This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The dozens of Chinese coaches visiting the University of Utah do not care why Kyle Whittingham ordered a field goal instead of taking a fourth-and-inches risk or why Kalani Sitake authorized a two-point conversion attempt.

Actually, that's not true. Linfeng Xiao is personally interested in such strategy, as a proponent of American football in China — but that's not why he's spending three months on the Utah campus.

Xiao is an administrator of a Chinese program that has brought 89 coaches to work with Utah's staff in men's and women's basketball, track and field, swimming and cheerleading. During a kickoff event Monday at the Jon M. and Karen Huntsman Basketball Facility, Xiao said he hopes the experience will be "a life-changer" for the visitors.

They're not the only ones likely to be affected. These cultural exchanges tend to work two ways.

"I think it'll be a learning experience on both ends," said Chris Jones, the Utes' director of men's basketball operations. "We're going to be learning a lot about their culture and how they do things, and vice versa."

The Chinese coaches are taking the visit seriously, that's for sure. They'll spend up to 30 hours a week for three months watching practices and conditioning sessions and attending daily classroom sessions with the Ute coaches, learning about strategy, game preparation, film review and practice structure. They'll also be exposed to sport psychology, nutrition, public relations and marketing.

Jon Huntsman Jr., a former U.S. ambassador to China, addressed the group in Chinese and drew laughter from coaches who were eager to meet him and take photos. In English, Huntsman emphasized the importance of the U.S.-China relationship and said, "Nothing comes close to the power of people-to-people contact."

From a country where 300 million people play basketball, coaches have come to participate in a program funded by a $1.4 million grant in China. The Federation of University Sports in China has worked with the Pac-12 in staging exhibition tours and regular-season games. The visits to Utah and Arizona State, where another group is working with Sun Devils coaches, is an extension of that relationship.

"Basketball has always opened up all kinds of doors," said Ute coach Larry Krystkowiak, who led a team of Pac-12 all-stars during a tour of China in 2014. "It's a chance to share in some culture."

So what's in it for Utah?

"Maybe there's the next Yao Ming or someone over there … but that's not the priority," Jones said. Krystkowiak's goal is the "intrinsic value" of working with the visitors and who knows, he might end up learning a new out-of-bounds play. The basketball staff just wants to do its part in the global mission of the school, with about 1,800 students from China making up 40 percent of Utah's international enrollment, president David Pershing said. In all, 21,000 students from China attend Pac-12 schools, and Pershing and other administrators hope the sports relationship will boost those numbers.

Jones and video coordinator Scott McByrne mainly will work with the basketball coaches, spending time in daily X's-and-O's sessions and allowing them to observe how the Utes do everything. It is not so much about building the equivalent of a Division I program as learning about the game and how to teach it at various levels.

As Huntsman observed, the development of the U.S.-China relationship in the early 1970s "started at the pingpong table," with international competition eventually opening political doors in China. Almost a half-century later, the Pac-12 has a strong presence in China — and so will Utah, once these coaches return home.

Twitter: @tribkurt