Mens BB

[Utes 69]

I do not understand all the hype about Burgess?
never been a head coach? and un proven
I know there are several young and up and coming BB coaches that would do a great job and would love to coach at Utah.
please move on from him and any other former zoobie!

[chinngiskhaan]

Burgess leaving is a nothingburger. We weren’t going anywhere whether he was on our staff or not. He made the right choice, good for him. This doesn’t change anything regarding his future at Utah.

[D T]

CB went the job-security route.

His reputation is his ties to recruiting in-state/developing bigs, but not much else.

The problem for Smith is he lost Slocum as well.

Anyway, CB was going to be gone after next season most likely, so I don’t see what the big deal is.

[Ute Dub]

I agree, that’s a good hedge by Burgess. He gets to remain in Utah at least 3 more years if he chooses, by joining BYU. I’m assuming he got a bump. If the Utah job opens up, he’ll be in the mix.

[MDUte]

Rest now little one. We shall carry your memory with us. Always. pic.twitter.com/UNEZSW0p4z

— Link the Ute (@manacra13) May 2, 2024

[Kellso]

Agreed. He shows no loyalty to any program. There are so many up and coming coaches that would love to coach at Utah. Smith needs to find two proven recruiters and get them working.

[concerned]

and somewhow Smith has to convince them they have some kind of job security beyond next year. Tht will not be easy.

[Stone]

Welcome to sports. The concept of loyalty to a program/team died decades ago. Burgess is the norm, not an exception (Whit is the exception, not the norm). This is the reality. And frankly, I am fine with coaches jumping around – would you or anyone else be “loyal” to an employer that is likely going to fire you in a year? It is a job, not a family.

[FountainofUte]

I think you’re missing the bigger problem here. It’s not just about Burgess alone and his skills as a coach and recruiter. I agree that both of those might be a little overblown.

The problem is that we literally lost him, a former Ute mbb player, to our hated rival down the street to take the same position. That’s a HORRIBLE look for our program. It’s VERY telling about the state of our program: it’s REALLY not good.

The other problem is that right when CSmith needs to be loading his team to keep his own job, his most experienced and valuable staff members are jumping ship.

Why is that signifiicant?

Let’s say you’re an up-and-coming college assistant coach. And your mobile phone rings and Coach Smith is on the line asking how interested you are in leaving Poopy Pants Tech to join his staff. Of course you’re flattered and stoked to get this opportunity to move up in the ranks and probably bump up your pay significantly. But then you look closer and you see that Smith’s team next year is looking super pathetic and that he’s likely to get canned next March if not sooner. Why in the hell are you taking that job?

You’re not.

And that’s why losing Burgess is a huge issue besides the awful optics. It’s not like he followed Pope to Kentucky or got picked off by conference rival Arizona. He literally saw a lateral move to BYU as a better career and financial situation than Utah.

That’s a HUGE problem.

[Yergensen]

Smith is dead man walking. He doesn’t have a way out of this spiral. His talent has left, is leaving. He hasn’t replaced it. It’s moot anyway, he doesn’t recruit well. Compounding this is two assistants have left him, which will defocus him a bit from recruiting. He hasn’t won the support of the fanbase. He’s heading into first year of play in a top 3 basketball league. There’s little chance he survives this.

Harlan got this one wrong. He is going to have to prove his worth with the handling of this one.

[chinngiskhaan]

The MBB program was already a sinking ship. Who cares if people are jumping off to board other ships that aren’t sinking? With or without Burgess, this program was going down. The only decent player Smith has recruited is the brother of a current player! He has to have siblings already on the team to convince mediocre players to come player here.

[CoyoteUte]

Wonder if Tommy Connor is still around? Lol

[Minnesota Ute]

UteFans Deep Cut… Haha

[chinngiskhaan]

With the addition of Caleb Lohner to the football team, Kyle Whittingham is now our best basketball and football recruiter. 🙁

[Author]

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