Speaker 1: One week ago today, Alex Jensen officially introduced as the
Speaker 1: seventeenth head coach in Utah men's basketball history, a hire
Speaker 1: that seems to be consistently applauded across the board and
Speaker 1: whatever ecosystem you exist in, whether you cover the team
Speaker 1: like we do here on the station, whether you're with
Speaker 1: the administration of the current athletic department, or whether you
Speaker 1: played for the team, like our next guest did. One
Speaker 1: of the best high school players I've ever seen play
Speaker 1: went on to play for Rick Mnjaris at the University
Speaker 1: of Utah. You know his little brother, Britton Johnson as
Speaker 1: a good friend of the program. Well, Jeff is a
Speaker 1: good friend of the program too. Jeff Johnson on a
Speaker 1: Monday afternoon, Jeff, how are we doing?
Speaker 2: Buddy's good?
Speaker 3: I'm good. I appreciate the time.
Speaker 1: So I've just got to know, since I haven't been
Speaker 1: able to kick the tires with you, what was your
Speaker 1: Let's start with your reaction when you heard that Craig
Speaker 1: had been let go. What was the kind of the
Speaker 1: first thing that came to your mind.
Speaker 2: I think I kind of knew it was going to happen,
Speaker 2: and I think I was a little surprised if most
Speaker 2: people were that it happened when I did, But it
Speaker 2: kind of makes sense now, and I kind of knew
Speaker 2: going into this season that Craig had to have a
Speaker 2: pretty good season or a pretty good rod to probably
Speaker 2: come back next year. So ultimately not super surprised.
Speaker 1: How quickly did the name Alex Jensen enter your mind?
Speaker 2: I mean it was in my mind ever since last
Speaker 2: time when they didn't hire him, you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: I think hiring a college coach that had some success
Speaker 2: in another program makes sense, and that's usually the norm.
Speaker 2: But I think just seeing what some of these other
Speaker 2: schools have done, getting someone like Alex just made sense
Speaker 2: for our university. And we took obviously some steps back
Speaker 2: from that, like what four years ago to from that
Speaker 2: higher so this time we had to get it right.
Speaker 2: And obviously on paper and through the enthusiasm, it looks
Speaker 2: like it's a really good hire and hopefully that will
Speaker 2: come truition, which I think it will.
Speaker 1: You know, it's wild Jeff next year. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'm a little bit younger than you are. I'm between
Speaker 1: you and Britain, I think thereabouts. But I was in
Speaker 1: school when Rick was the coach and you guys were
Speaker 1: making the tournaments and you were making long runs. And
Speaker 1: so for me to stay into a microphone. Next year
Speaker 1: will mark ten years since the last NCAA tournament appearance
Speaker 1: for Utah men's basketball blows my mind.
Speaker 3: Blows my mind when I say that, well, what's your reaction?
Speaker 2: It's hard to hear, it really is. I mean, it
Speaker 2: blows my mind too. And we now have a generation
Speaker 2: of kids who just had never known Utah as a
Speaker 2: postseason team, a team that's made a run. I talked
Speaker 2: to kids who are in their teams and you know,
Speaker 2: they're just like, yeah, I can ever imagine Utah playing
Speaker 2: in an nca tournament, and it's hard for them to
Speaker 2: fathom that we were regular visitors to that tournament every year,
Speaker 2: that we won a lot of games there. So when
Speaker 2: you say that, you know, it is hard to hear,
Speaker 2: and especially you know, I was talking the Essuay with
Speaker 2: my son. We were watching Colorado State and New Mexico play,
Speaker 2: and I was telling how those were teams we used
Speaker 2: to compete against and pretty much would beat them all
Speaker 2: the time. I mean we'd have, you know, every now
Speaker 2: and then you'd have like a Wyoming have a good
Speaker 2: runner or a UNLB. But I played Tanego State before
Speaker 2: they got good with the Kauie teams and all that,
Speaker 2: and same with Colorido State and same with New Mexico.
Speaker 2: And it's just to see them playing in the tournament
Speaker 2: and winning games like we used to do as hard.
Speaker 1: Alex won Mister Basketball at Wumont in ninety four, and
Speaker 1: then I think you're the only player in Utah. No,
Speaker 1: Tyler did it. That's right, Tyler Hawes Loan peak. But
Speaker 1: prior to Tyler, you were the only player in the
Speaker 1: history of the state to win Mister Basketball in ninety
Speaker 1: five ninety six. Did you play against Alex in high school?
Speaker 3: I can't remember.
Speaker 2: No, I didn't play Alex. I mean I would have
Speaker 2: played and had we played their team when I was
Speaker 2: a sophomore and he was a senior, but we never
Speaker 2: really crossed paths. He was at Umont, I was at Murray.
Speaker 2: We just never played them, you know, So, but I
Speaker 2: knew of him. I remember watching him when I was
Speaker 2: a sophomore and they were in the state championship, and
Speaker 2: I remember going up and watching his team and thinking, like,
Speaker 2: you know, they got I mean, they had some dudes
Speaker 2: back then. I don't know if you were there yet Bountiful,
Speaker 2: but they had some guys and they were Alex was
Speaker 2: kind of the same type of player he was in
Speaker 2: college in high school, Like you just watched him and
Speaker 2: you're like, this guy does everything.
Speaker 3: No, I was not there yet Bountiful nineteen ninety seven.
Speaker 1: Historians claim it's the best high school basketball team in
Speaker 1: the history of the state. That's not my claim. I
Speaker 1: would never make that claim, but historians claim that. And
Speaker 1: I'm proud to say, Jeff, we beat Viewmont both times
Speaker 1: we played them because they were our rival back in
Speaker 1: ninety seven.
Speaker 2: There you go. Well, you those historians obviously never saw
Speaker 2: the ninety sixth Murray's Barton. I'm not I'm not really
Speaker 2: sure what you're talking about, but obviously I can't hear it.
Speaker 1: But you you played You played with Alex in college,
Speaker 1: and so let's let's start there, because you hear a
Speaker 1: lot about, you know, the fact that Rick seemed to, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Alex was kind of the exception to the
Speaker 1: Rick majaris II are at times Alex and Andrea according
Speaker 1: to what I've been told by guys that were there. So,
Speaker 1: what was your experience like playing with Alex. What sort
Speaker 1: of player was he and what sort of relationship did
Speaker 1: he have with Rick?
Speaker 2: Well, everything you've heard is true about him and Rick.
Speaker 2: I mean, it was an interesting relationship because you just
Speaker 2: saw my freshman year. Even these these guys like Keith
Speaker 2: van Horne, who coach I mean loved Keith and respected him,
Speaker 2: but he didn't like he didn't adore him like he
Speaker 2: did Alex, Like Alex was just his guy. It was
Speaker 2: it was his type of player, you know. Just Alex
Speaker 2: is way more talented than Coach majeris ever was, let's
Speaker 2: be honest. But at the same time, Coach mcjarius, if
Speaker 2: he had talent, he would want to play the way
Speaker 2: Alex did. He's never gonna be able to play like
Speaker 2: andre did. He's never gonna be able to play like
Speaker 2: Doliak or Britain or any of those guys. And so
Speaker 2: he just loved Al. And I played with Al for
Speaker 2: one year when he was a senior, and it was
Speaker 2: an interesting year because I was coming off my mission
Speaker 2: and Coach had hyped me up to all the guy.
Speaker 2: That's what coach would do when he's not there. He
Speaker 2: hypes you up. When he's there, he kills you, and
Speaker 2: he was hyping me up coming off my mission, and
Speaker 2: then as soon as I got into the first workouts
Speaker 2: and stuff and I was going against Alex, that all
Speaker 2: came back down to earth. But watching him talk about
Speaker 2: Alex and tell Alex like Alex, he actually had to
Speaker 2: get on him about being more selfish that year because
Speaker 2: that was the year. That was the first year we
Speaker 2: didn't have Andre Doliak any of those guys, so it
Speaker 2: was it was kind of Alex Jensen's team, and he
Speaker 2: needed Alex to be more selfish, which is hard for
Speaker 2: Alex because that didn't play that way. But he needed
Speaker 2: him to be more of a scorer. And so it
Speaker 2: was fun in practice compete with him because we played
Speaker 2: in the same position really and at some point during
Speaker 2: the season, coach, which was a good compliment for me,
Speaker 2: was he said, I got to keep I got to
Speaker 2: keep both of you guys on the court at the
Speaker 2: same time. So he started playing Alex at the four,
Speaker 2: at the power forward, and to watch Alex be that versatile,
Speaker 2: and that's what shows me his mind's ready for coaching,
Speaker 2: because when you have to play the four in our system,
Speaker 2: you have to know all the stuff the four and
Speaker 2: the five do that are interchangeable, but then he was
Speaker 2: also playing the three, which means you have to know
Speaker 2: all the stuff the two and the three do because
Speaker 2: they're interchangeable, and Alex never it just seemed like he
Speaker 2: never missed a beat. So it was impressive.
Speaker 1: So you kind of alluded to some of the elements
Speaker 1: of potentially your answer to my next question. But I
Speaker 1: want you to kind of expand a little bit because
Speaker 1: it feels like the guests I've had on the show
Speaker 1: or things I've read about Al over the years is
Speaker 1: everyone who played with him felt like if he wanted to,
Speaker 1: at some point he was going to be a really
Speaker 1: really good coach. And he played in the pros for
Speaker 1: about seven years and played Overseas and then landed with
Speaker 1: Rick and Saint Louis. What about your experience with Al
Speaker 1: as his teammate and everything else you know about him
Speaker 1: indicated to you that if you wanted to, he's going
Speaker 1: to be a really really good coach.
Speaker 2: It kind of surprised me at first when Alex became
Speaker 2: a coach because when he went overseas and played, I
Speaker 2: know Alex, he's kind of like Coach Majeris where it's hard.
Speaker 2: It's hard to coach certain type of players and things
Speaker 2: that are out of your control because you it's like
Speaker 2: that stuff. Josh always talks about how coach ruined. Josh
Speaker 2: frant will say how he kind of ruins the game
Speaker 2: for you because you're you see it at the purest level.
Speaker 2: And I thought Alex might have a hard time with that.
Speaker 2: But then in watching him in the NBA, where they
Speaker 2: don't play peer fault, they take tons of bad shots
Speaker 2: and take knights off and don't always play hard, to
Speaker 2: watch him adjust to that and to see what he
Speaker 2: did as an assistant, I mean, I kind of thought
Speaker 2: Alex was ever going to be a coach. He'd be good,
Speaker 2: but I didn't see it right away that he would
Speaker 2: do it. And then once he got into it, just
Speaker 2: all the stuff you hear about read about player development,
Speaker 2: player relationships, it's all been pretty positive that I've heard.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and he obviously has had a very interesting journey
Speaker 1: that's landed him back home at the University of Utah. Jeff,
Speaker 1: you referenced the last time around when I asked you
Speaker 1: when Al's name kind of came in your head. He said, well,
Speaker 1: the last time around, the last time around of course,
Speaker 1: Mark Carlin decided to move on from Larry Kriscoviak and
Speaker 1: then landed on Craig Smith. Do you have any insight,
Speaker 1: because I've heard rumors and I've got some knowledge of
Speaker 1: exactly how that went down and whether or not there
Speaker 1: were extensive conversations with AJ the first time around, But
Speaker 1: any insight as to, you know, why they didn't go
Speaker 1: harder at Alex, or maybe they did and he wasn't
Speaker 1: looking to make that jump from the end, you know,
Speaker 1: last time around.
Speaker 3: Any inside there, Yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Mean there's some stuff that I've privy too that I
Speaker 2: you know, I've heard Alex tell me that, you know,
Speaker 2: I probably you know, wouldn't share all of it, but
Speaker 2: I think what I would share that he I think
Speaker 2: he was clear on was the the interest was mutual.
Speaker 2: But I don't think he was wowed by what they
Speaker 2: they came and did. I don't think Mark Harland was
Speaker 2: sold on Alex yet, and so I don't think the
Speaker 2: presentation was like super impressive. And I mean some of
Speaker 2: that's just speculation, Some of that stuff I've heard from
Speaker 2: other people, but it just kind of seemed like they
Speaker 2: did their due diligence talking to Alex, but they didn't
Speaker 2: come to Alex with the red carpet, probably like they
Speaker 2: did this second time around. And timing wise, I think
Speaker 2: you look at all the stuff going on with the
Speaker 2: Dallas Mavericks right now, it probably just set up better
Speaker 2: for Alex to make the move.
Speaker 1: Now, See Porter, I told you Jeff is the Johnson
Speaker 1: wins the filter.
Speaker 3: You know, there's more that Jeff knows.
Speaker 1: But if we had Britain on the show and Britain
Speaker 1: had the knowledge, we'd have all of it. Because Jeff
Speaker 1: has the filter that Britain does not.
Speaker 3: It's a it's a perfect balance. Yeah, there we go.
Speaker 3: What what happened to your little brother?
Speaker 1: How did he avoid this intelligent approach to you have Jeff?
Speaker 2: You know, Spence, I mean every time he was on
Speaker 2: with you, I just would hear every HR violation being
Speaker 2: committed and journalism one on one just thrown out the door.
Speaker 2: And I felt bad to you for you knew what
Speaker 2: it was like for me being his older brother and
Speaker 2: having the kind of babysit them all the time. But
Speaker 2: I'll even tell you on air, Spence, I'll tell you
Speaker 2: off the air more, but I can't tell you on
Speaker 2: the air.
Speaker 1: There you go, yeah, fair enough, No, yeah, no, fair enough.
Speaker 1: I don't want you to divulge any secrets that your
Speaker 1: guys tell you. I want you to maintain those relationships.
Speaker 1: But while we're in the space, you referenced, you know,
Speaker 1: Josh Grant coming on the show the day Craig was fired,
Speaker 1: and he said, this job needs to go to Alex Jensen.
Speaker 1: And there's been a lot of conversation about how this
Speaker 1: staff will fill out, and before or I get to
Speaker 1: the hire that Al has made so far that a
Speaker 1: lot of people are excited about, to the extent that
Speaker 1: you're comfortable, Jeff, share with us any inside information you
Speaker 1: have on the potential of an Andre Miller joining Al
Speaker 1: on the bench. And you know, from my vantage point
Speaker 1: as a proud Jet X or a Utah basketball fan
Speaker 1: from the nineties, if you walk into a gym with
Speaker 1: Andre Miller, you've got instant credibility.
Speaker 3: It's hard to find anywhere else.
Speaker 1: So any insight as to whether or not Andre could
Speaker 1: be on the way and any other names out there
Speaker 1: you're hearing that might join our staff.
Speaker 2: That's such a good question because I know everybody wants
Speaker 2: to know. And I talked with Alex after his press
Speaker 2: conference introductions with you the other day night, and we
Speaker 2: ain't get really far into it because as you can imagine,
Speaker 2: he was pretty much bombarded by everybody. And I think
Speaker 2: at some point, I'm sure we'll discuss if Andre's an
Speaker 2: option for him or not. I think right now he's
Speaker 2: doing his due diligence and trying to get guys that
Speaker 2: can hit the pavement right now, recruiting and doing all
Speaker 2: the general manager work. And I mean that that first
Speaker 2: hire he made, the guy that's been at Washington, looks
Speaker 2: like that's kind of fits that that process. Andre obviously
Speaker 2: sounds like a really good fit, but it doesn't mean
Speaker 2: it's a great fit for Alex. And I don't know
Speaker 2: that it is or not. I'm not really I haven't
Speaker 2: had that conversation with him yet. But I think a
Speaker 2: lot of times we as fans want nostalgic reasons. We want, oh,
Speaker 2: Andre's a perfect fit, or this guy's a perfect fit.
Speaker 2: But but Alex has developed his own coaching style, his
Speaker 2: own his own connection connections in the NBA and in
Speaker 2: the G League that he may have five or six
Speaker 2: guys already on his mind that are not even on
Speaker 2: our radar, like this first hire. I don't know that
Speaker 2: he was on at least, you know, any of our
Speaker 2: radar like former players, none of us, you know, that
Speaker 2: wouldn't have been a guy that we were like thrown
Speaker 2: out there. But it sounds like a good one. So
Speaker 2: I don't really know about Andre yet.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a really.
Speaker 1: Good point, Jeff, because I've been talking about this quite
Speaker 1: a bit, and as you outlined, and I've talked about
Speaker 1: a little bit throughout the course of the past couple
Speaker 1: of weeks after the news became official, there is this
Speaker 1: thought among some in the community that you just need
Speaker 1: former utes on the bench start to finish. But let
Speaker 1: me let me ask you this, as there are very
Speaker 1: few players like you and your brother, you know, really
Speaker 1: elite in state players that went on to play at
Speaker 1: the University of Utah that have the insight as to
Speaker 1: what it's like to be a local kid.
Speaker 3: And you know, some of.
Speaker 1: Britain's recruiting stories are wild, and I always tease them like,
Speaker 1: you needed me in your life when you were deciding
Speaker 1: where you wanted to play basketball because Britain, you know,
Speaker 1: Jim Beheim Syracuse and but ultimately you guys are both
Speaker 1: local players that played for the local team. Do you
Speaker 1: think you need a flavor on the staff for assistant
Speaker 1: coaches or staffers that do understand the local landscape and
Speaker 1: what it's like to recruit kids like you and your brother.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. I mean you look at every staff.
Speaker 2: I mean they have guys that understand the local players.
Speaker 2: And you even can throw in like the religion side
Speaker 2: of it with LDS players, because you're still going to
Speaker 2: recruit kids from Utah that are LDS and they have
Speaker 2: two kids on missions right now that are scholarship guys,
Speaker 2: and so you need a Jeff Judkins type you need.
Speaker 2: You need somebody that can go into people's houses here.
Speaker 2: And Alex can do it too, because Alex is both
Speaker 2: of those. But I think you still need an assistant
Speaker 2: who can can fit that mold of like I know
Speaker 2: the talent here and I know this kid wants to
Speaker 2: go on a mission potentially, how's that going to work
Speaker 2: with our scholarships? How's that going to work? With nil?
Speaker 2: You have to look ahead two years, three years, you know,
Speaker 2: it's something to do. I use Dell with forever and Utah
Speaker 2: is pretty good during the Majeris days because of us,
Speaker 2: he was able to kind of figure that out. So
Speaker 2: I do think that's that's important.
Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting, and I know that some youth
Speaker 1: fans don't love this, but look, if something works, it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter what level or what sport, You're going to
Speaker 1: look at that model and say, what can we learn
Speaker 1: from what they're doing at a place that's similar to ours,
Speaker 1: even though the BYU Utah dichotomy and juxtaposition is different
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways. But you look at the
Speaker 1: way Kevin Young has filled out his staff. He's got
Speaker 1: Will Voight, who is a G League guy, Brandon Dunson
Speaker 1: Burge obviously has experienced down at Brigham Young as he
Speaker 1: does at Utah, but really the only other BYU guy
Speaker 1: that they have on their entire staff is Charles Abuo.
Speaker 1: I mean these are x NBA players, These are x
Speaker 1: NBA staffers all the way down to his strength and
Speaker 1: conditioning coach and his nutritionists. So do you think as
Speaker 1: we move forward, Alex will kind of do the same
Speaker 1: thing Kevin has done based off of als basically two
Speaker 1: decades of experience in pro coaching to tap into his
Speaker 1: community and his network to kind of fill this staff
Speaker 1: with NBA type minded pro type minded people.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's such a good question, because that's kind of
Speaker 2: what I keep getting asked by everybody, and I think
Speaker 2: that's on the mind of everyone, and I think you
Speaker 2: hit the nail on the head. He's going to have
Speaker 2: to go get guys that can help him restore the
Speaker 2: program and win right away. And it doesn't matter if
Speaker 2: it's former Utah guys, and it just matters that it's
Speaker 2: the right guys, and that could include a mixture of both.
Speaker 2: I think that would help fans with attendance. But ultimately
Speaker 2: Alex can't really worry about that. He's got to really
Speaker 2: follow what Kevin Young did and get an NBA guy,
Speaker 2: a G League guy or two of them, and then
Speaker 2: get a local college guy or just another former assistant
Speaker 2: on a staff somewhere that knows the college game. And
Speaker 2: you know, everybody wants the former youths to come in
Speaker 2: to bring the band back, and if it works, great,
Speaker 2: but if they're not the right guys, Alex, Alex is
Speaker 2: smart enough to know, like it's his butt on the line,
Speaker 2: he's got to make it work. And if it's if
Speaker 2: it's just him hiring guys that Stansville, you know, nostalgic
Speaker 2: for them. Then that's not the right way to go
Speaker 2: about it. And so I think Alex is smart enough.
Speaker 2: He's already doing that. I know that.
Speaker 1: So I wanted to go back to something you referenced earlier,
Speaker 1: and al talked about this. I've heard Britt say this too,
Speaker 1: and of course Josh Grant on the radio show. When
Speaker 1: you hear former Rick Majeri's players say he ruined the
Speaker 1: game for us and Jeff, I don't mean the mean
Speaker 1: things he said to people. Okay, we could get into that,
Speaker 1: but from a basketball x's and other standpoint, what does
Speaker 1: that mean? How did plan for it change the way
Speaker 1: that you view, watch and in your own experience coach basketball?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he didn't ruin it for me as
Speaker 2: much as he ruined it for Josh. As you can
Speaker 2: tell on the radio. I feel like I have to
Speaker 2: come up and clean up after Josh and Britt on
Speaker 2: the show. Josh is a good friend and he's right
Speaker 2: in a lot of ways. Be seeing about when you
Speaker 2: played for coach. Everyone knows how hard he was on
Speaker 2: his players. At the purest level. You you learned basketball
Speaker 2: from him because he knew that he wasn't recruiting players
Speaker 2: that he's not recruiting the players the blue bloods are recruiting.
Speaker 2: Even let's beyond a Sandre Miller, right, wasn't recruited like that, Boget.
Speaker 2: You know, those kind of guys weren't necessarily all recruited
Speaker 2: that way. So they had to come in, they had
Speaker 2: to learn how to play the right way, buy in.
Speaker 2: And then if you got the right team that was
Speaker 2: talented of you had you had the right coach who
Speaker 2: could prepare you the purest way, the most detailed way.
Speaker 2: So when you see I think what Josh likes to
Speaker 2: talk about is when you see basketball and you see
Speaker 2: some fundamentally fun knows lacking in teams, the way they're
Speaker 2: coming off screens or the way they don't rotate on defense,
Speaker 2: it seems that you could have never got away with
Speaker 2: with coach, or you would have never been on the
Speaker 2: court in the first place. And so then when you're coaching,
Speaker 2: the thing that those kind of guys have a hard
Speaker 2: time doing is adapting when they're coaching kids now, and
Speaker 2: I've had to really learn how to adapt because I coach,
Speaker 2: you know, high school kids and on AAU teams with
Speaker 2: my son, and you do have to. You can still
Speaker 2: keep your core principles, but you do have to adapt.
Speaker 2: You can't yate kids out for every mistake they make
Speaker 2: and chew them out, you know. And so that's kind
Speaker 2: of what I think they're talking about.
Speaker 1: So when it comes to the process Jeff of building
Speaker 1: a winning roster, Al talked about this during his pressure
Speaker 1: talked about playing with toughness and a group that the
Speaker 1: fan base can be proud of.
Speaker 3: But what does what does the model look like?
Speaker 1: And certainly the model has changed because and you know,
Speaker 1: I know people don't love the whole like, hey, the nineties,
Speaker 1: Rick did this, But you know, you go find a
Speaker 1: van Horne out of state. You go find a Doleyak
Speaker 1: or an Andrea out of state, or a Hano overseas,
Speaker 1: and then you supplement them with really good players like
Speaker 1: you and Britt or Drew or whatever locally. I don't
Speaker 1: know if that's the model it still works. I hate
Speaker 1: to just look at BYU's roster, but right now, that's
Speaker 1: the team that's still playing, and that's the team that
Speaker 1: has the Jews. So what sort of mixture of out
Speaker 1: of state kids and state kids? I guess it's a long, clunky,
Speaker 1: way of me asking you, how does al go about this?
Speaker 3: What's the process look like?
Speaker 2: I think it's what you just said. I mean, and
Speaker 2: I don't think there's anything wrong looking at like like
Speaker 2: BUYU is doing it right right now. I mean they
Speaker 2: obviously have they have the excitement, they have nil money,
Speaker 2: but like they're tapping into their resources. That that igor
Speaker 2: Denim kid. I mean, you know he came from Russia
Speaker 2: because of Travis Hanson, right, Travis had a connection with
Speaker 2: his dad, so they tapped into that. And that's what
Speaker 2: Alex has to do. And Alex has to get guys
Speaker 2: around him, like like you bring in a good assistant
Speaker 2: coach and a guy will follow like Kaiba Kenny Cada
Speaker 2: followed Chris Burgess. You know, he had a relationship with
Speaker 2: Chris Burgess at Utah. So you've got to get these
Speaker 2: guys that are out of state, out of country whatever,
Speaker 2: and then and then blend him in with the local kids,
Speaker 2: because you've got to blend him with local kids for
Speaker 2: the fans and also just to play the the right
Speaker 2: way to Alex wants. And you really said it, that
Speaker 2: is the that is the formula. I don't know that
Speaker 2: you're gonna go get seven transfer portal kids from back
Speaker 2: East and wherever, and then come in and expect them
Speaker 2: to state more than a year or two. So you know,
Speaker 2: I think you still have to build, Like you have
Speaker 2: to get those three or four guys that will stay
Speaker 2: probably all four years and they're solid players. And then
Speaker 2: you you get in those those two year guys or
Speaker 2: those transfer portal guys that are counted, and then and
Speaker 2: then if they can all buy into Alex assist them,
Speaker 2: he'll be a good enough coach and have a good
Speaker 2: enough culture that I that I think we'll get back there.
Speaker 1: Since you are in the ecosystem of coaching AAU when
Speaker 1: you see some of these top shelf high school players.
Speaker 1: I don't cover high school basketball. I don't cover high
Speaker 1: school football. I just don't have time. There's too much
Speaker 1: stuff to do day to day with all the pro
Speaker 1: sports and college sports we have here. But I hear
Speaker 1: a lot of people that are around the high school
Speaker 1: game here in the state talk about how much the
Speaker 1: talent has improved. Can you speak to that at all,
Speaker 1: whether or not you know, because back in the day,
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I don't mean to keep saying this,
Speaker 1: but you and your brother were kind of unicorns. You know,
Speaker 1: there weren't a lot of Jeff and Britton Johnson's in
Speaker 1: the state of Utah, and throughout the course of our
Speaker 1: state's history, there aren't a lot of kids that played
Speaker 1: high school ball here that have gone on to play
Speaker 1: in the pros.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's a short short list.
Speaker 1: Is from your vantage point, Jeff, is the talent in
Speaker 1: the high school in the AU ranks in the state
Speaker 1: of Utah a lot better than it once was.
Speaker 2: And that's a good question. Here's what I'll say. So
Speaker 2: I am very involved with the top kids in the
Speaker 2: state because I'm involved in that Utah Prospects program. I
Speaker 2: coached the six teams and they're starting to get there's
Speaker 2: kids on my team who are starting to get offers
Speaker 2: and getting looks and and a lot of the seven
Speaker 2: teams are What I'll say is the thing that's changed
Speaker 2: everything is that those prep schools, because back in the day,
Speaker 2: that would have been where Britain and I would have
Speaker 2: been been recruited to go play on one of those.
Speaker 2: And those are the kids like local public school wise,
Speaker 2: you you kind of look at those kids almost differently
Speaker 2: because they're playing they're playing on a Tuesday night and
Speaker 2: a Friday night you can go see them play, and
Speaker 2: they're local. Those prep school kids are playing out of
Speaker 2: state all the time. That's where Ajadvance is playing. There's
Speaker 2: two or three other kids on that team who are
Speaker 2: from Utah or have moved to u SAW that are
Speaker 2: highly recruited. So those kids are kind of a little
Speaker 2: different the other kids, like the public school kids. Yeah,
Speaker 2: the talent's still there. I mean there's there's there's no like,
Speaker 2: probably the top end isn't like what you were just saying,
Speaker 2: like those top kids, like a six to ten kid
Speaker 2: like bring getting recruited by everybody, But there's still there's
Speaker 2: still like probably more depths, i'd say, more guys that
Speaker 2: will get offers to some of the smaller schools from
Speaker 2: top to bottom than you would have seen before. So,
Speaker 2: I mean, the state of Utah does have a lot
Speaker 2: of talent right now. And everybody can shoot. That's the
Speaker 2: thing is everyone can shoot the wall and that's such
Speaker 2: a premium right now in college that all the kids
Speaker 2: getting looked at can shoot, you know, And in our
Speaker 2: day it was more like they were recruiting if you
Speaker 2: were an athlete that could play, and then if you
Speaker 2: can shoot or not. They didn't care. They'd figure that out.
Speaker 1: The Stephan Curry effect, Jeff, I mean, everybody wants to
Speaker 1: shoot it. Not just shoot it, but shoot it from
Speaker 1: thirty five feet. You know, he really changed the game. Hey,
Speaker 1: before I set you loose, last question, what was your understanding?
Speaker 1: And reveal what you feel comfortable and keep what you
Speaker 1: want to to yourself. But what was the main difference
Speaker 1: this time around? As Mark Carlin landed on Alex Jensen,
Speaker 1: this time in a way that he didn't prior to.
Speaker 2: I think it just came down to timing and pressure.
Speaker 2: I think he I think he felt it. Mark felt
Speaker 2: it from the people who are writing in the checks
Speaker 2: and the people who are donating, and just the fan
Speaker 2: base and himself. I think he probably did a lot
Speaker 2: more due diligence and realize he's got to get this
Speaker 2: higher right and then timing for Alex. I mean a
Speaker 2: couple of weeks before Alex took the job, if you
Speaker 2: could have seen a text thread between me and him
Speaker 2: and Britain, I would have never thought he was going
Speaker 2: to take the job, just because of where he was at.
Speaker 2: My son is actually on his mission. My older son
Speaker 2: is on his mission. In Dallas right now, and he
Speaker 2: just moved into like Alex's area. So Alex and I
Speaker 2: were talking about alex Is. Alex wanted to have him
Speaker 2: to dinner, and he was just telling me how much
Speaker 2: he loves Dallas and how much he loves the being
Speaker 2: with the Mavericks. I mean, this was just like two
Speaker 2: weeks before he took the job, and his kids were happy,
Speaker 2: his wife's abby. He really likes Dallas. But I think
Speaker 2: this one was too hard for him to turn down.
Speaker 2: I'm sure financially it was too hard to turn down.
Speaker 2: I'm sure timing it was too hard to be a
Speaker 2: head coach of your alma mater. And I think Mark
Speaker 2: realized some just things I've heard. He had to put
Speaker 2: the full court press on Alex this time in like
Speaker 2: he didn't the time before.
Speaker 1: All Right, my guy, Well, always a pleasure, and it's
Speaker 1: good when I have a Johnson on that did not
Speaker 1: start a fire as a result of his inability to
Speaker 1: control himself. So I think we survived. Appreciate the time,
Speaker 1: be good, reach out if you need.
Speaker 2: Okay, thanks man, I'm glad I can come on and
Speaker 2: like again, clean up after Britain. That's a time you
Speaker 2: need me too.
Speaker 1: Exactly what happened, Jeff, And I imagine that's something that's
Speaker 1: across you've worn your entire life.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, don't forget your shoes when we're halfway to
Speaker 2: the school. You know, your basketball shoes and let's go
Speaker 2: back and get them now. Stuff like that.
Speaker 1: Oh goodness, goodness, thanks man, be good Okay, Okay, you too.
Speaker 1: Jeff Johnson one of the best, certain one of the
Speaker 1: best high school players I ever saw. Dude could just
Speaker 1: get buckets. He was a walking bucket, had a good
Speaker 1: career at Utah. I don't think he was used correctly,
Speaker 1: that's my opinion, but I would side on the U
Speaker 1: air on the side of what Rick majeris. Thanks not
Speaker 1: some Midleans sports soccer radio host Jeff stops by today
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