Utah basketball coach Lynne Roberts leaves for WNBA’s LA Sparks

Utah women’s basketball coach Lynne Roberts has been named the head coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.

Roberts will take her position with the franchise immediately, leaving the Utes four games into the 2024-25 season. The move comes after Roberts was extended by the program this offseason, a deal that would’ve kept her with the program until June of 2030.

But an offer to take the reins of a professional team in her home state was too good not to turn down. The Sparks are coming off an 8-32 season and will have the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft.

“Being the women’s basketball coach at the University of Utah has been my absolute joy and honor,” Roberts said in a news release. “I was very happy at the U and had no intentions of leaving to go anywhere else. I believe in Mark Harlan and I believe in what we were building. That said, the opportunity to coach for one of the league’s premiere franchises at the highest level in the WNBA, in my home state, was too good to pass up. The ownership group and the team’s leadership have a vision and a plan in place for storied success, and I am excited about this incredible opportunity and challenge.”

Roberts had entered her 10th season with the Utes and was coming off three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, with the latest landing Utah in the second round in 2023-24.

During the 2022-23 season, a year in which the Utes made it to the Sweet Sixteen for the third time in program history, Roberts was named as the Pac-12 Coach of the Year.

She’ll end her career in Salt Lake City with six postseason appearances, six 18-plus win seasons, four 20-win seasons and one Pac-12 championship.

“Lynne Roberts did an exceptional job elevating our women’s basketball program to a championship level, and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with her over my six-plus years at Utah,” Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said. “She took our program to unbelievable heights, and made an incredible impact as a leader in our athletics department.

“… While it is very difficult to see her move on, I am excited for her new coaching challenge and I wish her great success.”

Utah associate head coach Gavin Petersen will now take the reins of the program as the full-time head coach. He brings 23 years of coaching experience to the table, with his previous 10 seasons coming as an assistant with the Utes.

He has been Roberts‘ associate head coach for six seasons in Salt Lake City. In a news release, the former Utah head coach expressed belief in Petersen’s ability to lead the program both for the rest of the season and in the long term.

“Gavin Petersen will do incredible things here as the head coach,” Roberts said of Petersen’s coaching ability. “He is an unbelievable coach and person. He has passed up several chances in the past to be a head coach elsewhere, but he believes in the University of Utah, its leadership, and what we have built. He is more than ready to take this program over and I cannot wait to be a huge support for him and be the team’s loudest cheerleader in the Huntsman Center.”

Petersen will become the fifth women’s basketball coach in Utah’s program history.

“All my attention is now going to be focused on, and poured into, our players,” Petersen said. “The basketball part of things is the fun part, and we are still going to play Utah Basketball. Even though ‘change’ has occurred, everything that we set out to accomplish this season is still right in front of us, and I am extremely excited about this group, this team.

“Our core principles and foundation are intact, and we will rely on each other this season as we continue this journey together. I am humbled and honored to be given the responsibility to lead this special group of young women, and I can’t wait to attack each day with them.”

Utah will have a quick turnaround with Roberts‘ exit and Petersen taking over the program. Its next contest comes against Saint Joseph’s at 7 p.m. MT on Friday at the Huntsman Center.