Report: Utah Basketball Adds Sacramento State’s Loren Leath To Staff
May 17, 2024, 10:49 AM
SALT LAKE CITY – It appears Runnin’ Utes head coach Craig Smith has added former Sacramento State assistant coach Loren Leath to his staff.
No official announcement has been made yet from the program, however, a little sleuthing revealed Leath can be found in the 2024-25 Utah men’s basketball directory noting he joined the staff in May of 2024.
The Runnin’ Hoops Podcast was the first to catch wind of the impending hire back on May 14.
BREAKING: Source – Utah is set to hire Sacramento St. assistant Loren “Lo” Leath to the same role with the #RunninUtes.
Leath spent the past two seasons with Sac St. and is a member of the school’s HOF. He also has deep ties to the Oakland Soldiers AAU program. #Utes #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/xSAFPskJd0
— The Runnin’ Hoops Podcast🎙 (@RunninHoops) May 15, 2024
Leath is considered an up-and-comer in the coaching world and will fill one of the open assistant coaching roles for the Utes in the upcoming 2024-25 season.
More About Utah Asssistant Coach Loren Leath
Leath’s biggest accomplishment to date was serving as the vice president of the Oakland Soldiers (AAU) where he added additional program chapters throughout the state of California. That effort makes him incredibly valuable to Utah’s recruiting efforts with all of his connections and relationships.
Additionally, Leath spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Sacramento State.
During his time coaching the Hornets, Leath was part of a staff that accomplished a few feats the team never had before.
In Leath’s first season as an assistant, Sacramento State had the most wins by any first-year coaching staff in the program’s Division I era. The feat ranked third all-time for the program at 14.
Sacramento State also earned a top-six seed in the conference tournament for just the second time in 16 seasons while receiving a first-round bye for the first time as a member of the Big Sky Conference. (The Hornets joined the league in 1996.)
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports
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