Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Let’s face it. The sports climate along the Wasatch Front has been about as bad as the actual climate. Cold and icy comes to mind. Overall, BYU and Utah’s football seasons were disappointing. Utah State was the exception, but then lost its head coach after he originally said he would stay. The Utah Jazz have a winning record but its recent 45-point loss to Houston not only was the worst at home in franchise history, it also shows this team is far from being a legitimate NBA contender.
#poll
So what about the state’s college basketball scene? Well, not much can be celebrated there either. In fact, the one school we thought had the best chance to reach the NCAA Tournament, Weber State, just lost its first two Big Sky games against Montana State and Montana. As for the “Big Three,” BYU has a decent overall record, but can’t beat any really good teams. Utah is in the basement of the Pac-12 once again and Utah State’s season appears to be done after losing its top three players to injury.
In recent years as football has taken over Utah's sports landscape, there was a time when Utah was actually known as a basketball state. Those were the days of Stockton and Malone and NBA finals appearances. The late Rick Majerus was leading the Utes to regular appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including a Cinderella run to the title game. BYU and Utah State seemed to find their way into the Big Dance often and, of course, most recently “Jimmer Mania” took hold of not only Utah, but the entire nation.
Can Utah become a basketball state again? Probably not, but it’s not out of the realm of possibilities. With the U. football program adjusting to life in the very difficult Pac-12 and BYU playing a much more difficult schedule as an independent, football could drop a tad in fan interest if losing becomes more common. Obviously for basketball to grab everyone’s attention again, all the teams need to win and they must also give fans hope that something out of the ordinary, or better yet, exceptional, can happen.
Here are the possibilities:
Utah Jazz: A recent Deseret News article pointed out how the Jazz have the most lottery drafted players under the age of 25 in the league in Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Alec Burks and Enes Kanter. Yet, none of them are starters or play more than 27 minutes per game. Clearly, the “core four” is the future of this team and if the Jazz want to excite its fanbase it needs to get them on the floor, let them take their knocks and develop. A consistent formula of the best NBA teams is that they win with lottery selected players. The Jazz have them, but how can they develop if they don’t play?
BYU Cougars: BYU is handicapped due to playing in the overall weak WCC. However, BYU currently has the largest college hoops fanbase in the state. However, thanks to Jimmer, it was spoiled by star power. Fortunately, there is a possibility of having that again in the immediate future. Tyler Haws is beginning the development to become that type of player. Add in all the recruits coming to the program from the BYU JV team — the nation’s No. 1 rated high school program, Lone Peak — and it could have something special going in the next few years.
Utah Utes: U. fans have been asked to be patient and will probably have to continue so for another couple years as Larry Krystkowiak upgrades the talent via recruiting. Once the Utes become competitive again, look out as playing a Pac-12 schedule will finally allow fans to reap the benefits of being in a big time conference.Utah State Aggies: Arguably the craziest and most loyal college basketball fans in the state, they will be able to ratchet it up a few notches as the Aggies move into a much improved league — the Mountain West Conference. While Stew Morrill has done an outstanding job at USU, the one big knock is the lack of scheduling good programs. With the likes of San Diego State, UNLV and New Mexico on the schedule, the Aggies will regularly be challenged. If USU rises to the task, it will be rewarded with favorable seeds in the Big Dance.
Kevin Graham co-hosts Gunther and Graham 2pm-7pm on 1320 KFAN. He is also the founder and editor of www.SportsMashup.com. You can follow him on Twitter @KevinGrahamKFAN and like him on Facebook (SportsMashup).
