2025–26 Utah Utes men's basketball team

2025–26 Utah Utes men's basketball
2025–26 Utah Utes men's basketball
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	7–4 (0–0 Big 12)
Head coach	Alex Jensen (1st season);
Assistant coaches	Raphael Chillious (1st season); Martin Schiller (1st season); Eric Daniels (1st season);
Home arena	Jon M. Huntsman Center; (Capacity: 15,000)

2025–26 Big 12 men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 Iowa State	0	–	0	–	11	–	0	1.000
No. 1 Arizona	0	–	0	–	10	–	0	1.000
No. 10 BYU	0	–	0	–	10	–	1	.909
Colorado	0	–	0	–	10	–	1	.909
No. 8 Houston	0	–	0	–	10	–	1	.909
Oklahoma State	0	–	0	–	10	–	1	.909
UCF	0	–	0	–	9	–	1	.900
Baylor	0	–	0	–	7	–	2	.778
Arizona State	0	–	0	–	9	–	3	.750
No. 17 Kansas	0	–	0	–	9	–	3	.750
No. 19 Texas Tech	0	–	0	–	8	–	3	.727
TCU	0	–	0	–	8	–	3	.727
West Virginia	0	–	0	–	8	–	4	.667
Cincinnati	0	–	0	–	7	–	4	.636
Kansas State	0	–	0	–	7	–	4	.636
Utah	0	–	0	–	7	–	4	.636

† 2026 Big 12 tournament winner As of December 18, 2025 Rankings from AP poll

The 2025–26 Utah Runnin' Utes men's basketball team represents the University of Utah during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team, led by first year head coach Alex Jensen, play their home games at the Jon M. Huntsman Center located in Salt Lake City, Utah. This is the Utes' second season in the Big 12 Conference.

Previous season

The Utes finished the 2024–25 season 16–17, 8–12 in Big 12 Conference play to finish in eleventh place. As the No. 11 seed in the Big 12 tournament, Utah lost their first-round game against UCF, 87−72.^[1]

The Utes' were selected to participate in the inaugural 2025 College Basketball Crown tournament. They were defeated in their first round game against Butler, 86−84.^[2]

Offseason

Departures

Source:^[3]

Name	Num.	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Ezra Ausar	2	F	6'8"	240	Senior	Atlanta, GA	Transferred to USC
Ayomide Bamisile	21	F	6'7"	210	Freshman	Lagos, Nigeria	Transferred to
Hunter Erickson	0	G	6'3"	200	Graduate Senior	Provo, UT	Out of eligibility
Brandon Haddock	14	G	6'2"	185	Senior	Southlake, TX	Out of eligibility
Joul Karram	5	C	6'10"	225	Sophomore	Nazareth, Israel	Transferred to Utah Valley
Zach Keller	32	F	6'10"	235	Senior	Highlands Ranch, CO	Transferred to Utah State
Miro Little	1	G	6'3"	195	Junior	Tampere, Finland	Transferred to UC Santa Barbara
Caleb Lohner	11	F	6'11"	250	Graduate Senior	Flower Mound, TX	Drafted in the 7th round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos
Lawson Lovering	34	C	7'1"	245	Senior	Cheyenne, WY	Out of eligibility
Gabe Madsen	55	G	6'6"	200	Graduate Senior	Rochester, MN	Out of eligibility
Mason Madsen	45	G	6'4"	195	Graduate Senior	Rochester, MN	Out of eligibility
Mike Sharavjamts	25	G	6'9"	195	Senior	Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia	Transferred to South Carolina
Brady Smith	6	G	6'1"	175	Junior	Logan, UT	Transferred to
Jake Wahlin	10	F	6'10"	210	Junior	Provo, UT	Transferred to Clemson

Incoming transfers

Name	Num.	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school(s)
Terrence Brown	2	G	6'3"	175	Junior	Minneapolis, MN	Fairleigh Dickinson
Babacar Faye	5	F	6'9"	230	Graduate Senior	Dakar, Senegal	Western Kentucky
Josh Hayes	7	F	6'9"	210	Junior	Gainesville, FL	Northwest Florida State
Jahki Howard	10	F	6'7"	195	Sophomore	Roxbury, MA	Auburn
Alvin Jackson III	15	G	6'5"	215	Sophomore	Washington D.C.	Salt Lake CC
Don McHenry	3	G	6'2"	170	Graduate Senior	Milwaukee, WI	Western Kentucky
Elijah "Choppa" Moore	15	G	6'4"	215	Sophomore	Parkchester, N.Y.	Syracuse
James Okonkwo	32	F	6'8"	245	Graduate Senior	Maidenhead, England	Akron
Jacob Patrick	6	G	6'6"	195	Junior	Ludwigsburg, Germany	Otto-Hahn Gymnasium Ludwigsburg
Seydou Traore	0	F	6'6"	220	Junior	Bronx, N.Y.	Iowa

Recruiting classes

2025 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Kendyl Sanders PF	Bradenton, FL	IMG Academy	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	Apr 16, 2025
Kendyl Sanders PF	Recruit ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: (81)
Overall recruit ranking: Scout: 100 Rivals: 100 ESPN: NA
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2025 Utah Basketball Commitment List". Rivals. "Utah Utes 2025 Player Commits". ESPN. "2025 Team Ranking". Rivals.

Preseason

The Big 12 preseason coaches poll was released on October 16, 2025. All awards were voted on by the league's 16 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players. The Big 12 preseason media poll was released on October 30, 2025.

Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll

	Big 12 Coaches	Points
1.	Houston	224 (12)
2.	BYU	204 (1)
3.	Texas Tech	200
4.	Arizona	179 (1)
5.	Iowa State	170
6.	Kansas	163
7.	Baylor	137
8.	Cincinnati	120
9.	Kansas State	117
10.	TCU	90
11.	West Virginia	79
12.	Oklahoma State	77
13.	Utah	50
14.	UCF	39
15.	Colorado	37
16.	Arizona State	34
Reference:^[4] (#) first-place votes

Big 12 Preseason Media Poll

	Big 12 Media
1.	Houston
2.	Texas Tech
3.	BYU
4.	Arizona
5.	Iowa State
6.	Kansas
7.	Baylor
8.	Kansas State
9.	Cincinnati
10.	TCU
11.	West Virginia
12.	Oklahoma State
13.	Utah
14.	UCF
15.	Colorado
16.	Arizona State
Reference:^[5]

Roster

2025–26 Utah Utes men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Seydou Traore	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Iowa	Bronx, N.Y.
G	1	Elijah Moore	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Syracuse	Parkchester, N.Y.
G	2	Terrence Brown	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Fairleigh Dickinson	Minneapolis, MN
G	3	Don McHenry (5Y)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sr	Western Kentucky	Milwaukee, WI
F	5	Babacar Faye (5Y)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Sr	Western Kentucky	Dakar, Senegal
G	6	Jacob Patrick	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Otto-Hahn Gymnasium Ludwigsburg	Ludwigsburg, Germany
F	7	Josh Hayes	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Northwest Florida State	Gainesville, FL
F	8	Keanu Dawes	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Rice	Houston, TX
G	9	Jerry Huang (W)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	Wasatch Academy	Taipei, Taiwan
F	10	Jahki Howard	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	Auburn	Roxbury, MA
F	13	Kendyl Sanders	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Fr	IMG Academy	Los Angeles, CA
G	15	Alvin Jackson III	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Salt Lake CC	Washington D.C.
G	21	Obomate Abbey	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Jyväskylä Basketball Academy	Jyväskylä, Finland
F	31	Ibi Traore	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	219 lb (99 kg)	RS Fr	West Oaks Academy	Bamako, Mali
F	32	James Okonkwo (5Y)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Sr	Akron	Maidenhead, England

Head coach

Alex Jensen (Utah)

Assistant coach(es)

Raphael Chillious (Lafayette College)
Martin Schiller
Eric Daniels (Johnson & Wales University)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 27, 2025

Schedule

^[6]

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 17, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Nevada	L 77–80	–	27 – Brown	13 – Dawes	6 – Brown	Jon M. Huntsman Center (2,193) Salt Lake City, UT
October 24, 2025* 8:00 p.m., B1G+	at Oregon	L 53–73	–	15 – Brown	11 – Dawes	4 – Brown	Matthew Knight Arena (6,893) Eugene, OR
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	San Jose State	W 84–75	1–0	23 – S. Traore	9 – Dawes	8 – Brown	Jon M. Huntsman Center (5,932) Salt Lake City, UT
November 8, 2025* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	Weber State	W 92–89 ^OT	2–0	36 – Brown	14 – Dawes	5 – Dawes	Jon M. Huntsman Center (6,214) Salt Lake City, UT
November 10, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Holy Cross	W 87–69	3–0	21 – Brown	9 – Dawes	3 – Abbey	Jon M. Huntsman Center (6,570) Salt Lake City, UT
November 15, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Sam Houston	W 85–79	4–0	26 – Brown	15 – Dawes	3 – Tied	Jon M. Huntsman Center (6,299) Salt Lake City, UT
November 18, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Purdue Fort Wayne Acrisure Series on-campus game	W 85–77	5–0	27 – Brown	10 – Dawes	5 – McHenry	Jon M. Huntsman Center (6,163) Salt Lake City, UT
November 20, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Cal Poly	L 85–92	5–1	29 – Brown	7 – Dawes	4 – Traore	Jon M. Huntsman Center (6,163) Salt Lake City, UT
November 25, 2025* 10:00 p.m., CBSSN	vs. Grand Canyon Acrisure Classic semifinals	L 58–68	5–2	16 – McHenry	12 – Dawes	3 – Abbey	Acrisure Arena Thousand Palms, CA
November 26, 2025* 10:00 p.m., CBSSN	vs. Ole Miss Acrisure Classic third-place game	W 75–74	6–2	27 – McHenry	8 – Sanders	4 – Brown	Acrisure Arena Thousand Palms, CA
December 2, 2025* 8:00 p.m., ACCNX	at California	L 72–79	6–3	15 – Brown	9 – Dawes	5 – Dawes	Haas Pavilion (2,783) Berkeley, CA
December 6, 2025* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	California Baptist	W 91–85	7–3	27 – Brown	6 – Dawes	7 – Dawes	Jon M. Huntsman Center (6,077) Salt Lake City, UT
December 13, 2025* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU	vs. Mississippi State Salt Lake Showcase	L 74–82	7–4	29 – McHenry	7 – Sanders	3 – Tied	Delta Center Salt Lake City, UT
December 20, 2025* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	Eastern Washington						Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
December 29, 2025* 9:00 p.m., FS1	at Washington						Alaska Airlines Arena Seattle, WA
Big 12 regular season
January 3, 2026 2:00 p.m., Peacock	Arizona						Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
January 7, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Colorado Rivalry						CU Events Center Boulder, CO
January 10, 2026 8:00 p.m., ESPN	BYU Rivalry						Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
January 14, 2026 7:00 p.m., Peacock	at Texas Tech						United Supermarkets Arena Lubbock, TX
January 17, 2026 12:00 p.m., TNT/TruTV	TCU						Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
January 20, 2026 7:00 p.m., CBSSN	at Kansas State						Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, KS
January 24, 2026 3:30 p.m., FOX	at BYU Rivalry						Marriott Center Provo, UT
January 31, 2026 12:00 p.m., ESPN2	Oklahoma State						Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
February 4, 2026 7:00 p.m., CBSSN	Arizona State						Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
February 7, 2026 12:30 p.m., FOX	at Kansas						Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
February 10, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2	Houston						Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
February 15, 2026 10:00 a.m., ESPN/ESPN2	at Cincinnati						Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH
February 18, 2026 6:30 p.m., FS1	at West Virginia						WVU Coliseum Morgantown, WV
February 21, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	UCF						Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
February 24, 2026 7:00 p.m., FS1	Iowa State						Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
February 28, 2026 1:30 p.m., TNT/TruTV	at Arizona State						Desert Financial Arena Tempe, AZ
March 3, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	Colorado Rivalry						Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
March 7, 2026 3:00 p.m., Peacock	at Baylor						Foster Pavilion Waco, TX
Big 12 tournament
March 10−14, 2026 TBD, TBD	vs. TBD						T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time.

Source:

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** — = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

References

[1] "Men's Basketball Falls to UCF in Opening Round of Big 12 Championship".

[2] "Season Comes to a Close for Men's Basketball at the Crown".

[3] "Utah Utes 2025 College Basketball Transfer Portal Latest Activity".

[:0-4] "Houston Tabbed As Big 12 Men's Basketball Favorite, TTU's Toppin Named Preseason Player of the Year".

[5] "Big 12 Media Votes Houston As Preseason MBB Conference Favorite".

[6] "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule".

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

Utah Utes men's basketball
Venues	Deseret Gymnasium (19??–1939) Nielsen Fieldhouse (1939–1969) Jon M. Huntsman Center (1969–present)
Rivalries	BYU In-state Utah schools
Culture & lore	Gambling scandal Swoop
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics