Utah Utes Basketball

An 18-year-old man recorded on surveillance video shouting a racist slur toward the University of Utah women's basketball team during the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament will not be criminally charged, Alex Vejar reported for the Salt Lake Tribune.

Attorneys for the city of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, decided on May 3 not to prosecute the man, a student at a Coeur d'Alene high school, "based on a lack of probable cause and the potential violation of his constitutional right to free speech," Vejar reported.

According to charging decision documents, the man admitted to "shouting the N-word and a sexually explicit comment from a car as the Utes players walked nearby," per Vejar.

The documents revealed that police considered charging the man with "disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and malicious harassment," Vejar wrote.

But Coeur d'Alene Chief Deputy City Attorney Ryan Hunter wrote that the department had not found evidence that the man "acted with a specific intent to intimidate or harass any specific person," and instead said evidence indicated the man's "intent was to be funny," Vejar reported.

Utah coach Lynne Roberts first publicly described the incident, which she said caused the team to change hotels, after Utah was eliminated by Gonzaga on March 26.

She described the incident, and the ensuing hotel switch, as a "distraction."

The incident occurred outside a restaurant near the team's hotel near Coeur d'Alene, where the team was staying prior to a game against Gonzaga due to a lack of hotel rooms around Spokane, per Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press.

Utah deputy athletics director Charmelle Green told KSL.com's Josh Furlong that the women's basketball team, as well as members of the cheerleading team and band, heard racial slurs shouted from people in white trucks while they were entering and exiting a restaurant on March 21.

The Coeur d'Alene Police Department said on its Facebook page on April 3 that police had found surveillance video and audio that "corroborates what was reported by members of the basketball program."

Initial review of the audio recordings revealed that a "clearly audible" racial slur was used more than once, the police department said.

Teams playing at Gonzaga weren't the only women's basketball competitors located a half hour's drive away from where the NCAA tournament was being played. The early-round locations for the women's tournament are locked in on Selection Sunday, as opposed to the men's neutral-location sites being selected in advance, Feinberg reported for the Associated Press.

The incident in Idaho could now spark a review of how host schools and hotel blocks are selected for the women's tournament. NCAA vice president for women's basketball Lynn Holzman told Feinberg the review could take place as soon as this year.

The police department in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, said it discovered an audio recording that includes an audible use of a racial slur as it continues to investigate racism that the Utah women's basketball team was subjected to while staying in the city, per the Associated Press.

Police said they are still investigating to determine the "context and conduct" of the slur and to see if there were any laws broken. They also said the approximately 35 hours of video they have collected corroborates accounts from the team.

Utah, South Dakota State and UC Irvine stayed in Coeur d'Alene as they participated in the NCAA women's tournament with games in Spokane, Washington. While Coeur d'Alene is approximately 35 miles away, there was a lack of hotel space that necessitated the teams stay elsewhere.

ESPN noted Gonzaga, which is located in Spokane, received an NCAA waiver years ago to house other teams in Coeur d'Alene when there is a lack of hotel space.

Utah head coach Lynne Roberts told reporters her team experienced multiple hate crimes while staying in Coeur d'Alene and even had to switch hotels as a result.

"Racism is real and it happens, and it's awful," Roberts said. "For our players, whether they are white, Black, green, whatever—no one knew how to handle it and it was really upsetting. For our players and staff to not feel safe in an NCAA tournament environment, it's messed up."

Gonzaga also released a statement that said, "we are frustrated and deeply saddened to know what should always be an amazing visitor and championship experience was in any way compromised by this situation for it in no way reflects the values, standards and beliefs to which we at Gonzaga University hold ourselves accountable."

According to the AP, an official with the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations said someone driving a pickup truck with a Confederate flag approached the Utah players as they were walking from their hotel to a restaurant and started using racist slurs.

The same driver then came back and was "reinforced by others" who yelled at the players and revved their engines.

Coeur d'Alene police chief Lee White said he is working with the FBI. White also explained state charges of malicious harassment and disorderly conduct could be used if there is an eventual arrest.

Utah was a No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament and defeated 12th-seeded South Dakota State before losing to host Gonzaga in the round of 32.

University of Utah head women's basketball coach Lynne Roberts said Monday night that members of her team were victims of "racial hate crimes" at a hotel in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, prior to their opening game in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

According to the Associated Press, Roberts said: "We had several instances of some kind of racial hate crimes toward our program and [it was] incredibly upsetting for all of us. In our world, in athletics and in university settings, it's shocking. There's so much diversity on a college campus and so you're just not exposed to that very often."

Utah, which was a No. 5 seed in the tournament, was scheduled to play its first two games of the tourney at Gonzaga's McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Washington, but the Utah, South Dakota State and UC Irvine teams stayed about 30 miles away at a hotel in Idaho due to a lack of hotel space in Spokane.

Roberts said several incidents occurred last Thursday upon arriving in Coeur d'Alene that made her players uncomfortable and worried for their safety, resulting in the team getting moved to a different hotel.

According to KSL.com's Josh Furlong, "a white truck got near the team, revved its engines to make its presence known, and then yelled the N-word toward the team before speeding off" as the team was walking into a restaurant for dinner.

Roberts, who has been the head coach at Utah since 2015, further explained what her team went through:

"Racism is real and it happens and it's awful. So for our players, whether they are white, Black, green, whatever, no one knew how to handle it and it was really upsetting. For our players and staff to not feel safe in an NCAA tournament environment, it's messed up. ...

"It was a distraction and upsetting and unfortunate. This should be a positive for everybody involved. This should be a joyous time for our program and to have kind of a black eye on the experience is unfortunate."

The University of Gonzaga expressed regret for what the Utah women's basketball team went through, releasing the following statement:

"We are frustrated and deeply saddened to know what should always be an amazing visitor and championship experience was in any way compromised by this situation for it in no way reflects the values, standards and beliefs to which we at Gonzaga University hold ourselves accountable."

Utah had its first-round NCAA tournament matchup against 12th-seeded South Dakota State on Saturday, beating the Jackrabbits by a 68-54 score.

That marked the third consecutive year that the Utes reached at least the second round of the tournament, but it fell 77-66 to fourth-seeded host Gonzaga in the Round of 32 on Monday night.

Utah State men's basketball head coach Craig Smith is reportedly "finalizing" a contract to take over the same position at Utah.

CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein reported Saturday an announcement of the hire is expected "soon."

Smith is coming off a terrific three-year run at Utah State. He guided the Aggies to a 74-24 record (.755 winning percentage), including a 20-9 mark during the 2020-21 season. They qualified for the NCAA tournament in all three seasons, though the 2020 event was canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

They were eliminated from this year's edition of March Madness last week with a 65-53 loss to sixth-seeded Texas Tech in the first round.

Smith has steadily worked his way through the coaching ranks. His first opportunity to lead a staff came at NAIA program Mayville State from 2004 through 2007.

The 48-year-old Minnesota native then spent time at Colorado State and Nebraska before returning to a head coaching role in 2014 at South Dakota. He complied at 79-55 record (.590) with the Coyotes before taking over at Utah State.

Now he'll take over a Utah program that fired Larry Krystkowiak, who had served as head coach since 2011, after failing to reach the NCAA tournament in five straight seasons.

The Utes were a program on the rise during the middle of Krystkowiak's tenure, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2015 as part of a two-year stretch where it posted a 53-18 record, but that success faded.

Smith, who was also expected to interview for the Minnesota coaching vacancy, will be tasked with getting the program back on a winning track following its 12-13 record in 2020-21. It was the Utes' first losing season in eight years.

His accolades include being voted the 2017 Summit League Coach of the Year at South Dakota and the 2019 Mountain West Coach of the Year at Utah State.

The Utah Utes set a Division I men's basketball record for the largest margin of victory in a game featuring two D-I opponents, per the official NCAA March Madness Twitter account:

🚨 NEW NCAA RECORD 🚨

Utah's 94-point margin of victory is the highest ever over a D-1 opponent. 😱 pic.twitter.com/aKDZTsQrbn

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 9, 2019

Utah beat visiting Mississippi Valley State 143-49, led by Timmy Allen's 26 points. Nine Utes scored in double figures, and Both Gach and Rylan Jones each had triple-doubles. 

Per the Elias Sports Bureau (h/t ESPN Stats & Info), Gach and Jones' efforts marked the first time in 20 years a Division I team had two players record triple-doubles in the same game.

Utah closed the first half on a 27-5 run to take a 70-20 halftime lead. A 33-9 run over the first eight minutes of the second half was capped by an Alfonso Plummer three-pointer.

Utah shot 63.3 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from three-point range. The Utes also grabbed 68 rebounds versus the Delta Devils' 28 and dished 41 assists to Mississippi Valley State's 10.

The 0-2 Delta Devils shot just 26.2 percent from the field, but Michael Green fared well with 20 points on 10-of-23 shooting.

The Utes moved to 2-0 after beating Nevada 79-74 in their opener. The team is looking to improve upon last season's 17-14 mark.

The Delta Devils have seen better days, winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference five times, most recently in 2012. The program has fallen on hard times recently, however, going 6-26 last year and starting this season with a 110-74 loss to Iowa State.

The team is led by first-year head coach Lindsey Hunter, who played 17 NBA seasons and won championships in 2002 and 2004 with the Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons, respectively.

An NCAA Division I committee put the University of Utah men's basketball program on probation for two years and handed down other penalties after the team self-reported recruiting violations in April 2018, per Steve Bartle of 247Sports. 

Bartle reported the committee's findings:

"The committee found that an associate head coach coordinated with a local community college's men's basketball head coach to get a high school prospect to the university's campus for a visit, that would be paid for by the community college. While the prospect was in the area, he also visited the Utah campus, according to the committee. Since the community college paid for the prospect's visit to the university, the visit was classified as an official visit and caused the university to exceed the number of allowable official visits."

Utah has also incurred a self-imposed $5,000 fine, a few minor recruiting restrictions and a one-year show-cause order for the associate head coach.

The associate head coach in question is Tommy Connor, per Kurt Kragthorpe of the Salt Lake Tribune.

Head coach Larry Krystkowiak provided the following statement, per Bartle:

"While they were inadvertent and unintentional mistakes on our part, and there was never an intent to circumvent any rules, we accept that they were violations and, as the head coach, I am accountable for them. I have always been a strong proponent of protecting the integrity of college basketball and that will not change."

Per Kragthorpe, "the violations stemmed from what a school news release labeled 'a misreading of the NCAA calendar' in the spring of 2018, when Utah’s four full-time coaches (including DeMarlo Slocum, now on UNLV’s staff) visited an out-of-state prospect at his school during a recruiting quiet period."

Kragthorpe also reported that Utah revoked a 2015 "coach-in-waiting" agreement with Connor to eventually succeed Krystkowiak.

"You can't run from the fact that there were NCAA violations committed here," Utah athletic director Mark Harlan told Kragthorpe. "But again, there's a big difference between inadvertent mistakes and perhaps some of the other things we've seen in the country."

The NCAA seemed to acknowledge those sentiments when the NCAA committee revoked a two-game suspension initially handed down, per Emily James of NCAA.org.

After the panel conducted a hearing, "the committee determined the violations were unintentional, limited and not indicative of systemic problems," per James.

The Utes have made the NCAA tournament twice in eight years under Krystkowiak, notably amassing a 53-18 record over the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. The Utes made the Sweet 16 in the former year.

Utah has earned 11-7 records in Pac-12 play over the past three years and made the NIT twice.

Utah freshman guard Devon Daniels was suspended indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team, head coach Larry Krystkowiak announced Thursday.

The announcement was made prior to the Utes' 86-81 win over Colorado, and Daniels did not travel with the team for the game.

The Battle Creek, Michigan, native has started 26 of the 27 games he has appeared in this season and is fourth on the team in scoring with 10.4 points per contest, third in rebounding with 4.8, second in assists at 2.7 and second in steals at 0.9.

Krystkowiak did not provide specifics regarding the violation, and it is unclear how many games Daniels will miss.

The Utes are 18-10 overall and 9-7 in the Pac-12, which likely makes them a bubble team heading toward the NCAA tournament.

With Daniels out against Colorado, senior Gabe Bealer got the start, scoring eight points with four rebounds and one assist.

Freshman guard Parker Van Dyke is also in line for additional playing time for as long as Daniels is out of action.

University of Utah center Jakob Poeltl is headed to the NBA after his college career ended on a sour note. 

According to Kyle Goon of the Salt Lake Tribune, Poeltl announced on Wednesday his intention to declare for June's NBA draft. 

Poeltl made solid inroads with the Runnin' Utes as a freshman, when he averaged 9.1 rebounds and 6.8 rebounds in 23.3 minutes a night, but he exploded as one of the Pac-12's best players throughout his sophomore campaign. 

Over the course of 36 appearances, Poeltl averaged 17.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks while shooting 64.6 percent from the field. Poeltl's player efficiency rating—which already stood at an impressive 24.7 after his freshman season—rocketed up to 31.1 during the 2015-16 campaign, per Sports-Reference.com. 

Season	MPG	PPG	RPG	BPG	FG%	FT%
Freshman (2014-15)	23.3	9.1	6.8	1.9	68.1%	44.4%
Sophomore (2015-16)	30.4	17.2	9.1	1.6	64.6%	69.2%

As a result, the Austrian big man finished the regular season with the Pac-12's top PER along with its top true shooting percentage (66.6). Poeltl also recorded an offensive win shares mark of 4.9—tops among all players in the conference. 

However, his season didn't end in particularly encouraging fashion.   

After Utah got roughed up by the Oregon Ducks, 88-57, in the Pac-12 title game, Poeltl was positively dominated by Gonzaga Bulldogs big man Domantas Sabonis in second-round play at the NCAA tournament. 

While Sabonis went off for 19 points and 10 boards, Poeltl was limited to five points and four rebounds in 24 minutes of action. 

"Sabonis got the best of Jakob in this situation," Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said, according to the Associated Press (via USA Today). "... I think Sabonis got it going a little bit with offensive rebounding. When our bigs came to help, we didn't do a good job of boxing him out." 

The good news for Poeltl is one bad game won't define his draft stock. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6909gyvAlkg

At 7'1'' and 242 pounds, per DraftExpress, the 20-year-old is an absolute load to handle in the low post—and he's just starting to expand his repertoire of moves.

"I would still say I'm dominant right hand, but I have developed a couple counters," Poeltl said, per Bleacher Report's C.J. Moore. "That's something that I probably didn't have last year. I wasn't confident with my left hook. It gives me different options."

The developmental process will be a continual one for Poeltl, who will need to adjust on the fly to playing a more uptempo style in the NBA.

And with offenses moving away from a dependence on dominant bigs in favor of more versatile perimeter-oriented players, the Austrian phenom will undoubtedly need some time to acclimate himself to a wildly different hoops environment.  

Stats courtesy of Sports-Reference.com unless noted otherwise. 

Utah’s two radio broadcasters were handed stat sheets after a big December win at BYU.

The game’s star, Delon Wright, still anxiously shoulder-surfed on the Marriott Center floor.

How many turnovers? In this case, more than he bet on. “Dang, gotta work on that,” Wright muttered.

But that was a rare case where expectations worked against him.

Wright’s sensible yet extraordinary game is like a fun-house mirror, his shape seemingly always distorted in provocative ways.

Can a star get hype via nuance? In the age of analytics and 24-hour rotating draft boards that tend to favor freshmen and foreigners, not to mention cultural senior-phobia, can one still be sneaky good?

A senior, he’s really just starting to garner attention.

An assist machine, he still takes far more shots than any other Ute in an offense that generally tends to pound the ball.

His stats haven’t really jumped from last winter. But he’s posted eerily similar numbers while requiring 4.5 fewer minutes per game.

Getting the picture? The country is, for sure. A quiet type in general, Wright’s numbers are screaming volumes as a legitimate National Player of the Year candidate.

The 6'5" brother of an NBA player (who never required college seasoning) has been patient to follow Dorell. He’s getting a nationwide following, even as NBA draft pundits still don’t consider him a lottery pick this summer.

“If one player has it in his mind that he’s going to do a great job on Delon Wright, it can still be a disaster,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said after the Jan. 17 handling of Utah.

Yet even Miller got caught snoozing in the heat of battle against a guy averaging in the neighborhood of 15 points and six assists along with roughly four rebounds and a couple of steals.

He confessed as much to reporters after mulling one of his team's initial play calls. Wright picked an early pass and quickly posted Utah’s first seven points for a first-quarter lead. “That was my fault,” Coach Miller said. “I called the wrong play. (Wright) just took the ball and went down and dunked it. Made it look so easy. He can beat you in a lot of ways.”

It's those kinds of plays, made consistently by Wright, that have made Utah one of the great reclamation projects during the last two years.

But not many Pac-12 teams are built like the Wildcats. Arizona soon stuffed passing and cutting lanes. Wright tied his total from the BYU game with a season-high four turnovers, and Utah lost 69-51 to end a seven-game win streak. He still had 10 points, seven assists and four rebounds.

There are limitations to Wright’s impact. But not like what most once figured.

Wright has been mostly thriving since his 2-of-13 clunker at San Diego State in November, when the Utes lost 53-49. For instance, he made 12 of 23 shots and added 17 rebounds and 10 assists in back-to-back December wins against Wichita State and BYU. That elevated him into the All-America picture.

The 3 POY candidates	Points/game	Rebounds/game	Assists/game	Blocks/game	Steals/game
D. Wright, Utah	14.6	4.3	6.1	0.8	2.3
J. Okafor, Duke	18.5	9.0	1.4	1.5	0.7
F. Kaminsky, Wisconsin	17.2	8.2	2.4	1.7	1.0

"I told Delon, he's got a large target on his chest," Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said after that defeat. "He's got a lot of accolades, and you're gonna see some people's best pitch. I know how we are and we're playing people who are considered really good players."

His junior college coach, Justin Labagh, notes it’s fitting that Wright is just getting mentioned.

“He’s a great kid, he just doesn’t talk much,” Labagh said lightheartedly during a phone interview with Bleacher Report. “If you were in a room with him, you’d have to continue the conversation. He’s just kind of a mute.”

To some, Wright’s worthiness as POY may have been muzzled in Tucson. He had a chance to gain momentum while Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky sat out and Duke freshman Jahlil Okafor lost a couple of games leading up to Utah's trip to the desert.

But consider not only what Wright does, but what he does with the supporting cast and the game plan. Remember, Utah produced a total of 21 wins in Krystkowiak's first two years in Salt Lake City. Utah hit blackjack last year, Wright's first, and should easily exceed that now.

The 16-3 Utes, ranked No. 11 in the AP Top 25, head to California on Thursday to face UCLA while trying to maintain a first-place tie with Arizona.

Wright makes his shots (53.9 percent) and bolsters a slow offense. Wright is second in the Pac-12 in assists with 6.1, even as the Utes have taken the fewest shots.

The only thing that holds back his national profile is a strong case of normalcy. His team isn't particularly exciting to watch, considering pace of play. Analytics guru Ken Pomeroy, who lives in Utah, has seen him play on numerous occasions and is perhaps most amazed that he’s not more enamored.

“It’s not like you’re necessarily in awe of him,” Pomeroy told Bleacher Report. “He’s a unique combination. He’s unbelievably reliable scoring around the rim, but he doesn’t really dunk. He’s had subtle improvements this year. But add them all up, and it’s really big.”

Near-home schools USC and UCLA yawned and passed, though poor grades detoured him to junior college anyway. Success at City College of San Francisco resulted in minimal major-program attention.

Labagh said schools like Cal State Fullerton and Portland State were the first to express interest. He called some connections at lower-tier Pac-12 schools “because I really thought he could play in that conference.” Wright labeled Washington as a dream scenario, Labagh said, but the Huskies didn’t bite.

It took a couple of phone calls with a Utah assistant to get Krystkowiak to take real notice.

Slow praise trended in Salt Lake City too. Pomeroy recalls one Pac-12 coach whispering that Wright’s game had tailed off late last season. Utah’s underwhelming schedule through November and December supposedly evened out Wright’s impact.

That theory wasn’t a true reflection either.

All Wright did was finish second in the conference in steals and rank in the top 13 during conference play in scoring, rebounding, assists, field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage (catch breath here) and blocked shots.

Utah would’ve been in the NCAA tournament last March had it not scheduled so soft. So even the Utes themselves misjudged their bountiful star to a degree.

And how far he could take them. And how high he can go.

The odd counterbalance, as he mostly stays below the radar and rim: Wright’s known vividly these days for two dunks.

He hammered down a we-belong slam against Kansas in what turned out to be a narrow mid-December win for the Jayhawks (Wright had 23 points, four assists and four steals in the 21-point rally).

Utah radio voice Bill Riley says even more of the Ute community is talking about the dandy at BYU that came with six minutes left.  

Wright picked off a driving Tyler Haws at the top of the key, raced across the court and beat two Cougars to the rim with a wraparound move. Even a complimentary BYU official approached Riley, so impressed by Wright’s skill set.

“He’s just kind of gotten a little better in every area,” Riley said of this year, as attention has followed the Utes—who are a virtual lock to make their first NCAA tournament since 2009.

Labagh said he hears all the time how Wright should get to the rim more often. But the truth is, that’s just how Utah is built now.

Wright isn’t chasing basket-filled headlines like Doug McDermott or firing three-pointers insistently like Marcus Smart last season. He’s nowhere close to BYU legend Jimmer Fredette, who captivated a country during his 2011 three-for-all.

Wright is a better three-point shooter than last year by nearly 10 percentage points, but he still averages just two tries a game.

He will make himself look casual on defense too. He'll drift, getting Riley to wonder why. Labagh said Wright’s done it for years—tempting opponents to pass.

Then comes the steal, Wright’s IQ and wingspan in perfect vision in a season he says he couldn’t have predicted—and others are latching on to.

Labagh constantly gets calls from NBA reps these days. His pitch is simple.

Look at Wright’s background. His big brother is a pro. He grew up around pros during the summer. They allowed him to play, but he developed a valuable little-brother mentality. They didn't allow him to shoot, but he could do a variety of things to win approval.

“It was like, ‘You can play with us, if you don’t screw it up,’” Labagh said.

That’s been the start of so much more.

Jason Franchuk covered BYU basketball for the Provo (Utah) Daily Herald for 11 years, including all of "Jimmer Mania," and now resides in Albany, New York. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.