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SALT LAKE CITY — There's no value to burn a redshirt year for immediate help when considering long-term success, or at least that's the dilemma Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak is forced to deal with in deciding whether to play freshman center Jayce Johnson.
Although a difficult, multi-faceted decision with long-term implications, Utah should lean toward playing Johnson if he's even remotely ready to play. However, Krystkowiak has essentially turned the decision over to Johnson on what he wants to do.
"(Larry) talked to me about the possibility of playing and the aspects that are good for not playing also. Right now it's up in the air and I've got to think about everything," Johnson said. "He wanted me to practice the next two practices and just to see how it goes. But honestly he said if I keep practicing the way I'm practicing, he'd think I'd be very beneficial to the team if I did play.
"He said if I keep doing what I'm doing in practice, he's definitely going to give me some minutes. He is a little reluctant because I've only been here for two weeks, so it's a lot," Johnson added. "I'm also learning the way they play, all their offense games and defensive games, all the plays and all that stuff. And I'm still trying to orientate and all that — it's a lot."
Johnson joined the roster midseason and started working out with the team just days before the Christmas break and has had a limited sample size in working through the playbook and adjusting to Division I basketball. It's one of many reasons as to why Krystkowiak has been hesitant to burn a redshirt year for immediate need.
"The easy decision for me would be to say, 'yeah, let's do it,' but then he's a sophomore next year," Krystkowiak said. "I've been involved with those situations before where you're tempted to even bring somebody off of a redshirt because you could kind of use it. But then it's going to be March in no time and are we doing the right thing by him to burn an entire year or where would he be potentially in his senior year, three and a half years from now?"
"Honestly, just losing my year, that's my biggest hesitation. That year is a lot to me and that's my whole year of eligibility only for a semester," Johnson said. "If I were to get a consistent set of minutes I would definitely consider it. To me that would be the deciding factor.
Considered to be the latest rendition of sophomore center Jakob Poeltl, Johnson would bring more size and a physicality that is absent when Poeltl is on the bench. And with the physical nature of the game only increasing during conference play, Poeltl may find himself on the bench more with fouls, which opens up a spot for Johnson to fill a void.
"What he's brought to our practice the last few days is a level of physicality that we haven't had," Krystkowiak said. "There's a few sparks flying off of he and Jakob and Jordan (Loveridge) and Chris Reyes. It's kinda fun. It's taken the level of play to a different level. It's going to give Jayce an opportunity to get ahead of the curve and not be a normal freshman when he comes in. I think he's also making us a better team right now."
"Jayce is aggressive freshman that's just coming in and doesn't care what he has to do. But he's an aggressive big that we need," senior guard Brandon Taylor said. "We need him to make Jakob better, we need him to make us guards better in terms of going into the rim and then kicking out because we deal with trees like Cal all day. It's good to have him come in."
As long as Johnson doesn't become a hinderance to the actual style of play on the court, he's an immediate upgrade to the current situation Utah faces, particularly with starter Kyle Kuzma now "day-to-day" with a lingering tailbone injury from a hard fall in the Cal game. Johnson would be jumping right into his freshman season and would forego a redshirt, preparatory year, but he could have an immediate impact in conference play for Utah.
Although not fair to compare situations or talent and ability, Poeltl made a splash his freshman year and was an immediate impact player in Utah's Sweet 16 run. Is Johnson capable of a similar response? It's unsure, but the risk doesn't seem to be all that high.
Johnson already has the skill set to be successful as a big man in the collegiate world, particularly in the physicality he brings to the game. All the other stuff — playbook, comfort level, experience — will come by playing competitively against talented Pac-12 teams.
The biggest risk? Johnson is in over his head moving from high school to Division I basketball and "wastes" his freshman season in an awkward adjustment period that leave Utah no better off than having him on the bench. While a possibility, it seems like an extreme outcome given that Krystkowiak previously said Johnson has already upped the level of physicality in his short time with the team.
So if he can do it in practice, there's reason to believe he can do it in a competitive game. Even if marginally worse than a practice setting, how much would that hurt the program (pending literally a billion turnovers — Utah doesn't need any more help there)? The benefit of adding depth to Utah's roster behind Poeltl is all the more important in Utah's push to win the conference and return to the NCAA Tournament.
Go with the risk, add some depth to the lineup, maybe be surprised in his adjustment to collegiate basketball and move forward with supposed success. But if the decision is to wait, Utah will be set with another talented front court moving into the next season.
