The college basketball coaching carousel is revving up.
Here’s a look at who’s in and who’s out.
March 6
Utah hired Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Alex Jensen, a former Utes player under Rick Majerus, to be its next men’s basketball coach. Jensen, Utah’s top target, replaces Craig Smith, who was fired in late February in his fourth season. Jensen has been an NBA assistant coach for 12 seasons. He spent 10 years with the Utah Jazz before joining Dallas in 2023.
March 5
Jai Lucas signed a deal to become the University of Miami’s next head coach. Lucas, 36, is in his third season as an assistant at Duke, coming in when Jon Scheyer took over as head coach in 2022. He plans to finish out the 2024-25 regular season with the Blue Devils but will leave for Miami before the postseason begins.
Lucas is set to become the youngest head coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He inherits a Miami team in the midst of one of its worst seasons in program history, one that saw legendary longtime coach Jim Larranaga step down midseason. The Hurricanes (6-24 overall, 2-17 ACC) are on a six-game losing streak and have endured separate slumps of 10 and seven games.
They are, however, just two years removed from a Final Four run. Lucas, who agreed to a five-year contract, will try to bring them back to that level.
Feb. 24
Utah fired coach Craig Smith on Monday, one day after a 76-72 loss at UCF dropped the Utes to 15-12 on the season and 7-9 in Big 12 play.
Smith, 52, was in his fourth season in charge of the Utes and held a 65-62 all-time record with the program. He’ll be replaced by assistant coach Josh Eilert on an interim basis as the school searches for a replacement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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