Members

[FountainofUte]

Utah Black Diamonds for NHL
Utah Cutthroats for MLB

Both are perfect

[FountainofUte]

I just don’t see what BYU’s options are. If they can’t pry away Madsen — and that’s not looking good — then their next best option has to be Burgess, right?

The funny thing is that it’s neither ideal for BYU or Utah, but BYU’s tiny hiring pool puts us in this position. Oddly, I think both schools will be worse off than they were before if Burgess moves on.

As for what it means long term, BYU’s gotta hope that Burgess is ready for the bright lights. If he is, he could be a great option for a long time or until Utah steals him back.

As for Utah, we’d once again be losing an important piece of the staff that’s connected back to: the Majerus era, the local community, the LDS community.

Here’s the weird part about this…I think we’ll be looking for a new coach soon and I think whether Burgess is HC at BYU or still on our staff a year from now, it’ll be too soon to hand him the reins of Utah. A year from now, I STILL think our best options are Alex Jensen, Jonny Bryant, or the best current HC we can lure away from another school.

[FountainofUte]

By the way it’s looking, I’d slice the pie like this:
NIL 48%
Playing time 47%
Some blend of coach and school rep 5%

[FountainofUte]

Obviously it’s going to be tough.

The confluence of perfect timing of talent, experience, and depth on the team, coupled with extreme luck of the bounce of the ball, lack of injuries, probably help from other teams making your path easier. I just can’t fathom a season where Utah is the last team standing.

It’s not impossible, but it’s so hard to imagine it playing out like that.

With that said, I think Utah can keep its name in the NC conversation as long as KW is at the U.

We’re probably 1-5 years away from a head coaching change. How that pans out may shape Utah football for the next decade or two.

Who expected that after Majerus our nationally relevant basketball program would spin off into obscurity? If you had approached me with that in the late ’90s I would have laughed and said you’re crazy. I thought Utah was bigger than Majerus and we’d confidently find our footing with his departure.

So, here’s to hoping that KW gets a serious crack at a NC. This year may be as good a chance as we’ve ever had.

[FountainofUte]

Here’s what I’d do if I were recruiting the Runnin Utes…

First, it goes without saying that we need the biggest, baddest, most athletic and NBA-bound studs we can find. Easy to say. Hard to do. But we’ve landed those guys in the past, and we’ll keep getting them in the future. Just gotta keep digging and we’ll get our share. No big surprise here. Every team is looking for these guys. I’m talking more below about what we do in addition to this, or what we need regardless of getting the stud…

We know that the Utah pool of D1 HS talent is not super deep. There are only so many Alex Jensens, Collin Chandlers, and Frank Jacksons to go around. True 4-star talent in our backyard. Yes, still recruit those guys like we always have. And we’re going to get some and not all of those guys. So, I’m not talking about them…

After the national studs and the local studs, I’d make sure we recruit local guys with potential to develop. I’m talking more about the role players. The Rydalches, Parker Van Dykes, Sean Greens, Drew Hansens, Jaxon Brenchly’s. Like the fb program has done, you have to fill your roster with some guys that want to have Utah across their chest. These kind of guys will be slow-burn development players. They may not pay off as contributors until senior year, maybe junior if we’re lucky. They probably won’t become starters, but they’ll fill our roster with guys who care about Utah. Guys who are bought in, and not necessarily looking for the next paycheck.

Lastly, we need to get athletic freaks. Preferably with some basketball skills even if raw. We do not care if they are “turds.” Can they play? Can they jump out of the gym? Can they pin a ball against the backboard?

I think our current and most recent coach get a little too concerned about coachable guys and good citizens so that there are players they don’t even offer or run off from the program because they’re not choir boys.

Sorry, but we need these guys. We need the disgruntled and difficult — if they’ve got that freak hoopin’ burst. THOSE are the guys I’ve seen come in and out our program quickly in the last 15 years or so, and I’d like to have seen some of them stay, and who knows how many more there were that didn’t even get offers. I don’t think we can be so picky. We had “problem child” players in the past and they often bring not only big athleticism, but a little bit of dogfight in them. We need a little more of that.

[FountainofUte]

If you go out to 12, it looks something like this:

EAST
Duke
Kentucky
Maryland
Michigan
Michigan State
North Carolina
Ohio State
Penn State
Pitt
Tennessee
Virginia
Virginia Tech

SOUTH
Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
Clemson
Florida
Florida State
Georgia
LSU
Miami
NC State
Ole Miss
Texas A&M

MIDWEST
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Minnesota
Missouri
Northwestern
Notre Dame
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Purdue
Texas
Wisconsin

WEST
Arizona
Arizona State
California
Colorado
Nebraska
Oregon
Stanford
TCU
UCLA
USC
Utah
Washington

There are definitely some weird things if you look closely. The three Texas schools are each in different divisions. Nebraska is on a bit of an island in the west division, but they’re with Colorado.

Though, I agree, 12 seems like a better number than 10. And if you go out as far as 16, I think you start to get a pretty inclusive and fun cfb universe put together.

[FountainofUte]

If the magic number is 40. Based on these rankings and trying to build four geographical groups of 10, here’s what it might look like:

EAST
Duke
North Carolina
Ohio State
Michigan
Michigan State
Penn State
Pitt
Maryland
Kentucky
Tennessee

SOUTH
Alabama
Georgia
Florida
LSU
Florida State
Clemson
Arkansas
Auburn
Texas
Texas A&M

MIDWEST
Notre Dame
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Iowa
Minnesota
Illinois
Ok State
Indiana
Purdue

WEST
TCU
Nebraska
USC
UCLA
Stanford
Washington
Cal
Oregon
Utah
Arizona State

Any of those you’d swap? Kentucky and Tennessee feel wrong in the east vs south, and Clemson feels like a floater between the east and south. Midwest looks the weakest. The South would be a bloodbath.

Otherwise, the west would be an absolute dream for Utah, And I’d probably swap #35 TCU for #41 Colorado. Just for geography’s sake. Would be a pretty even trade.

[FountainofUte]

This is where I am too.

Yes, our attendance and vibe at mbb right now is bad. But it didn’t used to be…until the program has slogged along for most of the last two decades. And 8 years w/o an NCAA berth is crazy.

I know it’s chicken/egg, but the unfortunate reality is that some coach is going to have to figure out how to build a Tourney-worthy team with tepid fan support. Once a coach starts building a nationally competitive team, the fans will come back. It’s not like the attendance dropped overnight. Again, this is a fan base that has supported its team for generations. But there’s been precious little to get excited about of late.

I’m still convinced that the Runnin Utes can come back to life with a rockin’ Hunty. But you can’t expect people to show up by the thousands to a team that hasn’t made the Dance in 8 years.

[FountainofUte]

I can’t either, but can you imagine if we did!? Boy howdy.

It is a hire like that that we need. We can’t eff around anymore. This has gotten bad.

On one hand I feel like our program is miles from where it needs to be. And on the other, I think the fix could be quick if the right moves are made — possibly even by Smith (though I’m losing faith fast).

For all of the crap we get about attendance, I think it would bounce back if this program could get some talent, swagger and success back to the Hunty.

[FountainofUte]

I don’t necessarily disagree with anything you’re saying, but I think what you are underestimating and what the university of Utah is also underestimating is that fans don’t just want a good team. They want a good program.

Good programs don’t peak by going to the NIT or going to the NCAA tournament as a one-and-done. Good programs have varying levels of success, but you can see when the team is building towards something big. I think any fan who is in wait-and-see mode can see that this program isn’t out of that swirl yet of peaking at very mediocre levels.

Speaking for myself, I think that’s what would pull me back in at least from a standpoint of being more tempted to get season tickets and attend a few games. I want to see the program is building toward bigger things. By contrast, here was a team full of upperclassman talent and an all-time player in Carlson and it’s still yielded an NIT. Do you expect fans to get excited about that?

So, it’s not just about reaching Majerus levels of success. I think a lot of us know that that is a longshot and rare air to get into as a program. But it’s not all or nothing. We can still be a good and successful program without competing for the championship every year. But I think fans want a program that goes to the tournament more than zero times in eight years.

That’s the trick. I get the chicken and egg argument about fans showing up and the team being good. But I think the only realistic shot is that the “egg” has to be the team being good in this instance. I know it’s super hard but some coach has to come in here and build a winner without fans. It sucks, but that’s the reality.