Alex Jensen

{{Short description|American basketball player and coach (born 1976)}}

{{for|the fictional character|List of The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon characters#Alex Jensen}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Alex Jensen

| image =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 7

| weight_lb = 225

| league = Big 12 Conference

| team = Utah Utes

| position = Head coach

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1976|5|16}}

| birth_place =

| nationality = American

| high_school = Viewmont (Bountiful, Utah)

| college = Utah (1994–1995, 1997–2000)

| draft_year = 2000

| career_start = 2000

| career_end = 2007

| career_position = Small forward

| years1 = 2000–2002

| team1 = Darüşşafaka

| years2 = 2002

| team2 = Girona

| years3 = 2002–2003

| team3 = Yakima Sun Kings

| years4 = 2003–2005

| team4 = Tuborg Pilsener

| years5 = 2005–2006

| team5 = Türk Telekom

| years6 = 2006

| team6 = Mitsubishi Melco Dolphins

| years7 = 2007

| team7 = TED Ankara Kolejliler

| cyears1 = 2007–2011

| cteam1 = Saint Louis (assistant)

| cyears2 = 2011–2013

| cteam2 = Canton Charge

| cyears3 = 2015

| cteam3 = Germany (assistant)

| cyears4 = {{nbay|2013|start}}–{{nbay|2022|end}}

| cteam4 = Utah Jazz (assistant)

| cyears5 = {{nbay|2023|start}}–{{nbay|2024|end}}

| cteam5 = Dallas Mavericks (assistant)

| cyears6 = 2025–present

| cteam6 = Utah

| highlights =

As player:

CBA champion (2003)
CBA All-Defensive Team (2003)
MWC Player of the Year (2000)
First-team All-MWC (2000)
First-team All-WAC (1999)

As coach:

NBA D-League Coach of the Year (2013)

}}

Alex Jensen (born May 16, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player, and current head coach for the University of Utah. 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. 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 mission in England.{{cite web|title=Utah Utes Men's Basketball player bio |publisher=University of Utah |year=2011 |url=http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/jensen_alex00.html |accessdate=December 27, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111215071930/http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/jensen_alex00.html |archivedate=December 15, 2011 }}

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. 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 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.{{cite web| title = 2011–12 Utah Utes Men's Basketball Media Guide| publisher = University of Utah| year = 2011| url = http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/utah/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/mg-section-8.pdf| accessdate = December 27, 2011| archive-date = June 22, 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130622161628/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/utah/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2011-12/misc_non_event/mg-section-8.pdf| url-status = dead}}

Professional career

Following the close of his college career, Jensen began an international career that would bring him to Spain, Japan and Turkey.{{cite news |title= Much-traveled Alex Jensen can relate to the D-League players he's about to coach|author= Tom Reed|newspaper= The Cleveland Plain-Dealer |date= October 18, 2011|url=http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2011/10/much-traveled_alex_jensen_can.html |accessdate=December 27, 2011}} While he was in Turkey, he was named All-FIBA Europe Cup Defender of the Year in 2004. He also played a season in the Continental Basketball Association for the Yakama Sun Kings, winning a league championship and earning All-Defensive Team honors in 2003.{{cite news|title= Cavaliers hire Alex Jensen to coach NBADL team in Canton|author= Bob Finnan|newspaper= The News-Herald|date= October 12, 2011|url= http://news-herald.com/articles/2011/10/12/sports/doc4e94706f1d33d716143804.txt?viewmode=fullstory|accessdate= December 27, 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120510195610/http://news-herald.com/articles/2011/10/12/sports/doc4e94706f1d33d716143804.txt?viewmode=fullstory|archive-date= May 10, 2012|url-status= dead}}{{cite web |title=Alex Jensen minor league basketball statistics |url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbasketball/stats/p-jenseale001 |website=Stats Crew |access-date=June 26, 2021}}

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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/cantons_alex_jensen_named_coach_of_year_201_2013_04_22.html |title=Canton's Alex Jensen Named 2012-13 NBA D-League Coach of the Year |website=NBA.com |access-date=2013-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513183209/http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/cantons_alex_jensen_named_coach_of_year_201_2013_04_22.html |archive-date=2013-05-13 |url-status=dead }} On July 23, 2013, Jensen was added to the Utah Jazz coaching staff to work as a player development assistant.{{Cite web|title=Jazz Names Alex Jensen as Player Development Assistant|url=https://www.nba.com/jazz/news/jazz-names-alex-jensen-player-development-assistant|access-date=July 23, 2013|website=nba.com}} Two years later, on June 26, 2015, he joined Chris Fleming's staff as an assistant for the Germany national team.{{Cite web|title=Jazz Assistant Coach Alex Jensen to Join German Men's National Team Coaching Staff|url=https://www.nba.com/jazz/news/jazz-assistant-coach-alex-jensen-join-german-mens-national-team-coaching-staff|access-date=June 26, 2015|website=nba.com}} In August 2022, Jensen led the United States as head coach for the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup.{{Cite web|title=Jazz Alex Jensen To Coach USA Basketball AmeriCup Team|url=https://kslsports.com/490402/jazz-alex-jensen-to-coach-usa-basketball-americup-team/|access-date=August 4, 2022|website=kslsports.com|date=August 4, 2022 }} 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.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-06 |title=Alex Jensen Named 17th Head Coach of Runnin’ Utes Basketball Program |url=https://utahutes.com/news/2025/3/6/mens-basketball-alex-jensen-named-17th-head-coach-of-runnin-utes-basketball-program.aspx |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=University of Utah Athletics |language=en}}