Deseret News Why this former Runnin’ Utes basketball assistant is thrilled to be back Having left Larry Krystkowiak’s staff in 2019 to be closer to his ailing mother in Las Vegas, assistant coach DeMarlo Slocum is back with the Utes and new coach Craig Smith Share this story John Vu/Utah Athletics The next year, Utah kept that momentum rolling, advanced to the Pac-12 Tournament’s championship game for the first time and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before getting crushed by Gonzaga 82-59 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. “It was never a thing where I wanted to leave here. It was just a decision regarding my family and I felt like it was a good time to get back and spend some time with my mom because she was under the weather. So the timing for that worked out perfectly. It was just a family decision that I felt was best at that time.” — New Utah assistant coach DeMarlo Slocum