SALT LAKE CITY — With little more than just a positive vision of the future for the University of Utah basketball program, the newly hired coaching staff hoped to convey to then-West Jordan High School’s Jordan Loveridge a promise of good things to come. That promise made almost four years ago has turned out to benefit both the basketball program and Loveridge.

Loveridge signed the summer prior to Utah's six-win season — Larry Krystkowiak's first season as Utah's head coach — and was taking an extreme risk signing with the program. Few would have questioned his decision if he committed to one of his other scholarship offers, BYU, who was coming off its national spotlight season behind"Jimmermania" and an appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

But Loveridge chose Utah — a decision that’s finally paying off years later. As a starter and integral player for a nationally-ranked team looking ahead to a potential deep run in the NCAA tournament, he joins an elite group of players who have scored more than 1,000 points in their career at Utah. Loveridge became the 36th player in university history to score over 1,000 points Sunday in Utah’s blowout win over Washington.

"It really is awesome," Krystkowiak said Sunday night. "I don't know how many he's going to end up with, but it's neat. Any time you can score 1,000 points, it says a lot about you. Jordan continues to do a good job."

While the infusion of talent from senior Delon Wright and other key players have contributed to Utah's rise to success, it was the promise a new head coach made to a local high school kid and his commitment to the program that has helped changed the culture of Utah basketball.

“I just knew with this coaching staff and some of the guys they were talking about bringing in, I knew we could have a special group of guys,” Loveridge said earlier this year, speaking about his reason for committing to Utah.

Since Loveridge’s freshman year, Utah has improved its recruiting and success, much to his credit by taking a shot with a down program. Since then, Utah has been able to recruit two potential first round NBA draft picks in Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl, and freshmen Brekkott Chapman, Kyle Kuzma, Isaiah Wright, and other talented athletes looking to join a top college program.

All has not been perfect for Loveridge, though, who has had his fair share of off nights, growing pains and in-game struggles. But throughout his ups and downs as a Runnin’ Ute, Loveridge has stayed the course and has been the ultimate team player no matter the situation, and has been one of the most reliable players under Krystkowiak’s tutelage.

Following the first game of Utah’s Thanksgiving-week tournament earlier in the season, it was discovered that Loveridge needed surgery on one of his knees to repair a bone spur. The surgery would sideline Loveridge for about a month, but helped him gain a newfound perspective on the game and a different leadership role for the team.

“The last couple of days I’ve been really impressed; it seems like he’s gained kind of a new sense for what it’s like to be out there on the court,” Kryskowiak said shortly after Loveridge returned to the team. “I’ve heard him with some leadership on the practice court, holding some guys accountable and being encouraging to other guys. He’s really opened up, which is something new. I think he’s getting more and more comfortable in that role.”

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“I’m just trying to be the voice for guys when I can see they need help,” Loveridge said at the time. “Just putting your arm around them and letting them know what the coach is talking about or try to explain it another way when they’re frustrated. It’s just little things like that.”

Throughout the rehab process Loveridge pushed himself to get back out on the court in an effort to return to the team he helped build. The team never missed a beat without him and grew its depth, but is now even stronger with him back. Utah’s average winning margin in conference play is 24.8 points.

Loveridge’s example of believing in the direction Utah was headed also influenced another in-state recruit to stay home instead of joining a team like Arizona.

“I wanted to be a part of something that was going to change and become great again,” Chapman said.

The goals for Loveridge and for the program as a whole still have some ways to go, but the progress the team has taken in four years is impressive. But Krystkowiak doesn’t get caught up in the recent success — at least not yet — and says there’s no difference in his approach from when the team was winning six games his first season to being a nationally-ranked team this year.

“How we do things here hasn’t changed in three and a half years. We do the exact same thing and try to prepare for practice and we try to have a good practice plan laid out,” he said. “And I don’t think you do anything differently if your team starts to achieve a little bit of success.

“You build championship habits when you’re winning six games and you build championship habits if you’ve won 15. The formula isn’t going to change; we don’t approach it any differently,” he added. “The difference is we’ve got some different players that are living it, but I think consistency is the most important thing.”

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