Utah head coach Alex Jensen has added another assistant to his staff, as Martin Schiller is set to join the Runnin’ Utes. Born in Austria, Schiller began coaching in Germany, working with youth teams and as an assistant coach for various clubs. His early roles included stints with TSG Bergedorf, WBC Wels, and the Artland Dragons. Schiller also served as an assistant coach for the German national team from 2015 to 2019, which is where his paths crossed with Jensen in 2015.
In the official press release, Jensen had this to say about Schiller:
“I’m excited to have Martin join our staff here in Salt Lake City,” said Jensen. “Martin has a great basketball mind having coached at various levels of the game both in the US and internationally. Our players will benefit from his experience and his ability to teach and develop them.”
In 2017, Schiller became the head coach of the Utah Jazz G-League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, where he earned the NBA G League Coach of the Year award in 2020. After that, his time with the Stars, he became a head coach in various foreign leagues for teams including Žalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania, where he led the team to a Lithuanian League championship and a King Mindaugas Cup victory in 2021. He also coached briefly with Casademont Zaragoza in Spain. Up until joining Jensen’s staff, Schiller was the head coach of Rasta Vechta in the German Basketball Bundesliga.
Schiller spoke of the allure of working for Jensen, in Utah’s official press release:
“I’m very excited to join Alex and the entire Utes family!” said Schiller. “Working with and for Alex is something that I have been intrigue with since meeting him with the German National Team in 2015. I was able to learn a lot from him during my days in the Jazz organization and am looking forward to reuniting again. My family and I used to enjoy visiting the Huntsman Center as fans of Utah Athletics. Now we are thrilled to be able to be a part of it.”
This move now gives Jensen three assistants to go along with general manager Wes Wilcox. Previous assistant hires were Raphael Chillious and Eric Daniels. Jensen is likely to hire three more in various assistant capacities.
Utah has a big upcoming week ahead, hosting four-star 2025 Rivals100 shooting guard (No. 77 overall) Kelvin Odih, along with a handful of others.
