SALT LAKE CITY — Nearly eight years ago, Jim Boylen ventured up to Snowbird. He had just been fired from his post as head coach of the University of Utah men’s basketball team, and he was looking for something to get his mind off it.
“We had some success,” Boylen said. “When it gets taken away from you, it’s painful. Recovering from that was difficult.”
It took some time, but Boylen has recovered. Boylen returned to the Salt Lake Valley on Saturday with the Chicago Bulls. It wasn’t his first time returning to Utah in a professional matter — he’s been an NBA assistant with the Pacers, Spurs and Bulls since being let go by Utah in March of 2011 — but it was the first time he’s been back as a head coach.