This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A day after the Utes added a guard to their class of 2012, the program announced the departure of rarely-used forward George Matthews.
Matthews, a 6-foot-6 freshman forward from Phoenix, was the last player to commit to Jim Boylen before the coach was fired. Matthews becomes the fifth player to be granted his release by coach Larry Krystkowiak, who has already signed or received commitments from six players for next season.
The Tribune reported last week that Chris Hines, Javon Dawson and Kareem Storey had been granted their releases, and the program announced those decisions as well as Matthews' on Tuesday.
"We really want to thank these young men for all of their efforts here at Utah in their commitment to basketball, academics and our community," Krystkowiak said in a statement. "They are fantastic people and we wish them nothing but the best in their future endeavors."
Matthews averaged .6 points and .9 rebounds for the Utes in five minutes per game before his season prematurely ended due to a foot injury suffered at Arizona State.
The bigger news out of Utah this week, though, is who's coming in. According to multiple reports, the Utes have found a point guard to presumably pick up minutes behind incoming junior Glen Dean.
Brandon Taylor, a 5-foot-9 point guard from Pacific Hills (Calif.), chose the Utes over St. Mary's, Tennessee Tech and Cal Poly.
"I'm definitely excited about having the chance to come in and play and compete for a starting spot," Taylor told Scout.com [subscription required]. "I'm up for the challenge and am ready for whatever the coaches want me to do."
— Bill Oram