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SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah basketball team received a signed letter of intent from Texas guard Tim Coleman Friday.
Coleman, a 6-foot-1 guard from Lee College in Baytown, Texas, is the second junior college transfer to sign with Utah this year. He joins former Salt Lake Community College forward Tyler Rawson, who committed at the end of March shortly after his team won the NJCAA championship.
“Tim will bring an extra level of toughness to our program,” Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said in a prepared statement. “He is a very talented guard with high leadership qualities. He dealt with some injuries last season, but tried to play through them. We are excited about getting him on campus and joining the Ute family.”
Coleman only played part of last season with Lee College after sustaining a shoulder injury that forced him to be sidelined for the remainder of the year. However, in his 13 games, Coleman averaged 14.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, and 30.7 percent shooting from behind the 3-point line.
Coleman will add to Utah’s guard depth that was depleted with the departure of senior Brandon Taylor and sophomore Isaiah Wright, who transferred to San Diego State, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
Coleman is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he graduated from Withrow High School in 2014. In high school, Coleman averaged approximately 24 points per game his senior season.
Also joining Coleman and Rawson this upcoming season are fall signees Jayce Johnson, Devon Daniels and Jojo Zamora. Utah State transfer David Collette is eligible to play at the end of December.
East/West Challenge
— Tim Coleman Jr (@timcee4life) November 1, 2015
Howard vs Lee College
Tim Coleman pic.twitter.com/wwvcVJ64A7
Chapman released from scholarship
One of the players who will not be joining Coleman next year is former Roy High standout Brekkott Chapman, who has been released from his scholarship, Krystkowiak said Friday afternoon.
Krystkowiak didn't confirm a specific reason for the release, but mentioned Weber State as a possible landing spot for the junior-to-be during an interview with ESPN 700 radio.
“Last I heard he’s looking to get back to the Roy area,” Krystkowiak said. “Weber was one of the schools that I released him to. He had a new baby, and family and high school acquaintances were important to him and high on his list. There’s a chance that he gets back to Weber.”
Chapman, who picked Utah over offers from Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Gonzaga and UCLA, played in all 35 games with two starts for the Runnin’ Utes as a freshman in 2014-15, averaging 5.7 points mostly off the bench.
His production declined slightly as a sophomore in 2015-16, when he made just one start in 36 appearances and scoring just 4.4 points with 2.8 rebounds per game.
Krystkowiak lamented what he called the “record number of transfers” in college athletics, a number that includes recent Ute departures Chris Reyes to Pepperdine and Isaiah Wright, reportedly to San Diego.
“It’s a dangerous time; the season ends, there’s a lot of media and hype, and then the excitement goes away,” Krystkowiak said. “Unfortunately, some people have voices in their ears to move to somewhere else.
“The common thread with all of us coaches is that we have to re-recruit our players again. I don’t want to have to do that.”
Contributing: Sean Walker
