For this column about Ute hoops coach Craig Smith and his deserved fate at Utah, there’s an angel whispering from one shoulder and a devil shouting from the other. It’s up to the reader to discern which is the one and which is the other.
The one insists that “patience for the coach is wearing thin, beyond thin for obvious reasons,” that it’s time for him to be shown the door. His results have been disappointing and promise no substantial forward progress in the seasons ahead.
The other says, “Hold on there, we shouldn’t even be having this discussion — not yet. I mean, 19-14 this season ain’t Dog Chow. Besides, Smith has three more years on his contract, a deal that’s paying him a base salary of around $2 million per season, plus all the perks, and that since Utah previously had to shell out nearly $7 million to pay off the fired Larry Krystkowiak, that’s a whole lot of added wasted moolah to chuck out the window. Smith should be given more time.”
The one acknowledges that, yes, money is money, but how much money is Utah losing by way of putting mediocre teams on the floor that do not inspire fans to show up to the Huntsman Center. That voice says: “The once-proud building — where Bird and Magic so long ago faced off for a national championship — is dark and mostly dead, featuring the feel of an empty airplane hangar. You could park an Airbus A330 on the floor during some games and hardly block anyone’s view. That takes into account that the Utes rarely lose on their home floor.” Empty seats steal away dollars, too.
The other says that the absence of fans was a problem long before Smith arrived, and that stirring crowds back to the old gray lady takes years.
“Poppycock,” answers the one. “Give the people a team they can get really excited about, a team that wins enough, and they will come almost immediately.”
The other blames the Jazz for stealing away basketball fans, “and they don’t win, not anymore.”
The one doubles down on the win-loss records since Smith came aboard: 11-20, 17-15, and now, after the Utes were eliminated from the Pac-12 tournament by Colorado on Thursday night in Vegas, the aforementioned 19-14. “If 19-14 is your pinnacle, you’ve got a problem. Three M’s of so-called progress under Smith are there for everyone to see: mediocre, marginal, and minimal. Since when should a 9-11 regular-season record in a weak conference be rewarded or even tolerated? What does a road record of 2-9 in that same second-rate league say about the fortitude, the mental state of a team, a program? It says this: ‘weak sauce.’”
The other echoes what Smith himself pointed at just a couple of days ago. A reason for Utah’s late-season decline this year was … injuries. “Nobody wants to hear that,” the coach said, “the injury thing, but we were in great position six weeks ago.” Next thing, among others, guard Rollie Worster got hurt, and in the second-to-last regular-season game, leading scorer Branden Carlson was nicked, and unable to help the Utes in the close-out game at Oregon. “Carlson scored 40 points against Oregon State.”
Oregon center Nate Bittle (32) drives against Utah guard Gabe Madsen (55) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Eugene, Ore., Saturday, March 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Boyd)`
The one wipes away a small tear for that bit of unforeseen Ute trouble, but then blurts, “And the Utes lost to that bad Beavers team, anyway,” and following that repeats something else Smith said just three days ago: “Hey, it’s a bottom-line business.”
The other says three seasons isn’t enough time. Ute basketball was a badly listing ship. More time is needed to restore proper floatation.
“How ‘bout while we’re young?” says the one, who leans further on a mix of brutal truth and emotion, saying the Utes’ move toward what both the school and its fans want their basketball program to be is advancing plate-tectonic style: “It’s been eight years since the Utes have qualified for the NCAA Tournament and, at the current rate, Utah will be going deep into that madness about the time continental drift smashes North and South America into Europe and Africa.”
“That’s an exaggeration,” the other says. “It only seems like it’ll take another 100 million years.”
Says the one: “One more year might be more than what anybody around here can take. Any extended time frame beyond that would be seen as an utter admission and even worse full-on acceptance that Utah is no longer what it once so confidently was — an elite basketball school.” Evidence comes in the form of the aforementioned tournament dearth, the ho-hum records and an absence of conference titles. “And speaking of league titles, with the Utes heading from the comparatively drab Pac-12 straight into college basketball’s best league, the Big 12, next year, that only makes matters, if anyone cares anymore, more pressure-packed, more urgent.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah basketball coach Craig Smith keeps an eye on the action in PAC-12 basketball between the Utah Utes and the Arizona Wildcats at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024.
The other brings up the rather idealistic notion that Utah will be able to recruit better players in a better league: “It’s possible.”
And the one says, “The Utes were supposed to have a talented, veteran team this season, and you saw what happened. Is that where they want to abide?”
The other argues: “Hey, did you see the way the Utes roughed up Arizona State in Vegas on Wednesday night? They looked like world-beaters, credit to Smith.”
The one answers: “Arizona State was so lousy, so disjointed in that game it couldn’t have beaten Southwest Purple Presbyterian State, and that school doesn’t even exist. Look what happened against a real team, Colorado, when it mattered most. Utah got the hook, 72-58, with a big L and elimination hung around its neck.”
The other barks back: “B-b-b-b-b-but …”
The one interrupts: “There is no b-b-b-b-b-but … other than the Utah butt that got kicked on Thursday night.”
The other says: “Look at Smith’s track record. He’ll win eventually.” The coach did come to Utah after two successful previous runs — at South Dakota and at Utah State. It took him two seasons at that first stop to nudge the program to anything resembling competitive honor. His initial two seasons at South Dakota ended in marks of 17-16 and 14-18. The following seasons, the Coyotes were 22-12 and 26-9. And then, at Utah State, Smith immediately soared to 28-7, 26-8, and 20-9, qualifying for two NCAA Tournaments.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah basketball coach Craig Smith keeps an eye on the game against the Washington State Cougars during an NCAA college basketball game at the Jon M.Huntsman Center, on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022. Utah lost 61-77.
“C’mon,” says the one, “I could win at Utah State. You could win at Utah State. Bozo the Clown could win at Utah State. Everybody wins at Utah State — Smith, Ryan Odom, Danny Sprinkle. It’s automatic for the Aggies.”
The other snaps back with, “Smith, though, on a personal and professional level, is what so many coaches are not — forever likable. He’s a nice man who’s easy to root for. And he’s nobody’s dummy. He knows the game.”
Says the one: “A lot of coaches who lose know the game. They just don’t win. Not enough. The losses stacked up against the wins simply shoot a loogie straight into their eager faces. Look, I don’t make a habit of calling for coaches’ jobs, not unless they abuse their players while pretending to be magnanimous, but Smith’s combined three-season record at Utah is 47-49. Blah.”
“Give him one more year, if not the whole three,” the other says. “Is a contract meaningless anymore?”
“Make me laugh,” says the one. “Bag him now. Out of respect for Utah fans. How long are they supposed to go on languishing, left unhappy and unfulfilled? As much as it’s easy to loathe the ridiculous amount head basketball coaches are paid, getting the right one running a program the right way, no matter if he’s expensive, is imperative.”
Says the other: “Maybe it’s not the coach at all. Maybe if Utah boosters would pile in enough NIL money, the winning would come that way. Quick and easy.” When asked the other day how the NIL process is going for the Utes, Smith, in so many words, said that in modern college basketball, the effect of such available cold, hard cash is huge — to get stars, to get adequate depth, so that in the case of injuries, those setbacks can be overcome. His exact characterization of the current resources to gain better Ute recruits: “We’re continuing to climb the ladder.”
“Which translated means, ‘We don’t have enough,’” says the one. “Even in a world where how much collectives can scrounge up for players severely affects a team’s success, it’s up to the head coach to land them, enough of them. Not just this year, but next year, too, and the year after.”
Says the other: “You wait and see, if Craig Smith gets the premature boot here, he’ll do it as a wealthy man, and he’ll win somewhere.”
“Well,” says the one, “that will be there there, not here there, not at Utah. That ship, while no longer badly listing, only half listing, should sail — with Smith on it.”
Who’s right and who’s wrong? Who’s the angel and who’s the devil? You decide.
