There's been a shortage of players for the Utah men's basketball team recently.

[Insert lack of talent joke here.]

No, really. With David Foster out indefinitely with a broken bone in his foot, Alex Mortenson getting himself concussed, Chris Hines missing time with a broken thumb, Glen Dean having brain surgery and Cedric Martin practicing sporadically due to plantar fasciitis, the Utes have been undermanned. Recent practices have featured assistant coaches running sets, just so the Utes have enough bodies to go five-on-five.

Larry Krystkowiak might have a solution.

"We're probably going to have tryouts when school starts," Krystkowiak said.

How's your jump shot? Think you can leave the MUSS and join this mess? Go for it. You actually could have an opportunity.

I'm not entirely sure how tryouts for a Division 1 basketball team's practice squad would go, but I like to imagine it in a format similar to American Idol, with top assistant Tommy Connor in the Simon Cowell role, of course.

"I'm not sure there's not a couple of guys in the student body that wouldn't come on over and lend some help," Krystkowiak said. "When we're beat up we need some more bodies to practice. Utah's a pretty good basketball state, I would imagine there's some good hoopers on intramural programs running around. We're going to look into that when school starts."

— Bill Oram