Huntsman Center
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- This topic has 12 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 8 hours ago by concerned.
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Minnesota UteParticipant
One thing I’ve crabbed about on here before and I’m not sure if I’ve really ever heard anyone else comment on it is our venue. In another post here, someone asked about a “common denominator” through the 4 past coaches that, despite some brief flashes under Krystko, we basically sucked. The Hunty remains a real concern for me, and it’s heightened whenever I see the Utes play in a rocking gym like Iowa St. Obviously sucking doesn’t help fill the arena, but there is also something about the shape or the way the seats are filled, or the dedication/persistence of the fans; I guess I’m not sure. But it just seems like the Hunty is so dead, why would recruits be excited to come play here when they come to town for a game and see a venue so devoid of energy and seemingly so empty. I guess I sometimes feel like we’d be better off playing in smaller gym with 5,000 passionate fans packed in, vs a big bowl that feels mostly empty. I suppose it is what it is and at least we seem more willing to close the upper bowl these days, I’d be curious for those that do attend in person if that seems to help. It’s often hard to tell from the TV coverage.
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utefansince79Participant
Made a big difference when sections A-F (and AA-FF) were the student sections, filled below the concourse for most games, and packed to the top for BYU, UTEP, Wyoming, New Mexico, and others. Compared to now where the band often has more members than the rest of the students.
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EagleMountainUteParticipant
Red Rocks still pack that place I think they averaged like 15k in 2020.
It is probably in the 11-13k range. May need a polish but it is a fine arena.
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utefansince79Participant
Need a team that performs well to draw a crowd and need a good crowd to motivate current players to play well and encourage recruits and potential coaches to come (as well as encouraging NIL $$$$).
Right now team performing poorly, small crowds, virtually zero student support, and limited NIL funds. I fear the decline will continue for some time.
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CoyoteUteParticipant
Our fan base doesn’t seem to care about anything other than football anymore. At least half the people on here are more concerned with the football off-season than the basketball regular season from what I can see. Rarely see any mentions of the Red Rocks on here, and they are awesome. I’ll be at every home game in section R regardless of how everyone else feels.
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EagleMountainUteParticipant
I have always had a hard time with judgement based sports.
Every Utah fan should go to a meet at least once.
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The Miami UteParticipant
The Huntsman is fine. The place was like a volcano when BYU showed up last season. The problem is the program’s mediocrity over an extended period of time. I can guarantee you that if we had teams of the same quality as when Majerus was in town, then the arena would be full almost every night. At this stage in American society, you can’t expect people to continuously back and buy a bad product. It just isn’t happening for most people.
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MG_UteParticipant
I love the Huntsman center. It’s a terrific venue and is loud when full. Wasn’t that long ago Brandon Taylor dropped a 3 against Arizona and the place was louder than I’ve ever heard it. I find this a weird post asking whether or not the Huntsman center is a viable venue. The Runnin Utes suck and they’ve sucked for a while. Once the right coach gets hired and he is able to recruit and put in a good show the place will fill again. This is on Harlan.
P.S. I’ve been to almost every game this year.
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The Miami UteParticipant
Yeah, me too. I have season tickets and have been to every home game this season. Unfortunately, I see no other way ahead than firing Smith and starting from scratch. Smith’s current tenure is very reminiscent of Krystkowiak’s last couple of seasons though I will say that those teams were much better in terms of actual players. I mean, Coach K’s last team had guys like Timmy Smith, Pelle Larsson, Ian Martinez, Rylan Jones, Branden Carlson, etc…
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OmahaOmahaParticipant
The HC can’t be saved. At some point it will be razed and replaced in a different location on campus. It will also be a smaller venue.
In terms of support, the student population at Utah is an embarrassment. We have 27,000 undergraduate students and about 30 show up for our first conference game against a pretty good opponent. Even terrible high school programs have better student support than that. I’ll be at the women’s game tonight and we’ll see how many students show up for a ranked vs ranked conference matchup.
The other thing I don’t care for is that our high profile coaches don’t offer much public support to other programs. For example, a couple of years ago Utah softball hosted a super regional vs SDSU. A lot of seats were reserved for administrators and coaches. The lady coaches showed up every game but the mens coaches were nowhere to be seen. You rarely see Kyle Whittingham or a Morgan Scalley at an event.
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pedroParticipant
That place is as loud, as rocking and as lively as they come. It’s the losing that hurts.
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SteelUteParticipant
It’s always “no good recruit wants to play here because nobody comes to the games, and nobody comes to the games because they aren’t any good…” I’d like to see them try more to get people there . Like what about two free season tickets to football season ticket holders? Or some variation of that. Do something to get people in there.
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concernedParticipant
The long range plan/hope is to build a smaller arena downtown that seats 10-12,000. Huntsman too and expensive to renovate and the U wants the land for other uses, likely housing.
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