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SALT LAKE CITY — Reviewing the past year of athletic accomplishments in Utah, one name immediately stands out above all potential candidates.
That would be Lynne Roberts, the dynamic and always quotable women's basketball coach who is building a national power at Utah. For her work during the 2022-23 season, she deserves recognition as my Utah sportsperson of the year.
Roberts guided the Utes to within one shot of reaching the elite eight, falling short to eventual national champion LSU in the Sweet 16. The loss marked the end of a sensational season that saw the team finish 27-5 and 15-3 in the Pac-12, by far the program's best records since joining the conference in 2011.
"Lynne Roberts has done a remarkable job of building a program that has national championship aspirations, while establishing a foundation to sustain success over time," Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said.
As Harlan notes, Roberts' program is anything but a one-hit wonder, built on the quick-fix method of pilfering talent through the transfer portal. Roberts restored Utah's winning culture the old-fashioned way by constructing a foundation that began years ago.
For more than 25 years, the Utes were a perennial conference contender in the WAC and Mountain West under Elaine Elliott, the program's winningest coach with a record of 582-234. Upon her retirement, along with moving into the Pac-12, the program fell on hard times.
The historically proud program hit rock bottom in 2014-15, sinking to 3-15 in conference play and 9-21 overall. Chris Hill, the former longtime athletic director, hired Roberts during the subsequent offseason and then waited several years for the decision to pay off.
Roberts was no stranger to building programs, going from 17 wins in each of her first two seasons at Chico State to winning a total of 52 games over the final two years. The march to success at Pacific took longer, as she endured five consecutive losing seasons before going 18-14 in 2011-12 and then 27-8 the following campaign.
After another two seasons at Pacific, she took on the restoration project at Utah in 2015. Utah had moderate success in Roberts' first four years, finishing above .500 in each, but her teams won only a combined 19 games in the next two seasons.
Potentially with job security in jeopardy, much like football coach Kyle Whittingham had following two consecutive losing seasons in the early days of the Pac-12, Roberts began reaping the benefits of hard work in 2021-22. The Utes reached the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons and are firmly in line for a third consecutive appearance.
"Coach Rob," as the team calls her, has instituted a fun style of basketball that gives the players the freedom to play a free-flowing pace of offense. The Utes averaged 93.7 points a game last season, which ranked third in all of women's basketball.
"She has been incredibly innovative in creating a style of play that is exciting to watch, and our fans have really embraced this program, which speaks to great work she has done," Harlan said. "But more important is the way she is intentional about developing the young women in her program off the court as well and being invested in their growth in all aspects of their lives.
"She is one of the premier leaders in our athletics department and has played a significant role in the upward trajectory of Utah athletics."
Perhaps her best work in developing young women involves the team's best player, Alissa Pili. The multi-talented forward was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year at USC in leading the team in scoring (16.3) and rebounding (8.0) in 2019-20 before falling off to half those numbers two years later.
Committed to improved conditioning, Pili immediately resurrected her game last season under the tutelage of Roberts. She was named the conference player of the year and is off to a strong start this season.
Another example is her handling of Jenna Johnson, whose two missed free throws could have given Utah the lead over LSU in the final seconds in March. Roberts was quick to console the distraught Johnson on the bench and follow it up with unconditional support.
