Michigan State University Athletics
Jim Boylen Named Head Coach At Utah
3/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 27, 2007
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State assistant coach Jim Boylen was named head coach at the University of Utah, the school announced on Tuesday. Boylen becomes the seventh former MSU assistant under Tom Izzo to get a head coaching job at a Division I school. He is taking over a Utah program that made a trip to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 just two years ago in 2005.
"I'm really excited to be getting this opportunity after all these years," said Boylen. "When I came back to Michigan State from the pros it was with the idea that someday I'd get a chance to look in my own guys' face. I also wanted to leave this program, whatever little piece of it I had a part in, I wanted to leave it better off than when I came, and hopefully I did that. But my hiring is also a credit to Coach Izzo and the way he prepares coaches and players alike to reach their dreams. Everything he told me about this process is exactly how it happened. He has a blueprint in place for success, and it's one that I plan on taking to Utah."
"I'm ecstatic for Jim," said Izzo. "The Utah basketball job is a great job, and he deserves this opportunity. Jim has paid his dues both at the pro and collegiate levels. He made some sacrifices when he returned to Michigan State two years ago, but he made them because he wanted to be a collegiate head coach. As a coach, it's always fulfilling to watch your players reach their goals, but also watch your assistants get to take over programs of their own. Jim is an extremely hard worker with a great basketball mind, who has made some great contributions at Michigan State and understands the demands and responsibilities of being a head coach. But even more importantly, he is a great person and a great friend who will do everything he can to make the entire Utah community proud of the Ute basketball program. It can be tough to lose assistants, but it's also a great sign for the Michigan State program."
Boylen joins Tom Crean (Marquette-1999), Mike Garland (Cleveland State-2003), Brian Gregory (Dayton-2003), Stan Heath (Kent State-2001), Stan Joplin (Toledo-1996) and Doug Wojcik (Tulsa-2005) as Izzo assistants who have gone on to head coaching jobs. Heath was the head coach at Arkansas from 2002-07, while Garland is currently an assistant at SMU. The previous six assistants have combined to post a career record of 598-436, good for a .578 winning percentage. As a group, they have made eight NCAA Tournament appearances, including Heath leading Kent State to the 2002 Elite Eight and Crean guiding Marquette to the 2003 Final Four.
Utah is the 12th-winningest program in Division I history, having collected 1,595 wins in 99 years of playing basketball.Since 1990-91, the Utes have won 11 conference titles in the WAC and Mountain West, trailing only Kansas' 12 league titles for most in the nation during that time. Since 1991, Utah has made 12 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including five trips to the Sweet 16. In 1998, Utah made it all the way to the Final Four.
