The University of Utah coach is 1,000 miles and most of a lifetime away from the tiny northern Montana town of Shelby, where the high school district tournament was staged. That’s where he came to love the atmosphere and the consequences of postseason basketball, with the opportunity to play your way to something bigger and better.
So here he is in Las Vegas, where his Utes may have their best chance to do something they’ve never done — win the Pac-12 tournament. That’s likely what Utah (19-10) will have to do to play in the NCAA Tournament.
That’s not unfair.