Four years after arrival in Salt Lake City with the hope of the Basketball of Utah Heren in National Relevance, Craig Smith is out.
The University announced his resignation on Monday and ended a term of office that resulted in some memorable victories, but never delivered a NCAA tournament -performance. The decision comes with the UTES that are in general and 7-9 in Big 12 Play, bound for the ninth in the rankings of the conference, and probably on the way to an eighth consecutive season without a tournament berth.
Athletic director of Utah, Mark Harlan, made clear in his statement: the program expects more.
“I want to thank Craig for his work and dedication since he arrived in Salt Lake City,” Harlan said. “He led us to special moments and memorable victories and Craig has poured his heart to build our current team. However, we have larger ambitions for our basketball program for men, both within the BIG 12 conference and national, and our expectation is to regularly compete in the NCAA tournament. “
“After evaluating our program under the leadership of Craig, I believe that a change is needed to bring us where we want to go … We have continued to invest in our basketball program for men, adding staff, increasing compensation And considerably improving the NIL opportunities with our partners with our partners with our partners with our partners for our student athletes. And our investments will only grow. I am convinced that our national search, which has already started, will lead us to the right coach to reduce our legendary program to national fame. “
Utah fires head coach Craig Smith, immediately in force.
In the past four seasons, Smith had a record of 65-62 with zero NCAA Tournament performances. pic.twitter.com/ARSNQBBUAA
– College Basketball Report (@cbkreport) February 24, 2025
A term of office that did not meet expectations
Smith was hired in 2021 after a successful three-year-old Stint in the state of Utah, where he led the aggies to three consecutive NCAA tournament performances. But that success never translated into Utah.
In four seasons, Smith put together a record of 65-62 and did not succeed in bringing the Utes back to the tournament IS that the program has not reached since 2016.
This season Utah flashed potential and earned selection framework victories on Kansas and Kansas State earlier this month. But those victories were quickly overshadowed by a frustrating loss of four points for UCF-one team with only five conference wins on a series of inconsistent versions.
This has little to do with the coaching of Craig Smith. This is one of those few times that nobody would take this job in his right mind without saying, “Let me see (zero) money.” Coaching the team today has much less to do with success than ever before. @Utahmbb
– Francochilla (@franfruschilla) February 24, 2025
With the times on and a generally tournament offered very unlikely, Utah chose to reduce his losses early and continue Smith before the last part of the season.
A tough road for the UTES
The last four regular season matches of UTAH are played under Interim head coach Josh Eilert, who takes over with the Utes who is looking for any momentum on the way to the Big 12 tournament.
Their schedule does not affect them.
- February 28 – bee No. 22 Arizona
- March 2 – vs. Arizona State
- March 5 – vs. West Virginia
- March 8 – bee No. 25 Byu
It would take a Deep Big 12 -tournament run year – perhaps even a conference championship – that Utah has hope for an NCAA bid. More realistic, the Utes will again look at March Madness from home.
What is the next step for basketball in Utah?
Harlan did not waste time initiating a national coaching investigation and indicated that Utah aggressively will follow a leader who reduces the program.
The UTES have a legendary basketball history, with a last four appearance in 1998, but have difficulty staying relevant at the national stage in recent years. Playing in the charged Big 12 only increases the effort, because Utah now has to compete regularly with powerful programs such as Kansas, Houston and Baylor.
Smith’s term of office was not without clear places, but in the end it wasn’t enough. Utah made clear his expectations: competing in the Big 12 is not enough – winning in the Big 12 is the standard.
Now the search for the coach that can make it happen.
