Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Gavin Petersen was introduced as the new head coach of Utah women's basketball.
- He succeeds Lynne Roberts, who joined the LA Sparks, and has been with Utah for 10 years.
- Petersen aims to maintain the team's core principles and continue their successful style of play.
SALT LAKE CITY — As Gavin Petersen answered the last question of his introductory press conference — a question from his star wing Gianna Kneepkens — the newly named women's basketball head coach got choked up.
Petersen tried to find words to what makes him "excited" about his current roster and started to talk about the team's resilience before needing a moment to collect himself.
After a brief pause, his concluding response was: "I don't think anything's been given to them, and same with me, so we get it."
It was the appropriate response to describe the hard work his roster has put in over the last few seasons to develop it into an NCAA Tournament team while describing his ascend to being named the program's fifth head coach, where he takes over for a departing Lynne Roberts, who accepted the head coaching position for the LA Sparks of the WNBA.
Petersen followed Roberts to Utah from their time together at Pacific, and has spent 10 years with the Utes as an assistant coach, waiting for his opportunity. But Petersen wasn't a passive member of the coaching staff; he was an active participant in what Roberts and her staff built at Utah.
So when the time came for athletic director Mark Harlan and chief operation officer Charmelle Green to promote Petersen as the program's next head coach, it was a no-brainer after he had put in the work to be the right person for the job.
"It was not a real difficult decision, I'll just say that. ... It just made perfect sense for him to be our next head coach," Harlan said Friday morning.
Petersen said Utah has always been "a great fit" for him.
"At the end of the day, it's our players," he said. "I'm not talking about the basketball piece, I just wouldn't trade some of our players, just as people, for any other program in the world. So at the end of the day, opportunities may present themselves, but the people we have in this program, it makes it really hard to leave, and I am glad I never did leave.
"I am glad I shut down opportunities that have come my way and just have given everything to this program."
Petersen thanked those who have had confidence in him, while recognizing that it's been a group effort to get him to where he is now the team's head coach. And though there will be some differences at times, Petersen promised the university will "get the best from me each and every day."
"Despite change, everything that we have worked for and have talked about is still right there in front of us," he said. "I'm extremely excited about this group and this team. Our core principles, our foundation, they're intact. We will rely on each other and lean in on each other this season as we continue the journey together."
The game itself will be "the same brand of Utah basketball," he assured, which is one that the players and coaches "have worked hard over the years to cultivate."
"We will continue to be an unselfish team, we will play with pace, we'll be connected, we'll take great shots; and above all else, you will see our passion, and love for each other shine through on the basketball court," Petersen said.
The style of play and everything that has made Utah's women's basketball will remain the same, but it will still include Roberts as a die-hard fan of the program. Petersen said Roberts will still own a home in Utah and will be a regular attendee to games and practices when she's not involved with assignments with the Sparks.
To Petersen, she's still a part of the family, and none of that changes now that she's no longer the team's coach.
"I do want to take a moment to thank Lynne Roberts, I've been by our side for 12 seasons, and we've accomplished a lot together," Petersen said. "She has always allowed me to be very hands on with our program in many different areas, and I'm extremely proud of what we have built together here at Utah. Her guidance and leadership has prepared me for this moment. She's not just a friend, she is family to us."
"There's a saying: Tradition never graduates," he added. "Well, you don't graduate family either. And we preach it, and people talk it, people print it on shirts, but we don't do that; we just live it. She's going to be at our practices, she's going to be at our games. It's just so cool to see her kind of chase after her dreams and her goals, and we're going to be supporting her along the way."
But for as much as the focus was on Petersen and the new direction of the team, he was focused on the game Friday night. And though there still may be emotions from losing the team's longtime head coach, Petersen had one message for his team.
"Come out and spit nails. That is it."
