Alex Jensen adds Martin Schiller to his Utah Runnin’ Utes staff

Alex Jensen continued to build his Utah Runnin’ Utes staff on Friday when he hired Martin Schiller, who has experience as a head coach overseas as well as in Salt Lake City.

Jensen’s staff is now up to four: assistants Schiller, Eric Daniels and Raphael Chillious, and general manager Wes Wilcox.

“Martin has a great basketball mind, having coached at various levels of the game both in the U.S. and internationally,” Jensen said in a statement. “Our players will benefit from his experience and his ability to teach and develop them.”

Schiller is currently the head coach of Rasta Vechta of the German Bundesliga and FIBA Champions League. He’s been a head coach in four countries during his career. 

Local hoops fans might remember Schiller from his days coaching the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G League from 2017-20. He was named the NBA G League Coach of the Year in his final season after guiding the Stars to the Western Conference regular-season title and Winter Showcase championship. The Stars also had a 14-game winning streak, at that time the second-longest in NBA G League history, while posting the Western Conference’s top defensive net rating.

Schiller’s time with the Stars overlapped with Jensen’s decade-long stint as a Jazz assistant coach as well as with the German National Team.

“Working with and for Alex is something that I have been intrigued with since meeting him with the German National Team in 2015,” Schiller said. “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 a part of it.”

During his four seasons with the German National Team, he worked with several NBA players including Dirk Nowitzki, Daniel Theis, Maxi Kleber, Paul Zipser, Mortiz Wagner and Dennis Schröder.

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