They’ll have the Friday and Saturday games:

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Cam's helmet is made by Light Helmets. Light Helmets CEO is a longtime friend of mine. He's in the process of looking for $500k of bridge investors with a minimum of $25k. If anyone would like more information, please let me know and I'll happily provide you with more information.

I’ve been told receiver Tao Johnson has made the move to cornerback and that there’s a lot of optimism around the move.

No surprises at all with the captains.

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Colorado is still out ahead although Utah closed the gap today.

Colorado 279.52
Utah 263.03
Denver 230.54
Dartmouth 153.55
Alaska Fairbanks 150.06
Montana State 138.07
New Hampshire 122.02
Vermont 121.09

Some well deserved recognition for a guy who has been extremely crucial to Utah’s recruiting efforts. Give it a read:

https://n.rivals.com/news/next-up-ten-up-and-coming-recruiters-in-the-pac-12

Obviously, this team (MBB) has been ready for the off-season for a while. If either of the NIT or the CBI comes calling Utah should decline. This team is done.

Carlson graduates, Anthony graduates. Madsen and Stef are the only two returning players with 10+ points per game. Speaking of Madsen, Stef and Exacte. Is that enough of a core to build around? What if Madsen elects to enter the portal?

This team seems to have regressed the last month of the season. Yes some of it could be blamed on injuries but this team is headed in the wrong direction.

Smith needs a huge influx of talent out of the portal for next year. Or the program slides back intobe sliding back into the abyss

I’m trying to keep everything positive or looking at the men’s basketball program but it’s almost as bleak as it was last year.

Spring football can’t get here fast enough.

The 3-star DL commit remains committed to Utah, but is garnering plenty of interest

Not planning on an NIT bid so here's my report card. Overall, solid forward progress that was marred by the crash and burn at season's end.

BC - A. Did everything we hoped he would do. If I'm going to quibble, he still gets pushed around in the post. But, an excellent season. We desperately need him to return for next season.
Ben Carlson - C+. Gave us some badly needed size inside. Decent rebounder. Not an offensive threat at this point.
Marco Anthony - B+. Gave us toughness, defense, experience and could score a bit in the high post. We will miss him.
Gabe Madson - B. Our only backcourt scoring threat. His game took a solid step forward from last year to this. Good athlete, good defender. Needs to improve shot selection and cut down on turnovers. he and BC are a solid inside-outside combo. Has had signficant injuries both seasons.
Rollie - B. Tough and reliable. Very good A/T ratio. Shot poorly from the field.
Lazar Stefanovic - C. Volume shooter who is not a good shooter. Below average defender/rebounder. Seems like a nice kid and good teammate, but he needs to get a lot better.
Keba Keita - B. An impressively raw talent. Should be a key roster piece moving forward. He was inconsistent this year. But, has some impressive tools.
Bostyn Holt - C+. Didn't do much positive or negative when on the floor. Needs to become an offensive threat in Marco's mold if he's going to get minutes.
Will Exacte - B-. Very inconsistent this year. Highs made you think "ok, let's go!" but too many lows. Would have like to see more consistently growth during the season. Still, a solid roster piece.
Micahel Saunders - D. He must have been terrible in practice if he couldn't get minutes this year. High level athlete with some offensive pop. But his defense was poor and decision making not much better.
Jaxon Brenchley - C. Didn't expect much from him. Didn't get much from him.
Luka Tarlac - D. Can't shoot at all. His ball rotates sideways. Gave up an and-1 seemingly every first trip down the floor after entering the game.

Coaches - B. Team effort was good. Game plans were good. Need to borrow a page from Whitt and ramp up the recruiting.

For next year, we currently have the SLCC recruit who looks like a role player and one open scholarship. Saunders is all but gone. IMO Tarlac isn't a Pac12 level guy. Brenchley is a loyal Ute, good teammate and good ambassador for the program. Not a Pac12 level guy either but I would keep him if he wants to stay. So, there will likely be a couple more spots open up.

Big off season for the coaches.

Bummer of an end to the season. Here are the takeaways:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/takeaways-runnin-utes-season-comes-to-a-close-against-stanford

Starting five: Branden Carlson, Ben Carlson, Lazar Stefanovic, Rollie Worster, Marco Anthony

Unless an absolute miracle happens during the Pac 12 tournament, Utah will have gone seven straight seasons without a trip to the NCAA tournament. This is the longest drought Of not making the big dance since the 10-year streak that ended in 75-76.

If Utah loses the opening game of the Pac 12 Tourney not only will they fail to make the NCAA, a NIT bid could be out of reach too.

Yes we did see some improvement this year, especially with Brandon Carlson but injuries contributed to the late season losing streak. It could be argued that Utah is treading water. We more of the same even though we have Craig Smith.

Is Smith in over his head over at this level? Can he realistically recruit P5 level players? Can he build a program that competes for an NCAA tournament bid every year and finish in the top four of the Pac 12 conference? So far the answer is no. Will the boosters start complaining that they are not happy with what is happening with the basketball program.

Craig Smith’s seat could heat up starting in April.

Hi guys, I was able to interview Stanford before tonight's matchup against Utah. Below are links to interviews with head coach Jerod Haase, sophomore forward Harrison Ingram, and senior forward Spencer Jones. All three talked about the Runnin' Utes.

It was a mixed bag at the Combine For Utah NFL prospects. Dalton Kincaid is rising and considered the top TE, even without doing drills. Clark Phillips III didn’t help or hurt himself, necessarily. Braeden Daniels was impressive in his drills. Tavion Thomas needs a much better showing if he does participate at Utah’s Pro Day.

Here’s the article:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/how-utah-prospects-faired-at-the-nfl-combine

Here’s the combine article for Dalton:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/nfl-combine-utah-s-kincaid-is-rising-fast

I'll be honest, I don't believe it but thought I'd post anyway:

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Dropping from #3 to #8 before the NCAA tournament seeding comes out is questionable to me. WSU did beat them but they went on to win the tournament and are ranked. Why didn't Stanford drop?

Worster and Madsen returning to the lineup wasn't enough to stop the losing streak:

One more until the Pac-12 tournament

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This is the worst time of year for football. Can hardly wait for spring practice so we at least get some news about the team. Afterwards we also get a glimpse of who stays and how transfers.

News drought is killing me.

BTW - so tired of all the speculation on PAC12 demise and the fact we will never get a TV contract worth anything. Lots of speculation from lots of us that know absolutely nothing about what is actually going on. (Flame away!)

They started off the season and Pac-12 play great. Although, coming off of four straight losses — and two crucial injuries to Madsen and Worster — are you still locked in and watching or have you hit the point where your over the season?

I hope they get a nice following in Vegas for the tournament because this group deserves it. I do however think that they’re season is coming to an end ASAP if Madsen and a Worster can’t return. The team is just too beat up, right now.

Clark Phillip III got off to a good start at the NFL Combine with his interview on Thursday. Here's Halie's and Alex's recap: