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The University of Utah men's and women's basketball teams will make their first public appearances of the 2007-08 season Friday, Oct. 12 when they host Utah Basketball - Friday Night Hoops at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
It is a big evening for Utah Athletics, as the Ute volleyball team hosts arch-rival BYU at 7 p.m. on Crimson Court. Friday Night Hoops will take place following the volleyball match.
The Huntsman Center doors will open at 8 p.m. Friday Night Hoops will get under way at 9 p.m., with both the Ute men's and women's squads signing autographs on the concourse.
The on-court portion of the event will feature the men's and women's teams both playing short intrasquad scrimmages. In addition, there will be a three-point shootout, pitting the men's and women's squads against each other. The men's team will also hold a dunk contest.
Admission to Friday Night Hoops is free and Ute fans of all ages are encouraged to attend. The Utah pep band, cheerleaders and Crimson Line will also be on hand to entertain. There will be prizes given away throughout the evening.
Runnin' Utes Add Two Walk-Ons, Award Scholarship to Brennan
University of Utah head men's basketball coach Jim Boylen has announced the addition of two walk-ons to the Runnin' Ute program. In addition, Boylen has awarded former walk-on Sayre Brennan a scholarship for the 2007-08 school year.
Boylen and his staff held a walk-on tryout on Sept. 24. They asked four of the participants to come back for another workout and eventually invited Jonathan Downie (Bountiful, Utah) and Tre Smith (Magna, Utah) to join the team.
Downie is a 6-foot 8-inch forward and will be a sophomore. He missed his senior season at Bountiful High School with a back injury, but was a starter as a sophomore. Downie also played on two state championship football teams at Bountiful in 2002 and 2003.
Smith is a 5-9 freshman point guard, who attended Cyprus High School. Smith was a second-team all-state selection and was named his Team MVP at Cyprus following his senior season. He also served as a team captain on the football, basketball and track and field teams during his senior year.
"I said I wanted to take a walk-on from the student body - from the MUSS - to add some depth," Boylen said. "We ended up taking two - a point guard and a big guy. The tryouts went very well. We had a good number of guys try out and there was a lot of interest in the program."
Brennan, who was a walk-on with the Utes last season, will graduate in the spring. Boylen said he earned the scholarship for his final season of collegiate basketball.
"Sayre has done a great job in conditioning and taking ownership on and off the floor," Boylen said. "We had a scholarship left to give and I was glad to do it for him. He's done an excellent job of the things we've asked our guys to do."
With the addition of the walk-ons and Brennan's scholarship, Utah now has 15 student-athletes on its 2007-08 roster, with 13 of them on scholarship.
