Dallas Mavericks hire Alex Jenson as assistant coach

The Dallas Mavericks have hired former Utah Jazz assistant coach Alex Jenson, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Jenson has been with the Jazz for the last decade and was part of Quin Snyder’s successful run with the franchise.

Jensen played four seasons for the University of Utah. He was first-team all-WAC in 1999 and first-team all-MWC in 2000. Jensen won the Mountain West Conference player of the year award in 2000.

After graduating, Jensen went undrafted and played overseas, spending time in Turkey, Spain, and Japan. He went on to win a championship in the Continental Basketball Association with the Yakama Sun Kings in 2003.

Jensen started his coaching career as an assistant with Saint Louis University before moving on to the G League (at the time the D League) Canton Charge as a head coach. He won D League coach of the year in 2013. After that season, Jensen joined the Jazz coaching staff and has been there ever since.

ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reports that Jensen was a “driving force in Rudy Gobert’s development into an All-NBA big man and three-time DPOY.” Obviously, the Mavericks had rookie Dereck Lively II in mind when bring Jensen on board. Having an assistant who has a knack for developing big men is something the Mavericks need, having spent significant draft capital on a center who projects to lean toward the defensive end. Hopefully Jensen can work his magic once again with Lively.