Utah reportedly fires head coach Craig Smith after nearly 4 seasons

Craig Smith is out at Utah.

The Utes split with their head coach on Monday afternoon, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello. The move comes as Smith was set to wrap up his fourth campaign with the program this spring, and after he led them to a pair of huge Big 12 wins earlier this month.

Smith was hired at Utah ahead of the 2021-22 campaign. He’ll leave the school with a 65-62 overall record and without a single NCAA tournament appearance. It marked his third head coaching job in the sport, following stints at both South Dakota and Utah State. He led Utah State to three straight NCAA tournament appearances before moving south to Salt Lake City.

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The Utes currently hold a 15-12 record heading into Wednesday’s game at No. 22 Arizona, which has them in ninth in the Big 12 standings. They knocked off both Kansas and Kansas State, but followed that up with a four-point loss at UCF — which has just five Big 12 wins this season.

Unless they made a big run at the Big 12 tournament next month in Kansas City, the Utes were looking at yet another missed NCAA tournament. The program has not made the tournament since 2016. So instead of riding the last few weeks out, Utah has opted to cut its losses now and start looking for Smith’s replacement immediately.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.