12 basketball landscape.
On Friday, Utah announced that new head coach Alex Jensen had made his first hire in Raphael Chillious as an assistant coach. In a press release, Utah notes that Chillious comes to Salt Lake City from the Memphis Grizzlies – where he started as a personnel evaluator this season. Coach Chills, as he’s known, helped college basketball programs like Villanova, UConn and Washington put together some of their best recruiting classes ever.
Chillious’ background in recruiting and producing NBA players is highlighted by his time at Washington. Chillious closed out his first season with the Huskies by helping them haul in the No. 6 recruiting class in the country that included Matisse Thybulle (20th-overall), Dejounte Murray (29th-overall) and Marquese Chriss (8th-overall) – who were all first-round draft selections.
He was also integral in the signing of Markelle Fultz for the 2016-17 season – who was sixth in the country in scoring his freshman year (23.2 ppg) to not only be the nation’s leading freshman scorer but also the Pac-12’s overall leading scorer. Fultz went on to be top pick in the 2017 NBA Draft and was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers.
Utah basketball hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2016, when they got knocked out in the second round. The Utes finished this past season with a 16-16 record, including going 8-12 in the Big 12 Conference. The program hasn’t finished above .500 in league play since the 2018-19 season.
Utah Basketball’s New Arena
In addition to Utah basketball starting over with Coach Jensen and the start of an impressive staff, the Utes also announced plans for a new arena in recent days.
According to a university press release, the Utes are planning to relocate the Huntsman Center, among several other updates.
“On March 11, the university’s Board of Trustees approved the Campus Physical Development Framework for planning a campus of the future that will match President Taylor Randall’s audacious growth goals. Ideas include: transforming campus from commuter-focused to residential, centering student life and ‘college town magic’ at the southeast corner of campus, innovating sustainable transportation and parking solutions to ease access to campus, and moving the Jon M. Huntsman Center.”
“This is the highlight of this new plan and the largest change—a focus on building a college town not only for students, but also for faculty and staff, where we can engage together and build community in a very different way,” Randall said. “Let’s roll up our sleeves and start executing now.”
The largest and most notable change in the announcement is moving the Huntsman Arena, which has “anchored the southeast corner of campus for 55 years.”
Utah athletic director Mark Harlan wrote a letter to fans this week that assured the preservation of the long-standing traditional monument for the Utes, but also carve out an exciting new future for the Utes.
