A case could be made that nobody on the planet is more familiar with the BYU-Utah basketball rivalry than current BYU assistant coach Chris Burgess.
He got a taste of it, in a way, when he was a teenager growing up in California and both schools were recruiting him out of Woodbridge High.
He chose Duke over BYU when push came to shove, then transferred to Utah after two seasons with the Blue Devils, further angering BYU fans who had seen their program fall behind Utah's program back in those days.
Since then, Burgess' involvement with both programs has been well documented.
After a lengthy professional career playing around the globe, he was an assistant coach at Utah Valley from 2015-19, an assistant coach at BYU from 2019-2022 and then an assistant coach at Utah under current Utes coach Craig Smith from 2022-24. He's now back at BYU helping first-year Cougars coach Kevin Young in Provo.
Chris Burgess reacts as the University of Utah defeats BYU 81-64 in a basketball game Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013, in Salt Lake City. | Tom Smart, Deseret News
So Burgess, 45, is well aware of what the Runnin' Utes and Cougars are going through emotionally this week as they prepare for their first matchup as members of the same conference, the Big 12, since they were in the Mountain West Conference together in 2011.
Tipoff is at 7 p.m. MST on Saturday at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, where Utah prevailed 73-69 last year in a nonconference matchup.
Utah (10-6, 2-3) is trying to win back-to-back games against BYU (11-5, 2-3) for the first time since 2014-15.
"I am super fired up," Burgess told the Deseret News on Thursday. "It is a fierce rivalry, and back to being a conference rivalry, where it belongs. We get a chance to play them not just for bragging rights, but for Big 12 standings implications. It is huge."
Having flipped from red to blue last spring after Young offered him a position on his new staff, Burgess isn't sure what kind of reception he will receive Saturday night in the building where he played for two seasons and was an assistant coach for two seasons. But he is not that concerned.
There's too much on the line to worry about such trivial and personal matters.
"You are just trying to get the win. It is a Quad 1 (opportunity)," Burgess said, alluding to Utah's NET ranking, which was 69 as of Friday. BYU's is 46.
"You are trying to keep your emotions in check, understand the rivalry is what it is, that it is a fun game, and a hostile game. It is an energetic game," Burgess continued. "They are on a two game winning streak, trying to get to three, and we are trying to get to .500 in league. So there are all these different things that are on the line."
BYU junior center Keba Keita is also returning to his former home, having played for Utah the past two seasons.
He scored 10 points off the bench in Utah's win over BYU last year, and finished the season averaging 8.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.
In June, Keita told the Deseret News that Burgess was "the main reason" why he took his talents 45 miles south to Provo and that the move had nothing to do with any unhappiness on the Hill.
He expressed a hope that Utah fans and his former teammates would "understand" his decision and not be angered by it.
"I love the guy," Keita said of Burgess. "He is a great coach. At Utah, he helped me improve a lot, from not just as a basketball player, but as a person."
Having earned a starting position at BYU, Keita is averaging 6.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game and has blocked 10 shots.
The Deseret News avoids calling the BYU-Utah rivalry the "Holy War," according to a 2019 editorial , because it believes the term is "overly dramatic and not reflective of the spirit of the rivalry."
However, Burgess said the other new assistants on BYU's staff have asked him this week if the term just applies to the football game , or if the basketball game is as heated and intense.
"I am like, 'Oh yeah, the basketball game is just as spirited. Every game in every sport (between BYU and Utah) always is,'" Burgess said.
He said BYU director of basketball operations Nate Austin, a former Cougar, and current players who have played in past rivalry games such as Dallin Hall, Trevin Knell and Richie Saunders are also educating the newcomers on what the games mean.
"A lot of it is learned naturally, organically, as we go through the scout," Burgess said. "Guys are a little bit more competitive, more spirited, in practice. Especially the Utah kids. They look forward to this game. They are excited about this game. Have we sat down and said, 'Hey, here is the history of it?' No. But they know what it is about."
BYU assistant basketball coach Chris Burgess poses for photos while at the Marriott Center Annex in Provo on Friday, May 3, 2019. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Bottom line, Burgess said, is that "you can't really understand it until you live through it. There is only so much you can say about it. You just have to feel it to totally get it."
Said Hall to BYUtv on Friday: "They got us last year, so that is fresh on our minds, for the guys that were here. You never forget the games."
Much like the most well-known college basketball rivalry in the country — Duke vs. North Carolina — the BYU-Utah rivalry is razor-close . BYU currently leads the series 134-130, and has won five of the past seven meetings.
Burgess said the game is equally important to both sides and that the animosity will never change.
Even when Utah was dominating the series under coach Rick Majerus, the Utes took it seriously, he said.
"In terms of game planning, we are treating it the same as we treated Oklahoma State and TCU," he said. "We are still trying to focus on us getting better. We are not making the game, from a tactical standpoint, or an emotional standpoint, bigger than it is. We are just not.
"I didn't feel like (it was more important than any other game) the last two years when I was on Craig Smith's staff. I didn't feel like that when I was on Mark Pope's staff," he continued. "I never felt that way. Now, do the emotions run high? Absolutely. But that is all separate from the preparation."
Speaking of his former boss, Burgess said he still maintains a good relationship with Smith, despite making the difficult decision to leave Utah after two years and return to BYU when Young came calling.
He said they crossed paths several times last summer while out on the recruiting trail or on the summer AAU circuit.
"At the end of the day, we are basketball coaches and we have worked together. There is a mutual respect," Burgess said. "Craig was a good boss and a good guy. He was a good basketball coach and a good dude to work for. I learned a lot from him, and so I am very grateful for the time I spent with him. But now we are trying to put together a game plan to beat his team. So that's kinda how I look at it."
When Burgess played for the Utes, they faced off against the Cougars four times, but the 6-foot-10 center was only able to participate in one of those games because of foot and ankle injuries.
Still, he counts that one game, which came during his junior season, as his favorite memory in the rivalry.
"Playing in that game is so much fun," he said. "I was really close to (former Cougar) Mekeli Wesley, and Trent Whiting was my roommate for half a semester before he transferred down to BYU. You hate them during those 40 minutes of battling them, but then you are friends again. That's just part of what makes it so special."
Burgess missed both rivalry games his senior season, after averaging 13.2 points, 7.2 rebounds in 25.5 minutes per game that year.
"I never got to play in the Marriott Center, which was such a bummer," he said.
After the Cougars downed Oklahoma State 85-69 Tuesday to snap a three-game losing skid, Young was asked what he knows about the rivalry.
He said that growing up in the South, he was "never like a huge BYU guy," but he would watch plenty of games on ESPN's "Big Monday" lineup and vividly remembers some epic BYU-Utah clashes.
"So I am obviously very familiar with how much this game means, and so forth," Young said.
The first-year coach said he coached "several" guys in the NBA who played at Utah, and learned more about the rivalry from them.
"I personally don't make a whole lot out of these types of things," Young said. "We gotta go up there and get a win, regardless. I am sure it will be fun, and obviously, (having) Keba (return). Is he like the ultimate traitor, going from Utah to BYU? I am sure he will get an earful up there. Burgess as well. So it will be fun, man."
