Each week we’re trying to get to the heart of one Pac-12 program by asking the most important question that faces that program. This week, we’ve been profiling a Utah program that is trying to bounce back from an awful season, and along with myself and Connor Pelton, we’ve asked Adam Butler of Pachoops the following burning question:
Over the course of more than 100 years of basketball history, Utah has had one of the most consistently successful programs in college basketball. But, in the last decade, a couple of misses in hiring a head coach have left the Utes scrambling, resulting in last year’s debacle, the worst season in the history of the program. Is Larry Krystkowiak the right guy to return the Utes to their winning ways? And how quickly can he reasonably be expected to turn things around?
After Hitting The Bottom Of The Barrel, Can Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak Lead Utah Back To Relevance?
Adam Butler: The Utes have fallen on some strange times and I have to say I don’t quite know what to make of Larry K. He’s like the Lane Kiffin of college basketball less the arrogance and drama (and I’m not entirely sure where he stands on the wife situation). But let me explain the Kiffin thing. K has bounced around for short stints of moderate success. His while with the Bucks was not glamorous and swift but was an opportunity awarded to a guy with two seasons of college head coaching at Montana where he was 42-20. So I feel like there isn’t a body of work by which to say, “Yes, Larry is the man to get Utah to the fat-guy-in-sweater days.” But he’s intense, he’s young, and he has only one place to go: up. I mean, they held tryouts last season. I like the pieces he’s bringing in and have heard only rave reviews of Jordan Loveridge and that’s where it begins; some recruiting success, diamonds in the rough, and then momentum rolls. Can K do it? Sure, why not, because anything is better than a six-win season.
Connor Pelton: Krystkowiak is the perfect fit to rebuild this Utah program. His positivity and ability to look ahead to bigger and brighter things while still focusing on the immediate task at hand is exactly what a team who hasn’t had a winning season in three years needs. The 2011-12 Utes were able to overcome the loss of star player Josh Watkins and were able to keep up with opponents for good shares of a game before eventually falling due to lack of talent. With that said, it’s going to take a while before the Utes have a winning season, much less make any kind of postseason tournament. Realistically, I’d say the next winning campaign will come in three years, when incoming freshman Jordan Loveridge is an upperclassman. Loveridge’s triple threat ability will be something Krystkowiak can build an offense around, and once they’re able to add a quick point guard will be competing much more often with Pac-12 opponents.
Andrew Murawa: The question may just as well be “is Utah necessarily going to get back to its winning ways?” While it is certainly a great basketball state, the Utes are not currently a high-profile destination for elite recruits. And now that they’ve upped the ante and are competing against programs like UCLA, Arizona, and Washington, not to mention their up-and-coming Pac-12 travel partner Colorado, I don’t see Utah being able to string together 18 winning seasons over the course of two decades like they did from the mid-80s to the end of the Rick Majerus era. There was a span of nine seasons under Majerus where the Utes won their conference eight times – and finished second in the other season. Those days are gone, so expectations need to be different for Krystkowiak. So much so that seasons like the seven that got his predecessors fired may be the cap for this program. And Krystkowiak is certainly capable of getting the Utes back to the point where they are regularly middle-of-the-Pac with occasional runs at a conference title sprinkled in there. This season, you’ll see significant improvement for the Utes, although the conference record may not reflect it. And with the new talent Krystkowiak has brought in and with his future commitments, the future is bright. It will be a long road back, but this Utah team can get back to playing in postseason tournaments perhaps as early as next season. Just don’t expect conference titles on a regular basis, Ute fan.