This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Utah men's basketball team had its first official practice Friday evening at the Huntsman Center.
First. Fresh. New. All buzzwords around this Utes team.
"You can't get much newer than this," junior forward Jason Washburn said, "other than just building a college from scratch and starting all over."
Of the 17 players on the roster, 13 are new this year.
Larry Krystkowiak didn't place specific goals on his team. It was Day 1.
"We have about 150 days until the Pac-12 championship in L.A.," Krystkowiak said. "So we've got a long process ahead of us."
We've written ad nauseum about the "newness" of it all, and we're still waiting for some real news to come out of this team. Right now, everyone is healthy. With so many new guys, most positions are still up for grabs. Krystkowiak said Friday that center David Foster and point guard Josh Watkins are the only two players who, at this point, have likely shored up starting jobs.
"Early on it's about becoming friends and getting to know each other," he said. "I'm afraid this next phase is the dogfight for position and figuring out where we stack up against each other."
• One of the big questions of the early season is whether Washburn will serve as Foster's backup, or if Washburn could spend more time alongside the 7-foot-3 senior and play power forward.
Foster said this week that he thought the latter was a strong possibility and Washburn gave the same impression Friday.
"I'm not going to sit here and make any promises," he said. "I know I've practiced with Dave on the court, me and Dave have taken reps together. And a lot of of people ask that, a lot of people want to see that. It's all on Coach K, whatever he decides."
• The offense is one area the Utes are most desperate to improve. They averaged just over nine assists per game last year, ranking in the bottom 3 percent of Division 1 teams. Krystkowiak's offense will push for more inside scoring, lots of screens and cuts.
"It's more coming off screens and stuff," Watkins said. "Set screens and stuff. It's a good offense, real good offense. It's hard to guard."
As Utah's leading returning scorer, it's probably a good thing that Watkins endorses the offense.
• Over time, as we learn more about these guys, we'll get a better sense of who the jokers are and who to turn to for entertainment. Junior college transfer Javon Dawson is an early candidate.
Dawson, the 6-foot-6, 260-pound forward from Gulf Coast Community College is one of three newcomers from the South (guard Anthony Odunsi is from Texas, forward Dijon Farr from South Carolina), and he's already figuring out this Utah weather.
"The early days of coldness here is how cold it gets in the wintertime where I'm from," he said. "I'm just ready to get [the season] going so I can stay in here and not be out there too much."
Of course, in terms of personality, it's going to be tough for anyone to top Watkins. When asked Friday where he saw the Utes stacking up in the new Pac-12, Jiggy didn't hold back.
"Everybody says we're the last team," he said, "but we think we're one of the top teams in the conference. I'm not going to sugarcoat nothing, we're one of the hardest working teams in the world today. I say the world."
• The new guys were brought in by Krystkowiak after Jim Boylen was fired in the spring. Save one.
George Matthews signed with the Utes in November, and honored that commitment after Krystkowiak came on board.
Matthews is a 6-foot-5 wing player from Phoenix who, physically, is the most impressive of the freshmen. Small forward is a big question mark in the Utes lineup right now, with Matthews and Farr being two of the best candidates (6-foot-4 JuCo transfer Cedric Martin is billed as a great athlete and defender, but is probably best suited as a two-guard).
Matthews said Friday he has been impressed with the late additions Krystkowiak was able to make to the roster.
"I wasn't 100 percent on Coach K and what he would do," Matthews said. "He most definitely surprised me when he got some pretty good talent. And that's ultimately why I came. I wanted to play with some other talented players."
Among those good players? Freshman point guard Kareem Storey from Baltimore.
Matthews and Storey were familiar with one another from the AAU circuit. • Within the media (this correspondent included) there's a desire to separate these Utes into two groups: the old and the new. The old, of course, are vastly outnumbered but generally considered more important.
Krystkowiak doesn't break the team up that way.
"We're all new guys," he said. "All the guys coming in are new guys, we've got four guys that have happened to go to this university before. They've never played for me, never played for any of the guys on our staff. They've been in this building and been in the locker room but beyond that, I think we're all looking around trying to sort it all out."
Bill Oram