The Utah men’s basketball team still has four games remaining on its 2024-25 schedule, but leadership at the university has decided it’s time for a change.
The school confirmed the move in a release in which Utah athletic director Mark Harlan thanked Smith for his time at the university before adding the Utes “have greater aspirations for our men’s basketball program, both within the Big 12 Conference and nationally, and our expectation is to regularly compete in the NCAA Tournament.”
“After evaluating our program under Craig’s leadership, I believe a change is needed to get us to where we want to go,” Harlan said in a statement. “The time is now to begin that process.”
Smith was hired in 2021 after a decorated three-year run at Utah State, but wasn’t able to replicate that success at Utah, going 65-62 in four seasons and never reaching the NCAA Tournament.
The Utes had a winning record under Smith in three of his four seasons, but only won more than 20 games once and never finished with a winning mark in conference play.
Assistant coach Josh Eilert will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. It’s the second consecutive season Eilert has been a head coach in an interim capacity, having done the same thing during the 2023-24 season at West Virginia after Bob Huggins’ contentious ouster.
Utah’s relative shortcomings come as the two other Division I programs in the state are excelling. BYU is widely projected as an NCAA Tournament team this season and is bringing in a 2025 recruiting class led by No. 1 overall prospect AJ Dybantsa for next season. Under first-year head coach Jerrod Calhoun, Utah State is 24-4, marking the sixth time in the past seven years the Aggies have won at least 20 games.
“We have continued to invest in our men’s basketball program, adding staff, increasing compensation and significantly enhancing NIL opportunities with our partners for our student-athletes,” Harlan said in a statement. “And our investments will only grow. I am confident that our national search, which has already begun, will lead us to the right coach to take our storied program back to national prominence.’
Some of the Utes’ missteps predated Smith’s tenure. After making the NCAA Tournament 12 times in 15 years from 1991-2005 — highlighted by a run to the national championship game in 1998 under coach Rick Majerus — Utah has taken part in March Madness just three times since 2006. It hasn’t made the 68-team field since 2016.
The Utes become the fifth major-conference program to enter the offseason looking for a new coach, joining Indiana, Virginia, Miami and Florida State.
