Alex Jensen (born May 16, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player, and current head coach for the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

. He was a standout college player for the Utes.

College career

Jensen, the 1994 Utah Mr. Basketball from Centerville, played for coach Rick Majerus at

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. As a freshman, he averaged 24.8 minutes, 6.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Following his first season, Jensen left to complete a two-year

Latter-day Saint The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded b ...

mission in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Upon returning from his mission, Jensen entered the starting lineup for the 1997–98 season. Jensen and teammates Andre Miller, Michael Doleac, and Hanno Möttölä, led the Utes to one of the best seasons in school history, as the Utes went 30–4 and played for the 1998 National Championship, losing to

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Jensen averaged 6.8 points and 5.2 rebounds and was named to the All-West Regional team for the NCAA tournament. As a junior, Jensen took another step in his development as he made the All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

team (Pacific Division) and the WAC All-Defensive team after averaging 12.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. He was also the 1999 WAC men's basketball tournament MVP as he led the Utes back to the NCAA tournament. As a senior, Jensen was the first Mountain West Conference Player of the Year as the Utes became a charter member of the league. Jensen averaged 13.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game that season and scored 1,279 points and collected 896 rebounds for his college career.

Professional career

Following the close of his college career, Jensen began an international career that would bring him to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. While he was in Turkey, he was named All-

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

Europe Cup Defender of the Year in 2004. He also played a season in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

for the Yakama Sun Kings, winning a league championship and earning All-Defensive Team honors in 2003.

Coaching career

In 2007, Jensen left professional basketball to become an assistant coach for his mentor, Rick Majerus, as a member of his new staff at Saint Louis. Jensen remained on Majerus' staff for four seasons, until he was offered the job as the first head coach of the Canton Charge of the NBA Development League. Jensen was named the NBA D-League's Coach of the Year for 2013 in just his second season. On July 23, 2013, Jensen was added to the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

coaching staff to work as a player development assistant. Two years later, on June 26, 2015, he joined Chris Fleming's staff as an assistant for the Germany national team. In August 2022, Jensen led the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as head coach for the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup. In 2023, he parted ways with the Jazz, and joined the Dallas Mavericks as an assistant coach. On March 6, 2025, Jensen was appointed head coach of the Utah Utes men's basketball team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Alex 1976 births Living people 20th-century Mormon missionaries American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American Mormon missionaries in England Basketball coaches from Utah Basketball players from Utah Canton Charge coaches CB Girona players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Dallas Mavericks assistant coaches Darüşşafaka Basketbol players Latter Day Saints from Utah Liga ACB players Nagoya Diamond Dolphins players People from Centerville, Utah Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball coaches Small forwards Sportspeople from Davis County, Utah TED Ankara Kolejliler players Tuborg Pilsener basketball players Türk Telekom B.K. players Utah Jazz assistant coaches Utah Utes men's basketball coaches Utah Utes men's basketball players Yakima Sun Kings players