Will Jones Departure Change Recruiting Scenery?
Finally had a chance to catch up with outgoing assistant coach Chris Jones today, mostly about what kind of effect his move might have on recruiting around Utah.
After all, Jones was retained initially in large part because of his deep recruiting connections around the state, and he was in charge of coordinating recruiting efforts for coach Jim Boylen.
He won't play quite so specific an organizational role with coach Stew Morrill and the Utah State Aggies, Jones said, but he did acknowledge that his connections might help the Ags attract more Utah players.
"We're going to try," he said.
Jones said he doubts the Aggies suddenly will be in the mix for highly regarded Tyler Haws of Lone Peak High School just because of him, but "I don't think anybody else in the state is off-limits." Jones also said he doubts his departure will hurt the Utes in recruiting; Boylen has a good relationship with all of the incoming players, and has a strong recruiting background after all his years as an assistant coach himself.
"It will be fine," Jones said.
Aside from that, Jones also praised Boylen as a terrific coach and said his departure from the Utes had only to do with wanting a new challenge and change of scenery once Morrill contacted him with the opportunity. He wouldn't even validate my speculation that he saw a limited capacity for upward mobility on the Utah bench, with Boylen already poised to bring in one of "his guys" to replace departed assistant Marty Wilson.
"We didn't really have a staff like that," he said. "We were all pretty much equal."
And indeed, they always seemed to get along just fine.
In any case, hopefully Jones will get the chance to keep working his way up the coaching ladder and become a head coach someday. He's a good guy, and definitely will be missed around the Utah program.
After all, Jones was retained initially in large part because of his deep recruiting connections around the state, and he was in charge of coordinating recruiting efforts for coach Jim Boylen.
He won't play quite so specific an organizational role with coach Stew Morrill and the Utah State Aggies, Jones said, but he did acknowledge that his connections might help the Ags attract more Utah players.
"We're going to try," he said.
Jones said he doubts the Aggies suddenly will be in the mix for highly regarded Tyler Haws of Lone Peak High School just because of him, but "I don't think anybody else in the state is off-limits." Jones also said he doubts his departure will hurt the Utes in recruiting; Boylen has a good relationship with all of the incoming players, and has a strong recruiting background after all his years as an assistant coach himself.
"It will be fine," Jones said.
Aside from that, Jones also praised Boylen as a terrific coach and said his departure from the Utes had only to do with wanting a new challenge and change of scenery once Morrill contacted him with the opportunity. He wouldn't even validate my speculation that he saw a limited capacity for upward mobility on the Utah bench, with Boylen already poised to bring in one of "his guys" to replace departed assistant Marty Wilson.
"We didn't really have a staff like that," he said. "We were all pretty much equal."
And indeed, they always seemed to get along just fine.
In any case, hopefully Jones will get the chance to keep working his way up the coaching ladder and become a head coach someday. He's a good guy, and definitely will be missed around the Utah program.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 5:44 PM |
5 Comments:
I hope what Jones is saying is true, but it is still just one more name to add to the list of others let loose from the Boylen ship. Anyone asked what Luke is going to do next year? (I wonder if he decides to go back to Australia to turn pro. I hope not!) GO UTES!
Daniel Deane, Nemanja Calasan, Curtis Eatmon, Stephen Weigh, Asst. Coach Marty Wilson, Asst. Coach Chris Jones,........
Daniel Deane - Got caught cheating on tests, didn't turn in his homework, fought with Boylen.
Stephen Weigh - Constantly injured, one foot here, one foot in Australia.
Curtis Eatmon - No production, frequent injuries, not a D-1 talent according to Utah coaching staff.
Calasan and Ogilvy - No scholarships available.
Marty Wilson - Got a chance to become head coach at his alma mater.
Chris Jones - Good guy, but what has Utah accomplished with his in-state recruits?
As for Luke, I'm betting Jason Washburn will be the starting center next year.
CORRECTION: Nemanja Calasan had a scholarship and it was taken away by Boylen because he didn't want to have too many seniors next year. Meanwhile, Nemanja helped Purdue to a successful season and NCAA tourney appearance. Good enough to start in the Big 10 on a high caliber team and play in the NCAA tourney, but not good enough for the UTES?
I'm bugged more by Ogilvy than by Calasan, and Ogilvy was Giac's mistake. Calasan averaged 6 ppg and 3 rpg for Purdue. I'm sure we could have used him, since we weren't deep at the forward spot, but how much better would we have been having him? Probably not NCAA worthy. Boylen is trying to build this program from the ground up, and it will be a couple years before we know whether the guys he replaced Calasan with were worth it.
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