The Miami Ute

Well, you’re not wrong. Look at what Madsen is doing in his first year with Cal. He’s got the Bears only half a game behind Utah in the PAC standings with a team that only won three games last season. As many have said, if Utah can’t get to the postseason this year with a roster full of experienced players, it’s hard to see how the situation…[Read more]

If what you imply is true, that Whitt essentially sacrificed the 2023 season for a chance to win the CFP, and that comes to fruition, then, to me, he’ll ascend to the level above legendary. Because, while I was playing checkers, he was playing three dimensional chess.

I congratulate Whitt and Company for being able to win eight games with so many injuries. I criticize Whitt and Company for not having a good handle on Rising’s injury situation in what’s the most important position on any team.

None of the options regarding Rising are good. !. Whitt didn’t know…no bueno for the CEO of the team. 2.…[Read more]

A few months ago when Big League Utah Big League Utah had what I think was their inaugural event, it was covered by the local sports stations and Charlie Monfort was there front and center wearing an Utah hat. So yeah, it’s good to have someone like that advocating for you.

I also think that he gets one more year for the simple reason that he’s got a six year contract. Now, if we miss the NIT/Dance this year and next year it’s more of the same, Smith will be gone.

You’re right about Portland. I’ve followed that situation because I subscribe to John Canzano, who’s covered it quite in depth in his blog. If all things were equal, Portland would probably be the frontrunner to get a baseball team. However, all things are not equal. Portland doesn’t have ownership sorted out, they don’t have an earmarked…[Read more]

I think the question emanates from the fact that Harlan has a BA and MA from Arizona and worked there at two different points in his career. It’s probably home in his mind.

I guess the real question is which is the real Utah? The one that play well and can beat anyone at home or the one that looks like an NBA expansion team every time it plays away from the Huntsman. I know that people talk that about NET ranking and how Utah is almost assured of an NCAA tournament bid this year but these constant blowout losses…[Read more]

Foreign players are not eligible for NIL because they’re here on a Student Visa. If you’re in the US on a student visa, you’re not allowed to work or conduct any activities that provide income.

I would however question whether that’s Keita’s case. I say that because he’s been in the US since at least high school and is labeled as being from…[Read more]

Well, I’d say let’s see where we’re at, at the end of the season, and go from there. If Utah finishes with a sub-500 conference record and misses the tournament, then you might be right about having to go in another direction. Smith looks and sounds like a nice guy, so I really want him to do well, but those blowout losses away from home are…[Read more]

Letting him go after this season is actually not prohibitively expensive. He makes $1.85M per season, so Utah would be on the hook for well under $6M to him. Personally, I’d be shocked if he was fired after this season, even if it went down in flames. I believe that he’ll get one more year though, as you say, given his mediocre recruiting…[Read more]

It’s not the losing per se…it’s the getting blown out in a continual manner by mediocre teams like Washington or Arizona State.

How long do you think before Smith’s seat starts getting warm. Basketball isn’t a sport where you should need half a decade to turn around a team.

I’ve got season tickets and they play better at home, so I’ll be there. Your point is completely valid though. Hard to build any momentum if every time you step out of the Huntsman you get blown out regularly by mostly mediocre teams. I’m starting to wonder if we’ve already seen the peak of Smith’s tenure with Utah. You’ve got to figure that if…[Read more]

Yeah, at this rate there might be 10 people at the next home game. It’s just shocking how bad this team plays away from home.

Hunter Erickson has got to be the worst player in Ute history to log significant minutes. He must have some incriminating stuff on Smith to get so much game time.

So happy to see D. Smith starting tonight and moving with little trouble.

Everything I’ve read seems to point that there’s no change to their situations. I would venture that the home game versus Colorado might be the next time that we see any of them play. Even then, I wouldn’t expect much at that time, seeing that, if they play versus Colorado, Lovering and Worster would have been out almost a month. Their…[Read more]

The logic of this route is that it’s the easy and cheap button. The guy was already on the payroll and will probably receive a starting salary at about half of what Whitt makes. What’s not to like from a bean counter’s point of view? There’s no guarantee that it’ll work out though, as we saw when Chris Petersen handed over the keys to Jimmy Lake.