The legendary player Patrick Kinahan might give Utah basketball the boost it needs.
Apart from Utah’s fierce rival performing better in a superior conference the previous season, BYU has dominated the media landscape for the past few weeks. It all began with the widely reported appointment of NBA associate coach Kevin Young to take over for Mark Pope, who was chosen over several applicants to become the esteemed head coach of Kentucky.
When Young brought Chris Burgess on board, the hits against Utah didn’t stop there. Craig Smith, the coach of Utah, who also lost assistant DeMarlo Slocum to Washington, saw the well-liked former Utah player as a key assistant.
After Burgess joined the team, BYU successfully acquired Utah big man Keba Keita through the transfer portal. Following Utah’s loss of point guard Devion Smith to Rick Pitino’s school at St. John’s, the transfer was made. To be fair, Utah has added several players to the roster through the transfer portal, but none of them seem to have the skills to carry the program back to its former glory.
In collegiate athletics, recruitment is the key to success, as all coaches will tell you. As the program moves from the Pac-12 into the much tougher Big 12 this upcoming season, Utah doesn’t seem to have the excitement that can help draw elite talent right now.
Smith has the ability to infuse the program with greater enthusiasm by selecting how to bolster his coaching staff. Hiring the legendary Andre Miller of Utah would undoubtedly make the impact Utah basketball sorely needs.
Miller is unquestionably the best point guard in program history, as any fan of Utah basketball, even those who were not present, can clearly remember. In the 1998 NCAA Tournament, he nearly single-handedly propelled the Utes into the Final Four with his extraordinary play.
A quiet introvert from Compton, California, he had to sit out a year of school because of NCAA academic standards, but he was also one of the most devoted Utes. After three years, Miller chose to pursue a degree instead of accepting the NBA salary, and he returned to the game for one more season in 1998โ99.
Miller experimented with high school coaching following his 17-year NBA career, which came to an end in 2016. He was hired as the Denver Nuggets’ G League coach in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2022.
Miller stated in an interview with The Zone from the previous year, “I wanted to stay a part of the game in the same way or form.” “I was unsure if it was management, coaching, or something else. I was enjoying retirement and kind of in limbo.”
Miller just wrapped up his second season, going 11-23 and placing 16th in the Eastern Conference. He was essentially better prepared for the job of college coaching because of his minor league coaching experience, where he oversaw a squad full of inexperienced players learning the game.
Miller was receptive to all coaching opportunities after first getting into it. He has, at the very least, communicated with Smith on a casual basis. Miller declared, “I won’t put any boundaries on myself.” “I really want to keep doing this. I’m going to make an effort and enjoy myself wherever I end up.”
Utah has lacked a strong alumni network despite having such a successful program. Miller’s colleague on the squad that fell short against Kentucky in the national championship, Alex Jensen, has been a coach since 2007.
Before taking over as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ G League squad for two seasons, he spent four years as an assistant to former Utah coach Rick Majerus in St. Louis. Over the past ten years, Jensen has assisted NBA players.