Post by mhbruin on Jul 28, 2021 7:34:31 GMT -8
Next are the 8th place Utah Utes. They had a pretty poor season 12-13 season, and long-time coach Larry Krystowiak was fired. They were very inconsistent with wins over Colorado, SC, and Arizona, while losing to bottom dwellers Washington and California.
Still, I was surprised at the firing, since Utah seemed poised for a really good 21-22 season. He was returning a lot of talent from a very young team.
He was a good coach and his teams always seemed to outperform their talent. I expect he will find a job somewhere.
You can forget the good season, since the coach and players are gone. Aside from the return of the prodigal Gach, they are almost starting over.
Coach K has been replaced by Coach Craig Smith from Utah State. I think he is a home-run hire. He was perhaps my favorite small-school coach. His teams always seem to pass the ball REALY well.
However, I have one HUGE problem with this hire. We now have two Coach Smiths in the Pac-12. We already had Kyle Smith at WSU. I have already heard someone refer to Craig Smith as Matt Smith, who played Doctor Who and Prince Phillip. Confusion reigns.
The next thing you know the league is going to bring in a bunch of people named Jones. A plethora of Browns, Smiths, and Joneses. We are starting to sound like witness protection.
Krystowiak used to be "The other coach K." Now Utah has "The other Coach Smith."
[/span]
GRADUATING
- None -
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
I am not sure if Plummer stayed in the draft or is heading to Illinois. In either case, he is leaving Utah
Jantunen has announced he is turning pro. He is currently playing in Finnland.
TRANSFERRING OUT
Four of these players are going to power conference schools. That's how much talent Utah is losing.
Five of the six Utah players who started 15 games or more in 2020-21 are leaving. Eight players played 10 minutes a game or more. Six of them are gone.
They are losing their three of their four leading scores, including Timmy Allen who led them in points rebounds, assist, and steals. I believe that officially makes him their best player.
Once Timmy Allen and Alfonso Plummer put their names in the portal and with Jantunen turning pro, Pelle Larsson looked like their best returning player. Then he decided to transfer. They lose a guy who shot 47% from the arc last season.
They also lose Ian Martinez who was a promising freshman.
Norbert Thelissen would have been a freshman last season, but was forced to sit out due to NCAA rules regarding amateur status as he played too many games for his club team.
Riley Batten and Lahat Thioune put their names into the portal and then decided to return to Utah.
RETURNING
Coach Smith was left with 4 returning scholarship players and not that much talent. Only 2 have shown that they can play at a Pac-12 level.
Carlson is a solid center and a good shot-blocker. He has good footwork and has some moves around the basket.
Riley Batten has an A/TO ratio of 2.4, which is damned good for a big guy.
Clearly Utah's Coach Smith needed help. He needed bodies and talent. He got one out of two.
(#NA class, #NA in Pac-12)
He didn't get the help from the recruiting class. 247 doesn't think enough of this class to even rank them.
Utah traded Rylan Jones and Norbert Thelissen to Utah State for Rollie Worster and Marco Anthony. I think they got the worst of the trade.
Craig Smith must have been looking at Madsen when he was coaching at Utah State, because he jumped on him quickly. Madsen only played in 2 games for the Bearcats before opting out of the season. He has a twin brother who is also transferring out of Cincinnati (along with most of the rest of their roster).
It's also not a surprise to see him go after players from the Mountain West, and from his former team, since he knew them well. He saw Jenkins play in person when his Utah State team played against UNLV. He also saw Worster and Anthony up close and personal, since they were on Smith's Utah State team.
Jenkins was a 41% 3-point shooter and was the Rebels 2nd-leading scorer.
Worster's stats weren't great, but Smith knows that he was well coached in his one season at Utah State. He led the Aggies in assists.
Marco Anthony was Utah State's third-leading scorer and second in assists. Anthony was at Virginia for two seasons before transferring to Utah State, so he has had some good coaching. He also sat out a year at Utah State so he has two years of coaching from Tony Bennett and two more from Craig Smith.
Holt was a part-time starter for the JUCO national champion team. Holt had received scholarship offers from Idaho, Portland State, North Texas, Louisiana Tech and Iona in recent weeks.
Dušan Mahorčič led Illinois State in rebounding and shot 59% from the field. He was also offered by Penn State.
Both Gach returns to Utah after a one year stay at Minnesota. He's originally from Minnesota, but I guess it's true that you can't go home. He shot 40% (27% from the arc) against the Big Ten.
Here's a story about the details of Gach's return
CONCLUSION
Craig Smith is an excellent basketball coach. In their five seasons in the Mountain West before he arrived, Utah State had never finished higher than 4th and they had not been to the NCAA tournament since 2011. In three seasons after Coach Smith took over, they finished 1st, 2nd, and 2nd, and gave San Diego State a run for their money.
The problem is the cupboard of talent was bare when he arrived. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The best he could do is bring a couple of his former players south from Logan.
I have picked Utah to finish 11th next season. So did Less1Brain and Torvick. Wilner is more optimistic about their prospects and picks them for 8th.
It may take them a year or two, but I expect Utah to be very good under Coach Craig Smith. In fact I think both Coaches Smith are very good coaches. However, in the upcoming season, he will definitely be "The Other Coach Smith" in the Pac-12.
Still, I was surprised at the firing, since Utah seemed poised for a really good 21-22 season. He was returning a lot of talent from a very young team.
He was a good coach and his teams always seemed to outperform their talent. I expect he will find a job somewhere.
You can forget the good season, since the coach and players are gone. Aside from the return of the prodigal Gach, they are almost starting over.
Coach K has been replaced by Coach Craig Smith from Utah State. I think he is a home-run hire. He was perhaps my favorite small-school coach. His teams always seem to pass the ball REALY well.
However, I have one HUGE problem with this hire. We now have two Coach Smiths in the Pac-12. We already had Kyle Smith at WSU. I have already heard someone refer to Craig Smith as Matt Smith, who played Doctor Who and Prince Phillip. Confusion reigns.
The next thing you know the league is going to bring in a bunch of people named Jones. A plethora of Browns, Smiths, and Joneses. We are starting to sound like witness protection.
Krystowiak used to be "The other coach K." Now Utah has "The other Coach Smith."
[/span]
GRADUATING
- None -
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
| Player | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Alfonso Plummer | 28 | 14 | 2 | 1 |
| Mikael Jantunen | 28 | 9 | 5 | 1 |
I am not sure if Plummer stayed in the draft or is heading to Illinois. In either case, he is leaving Utah
Jantunen has announced he is turning pro. He is currently playing in Finnland.
TRANSFERRING OUT
Four of these players are going to power conference schools. That's how much talent Utah is losing.
| Player | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Destination |
| Timmy Allen | 35 | 17 | 6 | 4 | Texas |
| Alfonso Plummer | 28 | 14 | 2 | 1 | Illinois |
| Pelle Larsson | 27 | 8 | 3 | 3 | Arizona |
| Rylan Jones | 25 | 4 | 2 | 4 | Utah State |
| Ian Martinez | 16 | 5 | 2 | 1 | Maryland |
| Jordan Keller | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Sienna |
| Brendan Wenzel | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Wyoming |
| Norbert Thelissen | Did Not Play | Utah State |
Five of the six Utah players who started 15 games or more in 2020-21 are leaving. Eight players played 10 minutes a game or more. Six of them are gone.
They are losing their three of their four leading scores, including Timmy Allen who led them in points rebounds, assist, and steals. I believe that officially makes him their best player.
Once Timmy Allen and Alfonso Plummer put their names in the portal and with Jantunen turning pro, Pelle Larsson looked like their best returning player. Then he decided to transfer. They lose a guy who shot 47% from the arc last season.
They also lose Ian Martinez who was a promising freshman.
Norbert Thelissen would have been a freshman last season, but was forced to sit out due to NCAA rules regarding amateur status as he played too many games for his club team.
Riley Batten and Lahat Thioune put their names into the portal and then decided to return to Utah.
RETURNING
| Player | Games | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Branden Carlson | 25 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 1 | Jr | 4 | 102 |
| Riley Battin | 25 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 1 | Sr | 3 | 222 |
| Lahat Thioune | 20 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Jr | 3 | 168 |
| Jaxon Brenchley | 19 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Jr | 3 | 376 |
Coach Smith was left with 4 returning scholarship players and not that much talent. Only 2 have shown that they can play at a Pac-12 level.
Carlson is a solid center and a good shot-blocker. He has good footwork and has some moves around the basket.
Riley Batten has an A/TO ratio of 2.4, which is damned good for a big guy.
Clearly Utah's Coach Smith needed help. He needed bodies and talent. He got one out of two.
RECRUITS
(#NA class, #NA in Pac-12)
He didn't get the help from the recruiting class. 247 doesn't think enough of this class to even rank them.
| Player | Size | Position | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Offers |
| Lazar Stefanovic | 6-5 176 | SG | Unranked | No other offers |
Stefanovic is from Serbia. Krystowaik, who signed him, has had quite a bit of success finding unknown Euros, so he might be good.
Coach Smith got the job late, and he has not added anyone from the class of 2021. However, there is always the transfer portal.
Coach Smith got the job late, and he has not added anyone from the class of 2021. However, there is always the transfer portal.
TRANSFERRING IN
Coach Smith definitely got bodies from the transfer portal, bringing in seven transfers. He brought in a lot of transfers at Utah State, so this isn't a big surprise.
Did he get the talent he needs? None of these players show up in CBS's list of the top 85 transfers. Other than The Return of the Gach, it is not obvious who is ready to play in the Pac-12. We will see if The Gach Strikes Back. Or will someone else be The New Hope?
Did he get the talent he needs? None of these players show up in CBS's list of the top 85 transfers. Other than The Return of the Gach, it is not obvious who is ready to play in the Pac-12. We will see if The Gach Strikes Back. Or will someone else be The New Hope?
| Player | Size | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | From | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Gabe Madsen | 6-7 210 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Cincinnati | Jr | 3 | 209 |
| David Jenkins | 6-2 195 | 29 | 15 | 2 | 2 | UNLV | Sr | Unranked | |
| Rollie Worster | 6-3 200 | 28 | 9 | 4 | 4 | Utah State | So | Unranked | |
| Marco Anthony | 6-5 225 | 32 | 10 | 5 | 3 | Utah State | Sr | 3 | 244 |
| Bostyn Holt | 6-7 190 | 22 | 8 | Coffeyville Community College | Jr | JUCO | |||
| Both Gach | 6-6 185 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 2 | Minnesota | St | 4 | 115 |
| Dušan Mahorčič | 6-10 230 | 25 | 9 | 7 | 1 | Illinois State | Sr | Unranked |
Utah traded Rylan Jones and Norbert Thelissen to Utah State for Rollie Worster and Marco Anthony. I think they got the worst of the trade.
Craig Smith must have been looking at Madsen when he was coaching at Utah State, because he jumped on him quickly. Madsen only played in 2 games for the Bearcats before opting out of the season. He has a twin brother who is also transferring out of Cincinnati (along with most of the rest of their roster).
It's also not a surprise to see him go after players from the Mountain West, and from his former team, since he knew them well. He saw Jenkins play in person when his Utah State team played against UNLV. He also saw Worster and Anthony up close and personal, since they were on Smith's Utah State team.
Jenkins was a 41% 3-point shooter and was the Rebels 2nd-leading scorer.
Worster's stats weren't great, but Smith knows that he was well coached in his one season at Utah State. He led the Aggies in assists.
Marco Anthony was Utah State's third-leading scorer and second in assists. Anthony was at Virginia for two seasons before transferring to Utah State, so he has had some good coaching. He also sat out a year at Utah State so he has two years of coaching from Tony Bennett and two more from Craig Smith.
Holt was a part-time starter for the JUCO national champion team. Holt had received scholarship offers from Idaho, Portland State, North Texas, Louisiana Tech and Iona in recent weeks.
Dušan Mahorčič led Illinois State in rebounding and shot 59% from the field. He was also offered by Penn State.
Both Gach returns to Utah after a one year stay at Minnesota. He's originally from Minnesota, but I guess it's true that you can't go home. He shot 40% (27% from the arc) against the Big Ten.
Here's a story about the details of Gach's return
CONCLUSION
Craig Smith is an excellent basketball coach. In their five seasons in the Mountain West before he arrived, Utah State had never finished higher than 4th and they had not been to the NCAA tournament since 2011. In three seasons after Coach Smith took over, they finished 1st, 2nd, and 2nd, and gave San Diego State a run for their money.
The problem is the cupboard of talent was bare when he arrived. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The best he could do is bring a couple of his former players south from Logan.
I have picked Utah to finish 11th next season. So did Less1Brain and Torvick. Wilner is more optimistic about their prospects and picks them for 8th.
It may take them a year or two, but I expect Utah to be very good under Coach Craig Smith. In fact I think both Coaches Smith are very good coaches. However, in the upcoming season, he will definitely be "The Other Coach Smith" in the Pac-12.