What you hear in the background now, ladies and gentlemen, is the dramatic organ chords playing the opening theme music for the latest episode of … da-da-dum, “As the Disappointment Turns.”
The show’s star is Chris Burgess, the latest character in our story who is turning and returning the … what, the favor? The fervor? The frenzy? The furor? The freakout?
The f-something or other.
Let’s all take a deep breath here and ready, set, go …
When the LDS high school basketball star who infamously spurned BYU back in the day, leading to then-coach Roger Reid informing him that he, a teenaged prep player from Southern California, was disappointing millions of Mormons, and then he reported to the press that Reid said that, all hell broke loose. Reid was subsequently fired for a variety of reasons, and Utah fans got a good laugh out of not just that, but the fact that the Cougars went on that season to win just one game. BYU basketball was in shambles.
That was just the beginning.
Thereafter, the player-coach chronology went like this: Burgess, the Duke player turned Utah player turned BYU assistant turned Utah assistant turned BYU assistant, again, recently came back to Provo to coach under new Cougar head coach Kevin Young, who agreed to leave as top assistant for the Phoenix Suns to coach BYU basketball on account of a seven-year, $30 million contract. That departure lit a fuse under Utah fans, probably the sons and daughters of the fans who got a kick out of the turmoil Burgess caused long ago at BYU, and now leading to an explosion of concern a generation later over a possible Ute basketball collapse.
Did we get that straight?
Da-da-dum. I think we did.
Either way, as was predicted in this corner when Young was hired, Burgess was happy to come back to BYU, where dollars and attitudes about what to pay coaches are nowhere near as tight as they used to be. And as a result, Burgess has now made millions of Mormons, at least the ones who are Cougar hoop fans, the opposite of disappointed, leaving that adjective in the lap of Utah fans.
A strange turn — return — of events.
It was easy to guess that if BYU was willing to allow such a heavy contract to be given to Young, an up-and-coming NBA coach on an impressive rise, and Young was willing to accept it, there must have been assurances extended to Young that he also would be empowered to hire quality college assistants. Somewhat unfamiliar with the college game, Young needed help. Burgess was one of the first names that came to mind, a solid coach with local knowledge who can recruit. The boxes were checked and the hire was made.
What was celebrated at BYU unsurprisingly went boom-boom-kaboom at Utah.
The Utes had and have made slow progress under Craig Smith over the past three seasons, nothing spectacular, just sort of a steady lurch forward, but already Utah fans have grumbled about the climb that’s more a crawl than a charge. Next thing, this offseason, after a load of decently talented players used up their eligibility, guard Deivon Smith, a legitimate star, announced that he was entering the transfer portal, followed by Keba Keita. Utah’s roster at present looks like the sails on an old sloop that has suffered cannon fire.
Also, assistant coach DeMarlo Slocum bailed to join former Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle and his new staff at Washington. Now, Burgess bolts, disappointing not millions, but whatever paltry number that’s left of Ute b-ball fans, a total that seems to be shrinking and shrinking some more.
The fact that Utah under any circumstance couldn’t hang onto Burgess is particularly telling, especially since he’s heading to instate — and suddenly Big 12 — rival BYU, the school he had left just two years back. This time, the Ute alum had whispered to those close to him that he’d be all in on a move back to Provo to assist Young and to get in on a new gush of competitive momentum and money, energy and excitement at BYU.
While the Utes have played in front of sparse crowds at the Huntsman Center, the Cougars have been rocking and rolling in front of large crowds at the Marriott Center. Whatever BYU was selling, Burgess was buying.
So it is that the kid who embarrassed a BYU coach — or made a coach think he was embarrassed, made a coach think millions of the faithful were let down by him — a quarter of a century ago is now a man who has emboldened a BYU coach, while, at the same time, if not embarrassing Utah basketball, disappointing it, making it feel anything but steady and secure.
“As the Disappointment Turns.” Stay tuned for what next week’s episode brings.
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