Krystkowiak and Hill on 'same page' in contract talks


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SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah basketball team put itself back on the competitive map this season as it made a deep run in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Duke in the Sweet 16 round of play.

Utah Athletic Director Chris Hill said the success the Utes had this season was further proof the university belongs in the Pac-12.

“It shows that we’re going to be a player — we are a player in the league,” Hill said in an interview with KSL.com. “We fit in the league and we’re competitive and can be successful, especially in football and basketball, like it was proved this year.”

Hill said the rise to success in the basketball program won’t change how the university operates, but helps with “identification” and getting into more homes on the recruiting trail — the lifeblood to any college program.

“That doesn’t mean we’re going to get the players Kentucky gets every year; that’s not going to change that,” Hill said. “We might pick off one or two more, but it will help us in recruiting. It’s not going to change where all of a sudden we jump ahead of Kentucky in recruiting. I would love to, and maybe that would happen, but I don’t think that direct result is going to happen that way.”

Coaching success

Four years since the six-win season — a season both Hill and Krystkowiak jokingly pretend doesn’t exist — Utah finished the regular season tied for second place in the Pac-12 and was one of four Pac-12 teams that survived the first week of the NCAA Tournament. Only the ACC had more teams advance to the Sweet 16 with five.


You always look at how they've done and if they've done better than expected then you need to do what's right. And we'll do that — we're on the same page.

–Chris Hill


That quick road to postseason success has been largely due to the success of head coach Larry Krystkowiak and his coaching staff. Hill said the progress has been “faster than expected,” although Hill admits there wasn’t an actual benchmark set in place when Krystkowiak was hired. Hill hoped Utah would consistently be competitive and have an opportunity to make it to the NCAA Tournament, but understood there would be “peaks and valleys.”

As a result of Utah’s exceeded expectations, Hill said he once again intends to compensate Krystkowiak and the coaching staff for their success. Krystkowiak signed a five-year contract extension last season, keeping him under contract through the 2019 basketball season.

“You always look at how they’ve done and if they’ve done better than expected then you need to do what’s right,” Hill said. “And we’ll do that — we’re on the same page.”

Hill said he also recognizes the strength of having assistant coach Tommy Connor, as well as the rest of the coaching staff, with the program. Connor has been recently linked to several coaching jobs around the country, including Utah State before the university hired Tim Duryea as its new head coach.

“Larry’s expressed to me many times that he thinks Tommy is just fabulous and a big part of the success,” Hill said. “When Larry tells me that then that’s really the measurement, not when I look at it.”

Hill said it’s a positive to have a coach that other programs want, instead of one that no program wants, and that the university is committed to doing whatever it could to make Connor, or any coach, comfortable at Utah.

“It’s just part of standard procedure that you build a relationship with a coach and make sure you treat the coach fairly and do what you can, in many ways, to make sure the coach feels good here and that the coach can be successful,” he said.

#Poll

Will he or won’t he?

Freshman center Jakob Poeltl has the difficult decision about whether to declare for the upcoming NBA draft or to stay at least another year at Utah. Poeltl indicated earlier in the season that he wasn’t entirely sure of his decision and that going to the NBA “crosses my mind.”

Hill said the athletic department will do all it can to help Poeltl make an informed decision and that they’re not going “to push somebody one way or the other.”

“If you took the data on how many people came out early and how many really get drafted and where they get drafted, if you’re not drafting in the first round and you leave early, it’s sometimes a big mistake,” Hill said.

Only 7.4 percent of all underclassmen from 2005-13 have not been selected in the NBA draft, according to a report by CBS Sports. Last season, 43 underclassmen declared for the draft and 34.8 percent (15) were not drafted, while another 23.2 percent (10) were selected in the second round.

While there is a risk to declaring early for the draft, Hill said Krystkowiak will use his connections in the NBA to help Poeltl make an informed decision.

“Obviously Larry’s experience in the NBA gives him a lot of access to the data that’s there, the projections that they’ll make, general managers and people he can talk to to find out what’s real,” Hill said.

“But Jakob’s family really is a good group — mom and dad are really solid — and they’ll have a huge part in this,” Hill added. “Larry’s the one that can give the information and all that, but we by no means are going to push somebody one way or the other. It’s really Jakob’s family and Jakob.”

Basketball facility progress

The Jon M. and Karen Huntsman Basketball Center is nearing completion and will start opening its doors, in part, this month. The strength and conditioning section of the building will be open at the end of April, according to Hill.

The basketball side of the facility, which features the gymnasiums, locker rooms and offices, will be opening up at the end of August, in time for the new school year, Hill said.

“We’ll open and occupy at the end of August. It’s a fun, fun project.”

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