It seems that Craig Smith, the head coach of the Runnin’ Utes, has brought Loren Leath, a former assistant coach at Sacramento State, onto his coaching staff. While there hasn’t been an official announcement from the program, a bit of digging shows that Leath is listed in the 2024-25 Utah men’s basketball directory, indicating his arrival in May 2024. The Runnin’ Hoops Podcast was the first to catch wind of this hire on May 17.
Leath is recognized as a promising talent in the coaching sphere and will be taking up one of the vacant assistant coaching positions for the Utes in the upcoming 2024-25 season.
Here’s a bit more about Loren Leath:
His notable achievement thus far was serving as the vice president of the Oakland Soldiers (AAU), where he expanded the program’s reach across California, making him an asset to Utah’s recruiting efforts due to his extensive connections and relationships. Additionally, Leath spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Sacramento State.
During his tenure coaching the Hornets, Leath was part of a staff that achieved several milestones previously unattained by the team. In his first season as an assistant, Sacramento State boasted the most wins ever by a first-year coaching staff in the program’s Division I history, ranking third all-time for the program with 14 wins. Moreover, the team secured a top-six seed in the conference tournament for only the second time in 16 seasons and received a first-round bye for the first time as a member of the Big Sky Conference.
