The coach who left BYU to venture off to Utah is reversing course, again.
Chris Burgess, the one-time Cougar assistant under Mark Pope, is coming back to Provo to work for new head coach Kevin Young.
Burgess was at BYU from 2019-22 and was one of Pope’s best local recruiters during the West Coast Conference days. But Burgess left Provo two years ago to coach at Utah, his alma mater.
In his two years in Salt Lake, Utah hovered around .500 in the regular season. Last season, Utah had a late flurry of wins as it went to the NIT semifinals.
But since then, the Utes have lost several key players — including point guard Deivon Smith — and two assistant coaches. DeMarlo Slocum left to join former Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle’s staff in Washington last month.
Burgess is returning to a very different BYU program than when he left. The Cougars are now in the Big 12, the same conference as Utah. Plus, BYU has shown a willingness to invest more resources into the staff.
Young was lured from the NBA thanks to $30 million and a seven-year commitment. That level of investment has been nearly unprecedented at the school owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As for Utah, the Burgess loss is significant. Smith now has to replace two assistants and fill out a roster that is losing plenty of scoring.
The Utes are making the jump to the toughest basketball conference in the country — and the Big 12 is only getting more difficult as it adds Arizona, Colorado and Arizona State.
Smith is heading into the fourth year of a six-year deal. Utah has improved each of his three seasons. But this will be his most difficult challenge ahead.
