The University of Utah’s Running Utes finished the season
15-18 after losing to Oregon in the semi-finals in the Pac-12 tournament this
year.
While it’s a far cry from what Utah fans have come to
expect, they are drastically better than the 6-25 record from a year ago and
the Utes seem to be headed in the right direction.
“I definitely feel better about the program at this point
than I did a year ago,” says John Fackler, Utah’s Director of Alumni Relations.
“I just really hope people give Coach Krystkowiak time to build this program.”
That appears to be exactly what he’s doing. Utah recently announced on their athletics
website that they have signed three players who will join the Utes next year.
Ahmad Fields, Kenneth Ogbe, and Princeton Onwas are three players that
Krystkowiak said, “All bring outstanding skill set to our program.”
Fields appears to be the best of the group, as a 6-foot-5
shooting guard who averaged 17 points per game in high school. Krystkowiak
added, ““Ahmad is a playmaker, plain and simple. He’s a slasher with the
ability to get to the bucket and earn points at the free-throw line. He will
excel in our transition game and adds to our depth and rotation of skilled,
athletic players on the roster this upcoming season.”
Keith Keddington, a current student at the University of
Utah and lifelong Ute basketball fan, is excited about the changes. “Going
forward, you can’t help but be optimistic. You want to see the program grow and
improve and all signs seem to be pointing that way.”
Attendance during the past season seems to back that up. The
Utes ranked fourth in Pac-12 attendance this year, averaging just under
ten-thousand fans per game, a 12.6 percent increase from a year ago. They were
also the only team in the conference with a losing record in the top third in
attendance.
“That’s incredible. Something like that is contagious,” says
Utah graduate and season ticket holder Nate Cannon. When your neighbors and
friends are going to games, you can’t help but want to go too. Fans are a huge
part of the equation when looking at the program.”
The Utes themselves seem to be buying into the improvement
as well. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, after beating Oregon in the
regular season finale 72-62 small forward Cedric Martin said, "This one means a lot. To make progress as a program
like we have means a lot. We won six games last year. We’ve doubled that, so
there is definitely progress. We want to keep it going. We feel like we have
more work to do."
The problem is, Ute fans grew accustomed to Rick
Majerus-like success for over a decade. The Utes made their incredible run to
the national championship game in 1998, but even more remarkable is the fact
that in 11 seasons that Majerus coached every game, the Utes failed to make the
NCAA tournament only once. And when making it to the big dance, they failed to
win a game only one time.
So, while this progress and optimism is great,
let’s not forget the Utes did still have a losing record. They were
inconsistent at best and seemed to look like a different team every night they
played. Any show of talent and energy was matched with a night of disinterest
and disappointment. So really, how close are they?
“I’d say we’re probably two or three years
away,” says Utah graduate student and former president of the MUSS Sean
Davenport. “We’re definitely headed in the right direction, but it may be a few
years before we can compete with Arizona and UCLA. You never know though, we
may be surprised.”
Surprise would be nice at this point. With Ute
fans becoming accustomed to the dark years created by former coaches Ray
Giacoletti and Jim Boylen, Krystkowiak seems to be a breath of fresh air. If it
means more fans, better athletes, and more wins, surprises are more than
welcome.
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