I think it might be time to admit what we all fear…

[SantaVaca]

Maybe the University of Utah basketball is a place where you just can’t win. Majerus might have just been such an outlier that he was able to overcome everything and still win??

I don’t know. It just seems that we haven’t had 1 even semi decent coach in 25 years and every coach we’ve brought in, has lost and lost huge. Is it possible that either no good coach would ever come here, or even worse, is this a place that no one can win??

There are jobs out there that it’s impossible to recruit to. Is Salt Lake City such a place?

Before anyone mentions Kyle, maybe he is the football version of Majerus and players will overlook everything because he’s so good at getting players to the next level that when he leaves we will fall back down to our rightful place alongside the Arizonas and Cals of the world?

I don’t want to think it but maybe we’ll never have a great basketball program here again because of who we are and where we are.

I’m just really discouraged right now because we really suck and next year is going to be worse. I’m 99% certain that Craig gets fired next year and we have to start over yet again with another crappy head coach.

I find it odd that we have had 4 head coaches since Majerus left and all of them have ultimately been fired leaving us worse off than when they started. You would think with just the law of averages, a school with our tradition, we would have had 1 good coach out of 4.

I’m a huge fan and I’m sure when things start back up again next November, I’ll come back for more punishment but as of right now, I don’t ever want to watch the Utes play basketball ever again.

I also have zero trust that Harlan can bring in anyone better than Smith anyways so I guess it all doesn’t matter what happens, we are stuck in basketball purgatory.

Sorry to be such a downer.

[Yergensen]

How is Pope getting BYU into the tourney in first B12 season? They’re more disadvantaged than we are.

It’s basketball with small rosters and a transfer portal. This can be turned around quickly if you get the right coach. We don’t have the right coach. Time for Harlan to prove himself.

[RustyShackleford]

Utah St as well as

[NashvilleTNUteFan]

I echo pretty much all of what you said. It sucks to care about something so much and have zero control over it and have to witness a dumpster fire. Such is the life of a fanatic. It’s really quite strange when you think about it. As I’ve gotten older I’ve definitely been able to better detach my emotions and how I act with others from how my sports teams perform, and I feel very weird even typing this out because it’s getting deeper than I intended.

Maybe Utah never will be good at basketball again. And maybe, they find a great coach that can recruit and turn things around in a big way. The off-chance of that is what keeps me coming back for more punishment as you put it

[Ute Dub]

Utah has been to the tournament more recently than BYU.
This is a downer of a post. We need detailed coaching. Smith is a high level guy. We need more detailed coaching and better player accountability.

[SantaVaca]

I’ll admit my post was a downer, but things suck right now for us. No one goes to our home games. We can’t win a freaking road game to save our lives, and unless we get some great new transfer next year, we are right back to where we were 4 years ago.

I like Craig Smith. I think he was a huge breath of fresh air from Krysto, but he is a horrible recruiter and I’m scared to death that we lose Keita and Smith both transfer after we get blown out on Wednesday in Vegas.

[admiralute]

It’s actually called being a realist. So much hopium for several years now from this fan base, just to continue to be disappointed. I get it and we all want to see real improvements from this program. But I have the same sentiment as SantaVaca.

Many continue to point out that Utah has the 15th winningest program of all time and because of that stat, this automatically equates to Utah one day becoming a successful program. The past is the past and sometimes the past stays just there – in the past. If you look at that list, UCLA is #5, Temple #6, Syracuse #7, Cincinnati #12, Illinois #14, etc. None of those programs have returned to annual success. Shoot, BYU is # 17 and can pass Utah in total wins this year!

Please stop throwing out these meaningless stats as if they actually have anything to do with basketball in 2024. Utah needs a new coach now and a complete change of basketball culture going forward.

[UtesRule]

Not buying it. Utah had a rich winning tradition long before Majerus got here.

Utah is still the 15th winningest men’s basketball team in NCAA history, and those wins didn’t just come during the Majerus era.

Winningest Mens Programs

[The Miami Ute]

Not buying that SLC is not a good basketball destination but places like Pullman or Provo or Logan are. It all comes down to having the right guy calling the shots and, unfortunately, Utah has failed in finding that guy ever since Majerus skipped town. I like Smith as a person and as a communicator but there are things that really, really bother me about his performance as a head coach. For example, and this is just one of many this season, why didn’t he use his last time out to draw up a play before the last shot of the game? To me, the fact that the ball ended in Ben Carlson’s hands at the end of the game is just another manifestation of the problem.

[UtesRule]

It’s much more of a talent issue than coaching issue, IMO. Even the Maji didn’t start winning at an elite level until he started bringing in top tier talent (KVH, Andre Miller, Doleac, Mottolla, Brandon Jessie, etc al).

The best coaches are the best recruiters.

Players win games.

Players make shots.

BC is very good, but he’s not likely NBA good.

Is anyone on this roster an NBA player?

Utah needs more talent! And if that requires a different coach, then that’s what it requires.

It didn’t happen overnight with Majerus. It takes time to establish the program and then the recruiting.

[Ute Dub]

I remember Majerus going 30-4 in year 1.

[UtesRule]

30-4 was year 2.

Year one was heart bypass year.

24-11, No NCAA TOURNAMENT year 3

24-7, early round loss in NCAA Tournament in year 4

14-14, no post season in year 5

Then Big Rick brought in an incredible recruiting class and the epic run up to the National Championship Game followed.

[Utah5410]

No… first addressing Football. Utah has a ton of talent in the state. Primarily thanks to the Polys. Kyles mantra works. We will never get 5 * kids here. So he develops 3 stars and brings in solid right minded 4* who become stars rinse and repeat. Scally (next head coach) will do this.

Utah basketball is very simple. Larry K figured it out when he first got here and then got fat and happy after his new contract. Recruit local. Develop. Play within a system and be consistent. Bring in hard nosed guys that fit your system.

S

[EagleMountainUte]

Utah better fire Smith now. Permitting him to stay will not change anything.

[The Miami Ute]

Totally agree Eagle. Not sure how much more of a sample size we need to determine that Smith is not the answer. There’s no excuse for not making the tournament this season. Other than Worster, the team has been basically injury free and playing in a mediocre to bad basketball conference. If not now, when?

[ProudUte]

Utah has a tough road ahead to regain basketball prominence. But, Utah did not become a great basketball program when big Rick showed up. Have you heard of Jack Gardner (he went to two final fours). Do you remember Jerry Pimm. He had some great teams. Utah had a great basketball program. We have made some mistakes with coaching hires and have fallen out of prominence.

Coming back will not be easy. But, I believe that we can come back. I had hopes that this year would be a very good year. But, it has not been what most hoped. Should we fire the coach? I say – not yet. However, I do believe that we need to see some significant improvement or he will be on thin ice.

Go Utes!!!

[Rick]

I completely disagree with this initial post. Just because the current state of the program looks bleak does not mean that it has been bleak except for the Majerus years. If you look at the history of our head coaches, only 2 coaches in our entire history have had losing records. Only two had .500 records (Craig Smith and Joe Cravens, who was an interim). All of the other coaches had winning records. Larry was 137-96 or 59%. Boylen won 53%. Giacoletti won 57%. Archibald won 53%. Pimm won 67%. Obviously Majerus won 77% and is a legend, but you look at others like Jack Gardner and Vadal Peterson and you can see that our program has a very solid history. It was NOT just Majerus. Larry put three solid players into the NBA in his 10 years here and got us to two round of 32s and a sweet 16. I am done trying to fit Smith into our legacy of success. He has not earned it and we need to replace him with someone who can.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Good posts everyone! I attended games in the Einar Nielson field house with my dad. I have seen the history of Utah basketball. MBB would pack the arena while football struggled to get half the stadium filled. Seems the success of the football program has had an effect on basketball. Seasons overlap and with a bowl game it’s usually late December before football ends.

I remember everyone (including me) complaining about how tickets prices went up each year for basketball. I couldn’t afford my season tickets ( great seats) so I let them go in protest. I haven’t renewed since. Majerus knew he was done and quit recruiting. The new coach I believe was Gacoletti. He had no chance. Young unproven coach and no talent. Bad hire. The program has never recovered. Hopefully the big twelve will stimulate more interest and we need a strong leader that can recruit better talent. I wish this new generation could experience the joy of winning basketball again.

[DataUte]

I don’t get all the doom and gloom. Can’t win in Utah anymore? Come on. 18 wins ain’t nothing. Middle of the conference is not ‘bad’. Just in comparison with the glory days 20+ years ago. Coach K had 5 20 win seasons (2 NCAA inc. sweet 16, 3 NIT). Boylen had 1 20 win season (1 NCAA, 1 CBI qf), Giac had 29 wins with Majerus leftovers and NAA sweet 16.

If by this you mean we will rarely compete for the conference title (esp. in the Big 12 or maybe later the Big 10), that stinks a little, but it’s ok. We aren’t ‘bad’ which in my mind is not getting to 10 wins, then not getting .500 every year. Will we be a little more mediocre many years? Probably. Will we get some good coach that recruits (or better said, that boosters provide NIL for) and have some ‘great’ years? Hopefully. With basketball, all you need is 2-3 star players with enough depth to weather injuries and foul trouble.

Wins lead to attendance, but maybe with some hot Big 12 teams coming to town, people will go. Fans seem to support the Jazz when they are mediocre.

[WJUte]

If there is one sport Utah should thrive in it’s MBB IMO. Great history (not just from 50 years ago), great facilities (although I think the Huntsman Ctr is kind of showing its’ age). NBA City–not many B12 programs can say that. Current NBA players from Utah. I’d much rather have to recruit players to Salt Lake City than Ames, IA, Manhattan, KS, etc. Others have mentioned it–we just need better players and athletes–more Deivon Smith’s–fewer Ben Carlson’s. Coaches need to coach and develop–but they need players with the skill set. And–it’s going to be embarrassing if we continue to have 50% capacity attendance. In the PAC12 that is normal–not in the B12.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

I’ve been saying for a couple years that the game has changed and with pick and you need to switch on defense. You need long athletic players than guard all positions. Height doesn’t matter if you can’t guard the perimeter.

[Author]

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