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A special bond brought Wayshawn Parker to the Utes

Plus: Changes coming to the College Football Playoff

(Young Kwak | AP) Washington State running back Wayshawn Parker (21) carries the ball against Utah State, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Pullman, Wash. Parker has announced his commitment to the University of Utah.

Wayshawn Parker was one of the most highly coveted running backs in the transfer portal this offseason.

According to On3’s transfer portal recruiting rankings, the sophomore was the No. 6-ranked rusher in the portal. Last season, he finished with 137 carries, 735 rushing yards and four touchdowns. He also averaged 5.4 yards per carry.

Parker will now be tasked with leading Utah’s rushing attack alongside new starting quarterback Devon Dampier.

A big reason for Parker’s choice to go with the Utes was because of former Washington State and new Utah running backs coach Mark Atuaia.

“It’s like a father-son type thing,” Parker said of his relationship with Atuaia. “I go to his house, just sit there and just chill with him. I have a bond with his children and his wife.

“I was just waiting on what he had to do, where he was going, and I knew I’d most likely be following him.”

Atuaia feels similarly.

In one year, the new Utah assistant built a strong bond and trust with Parker in Pullman, Wash. He says that was the major reason the sophomore followed him to Salt Lake City.

Now the pair hopes to replicate the success they had together in 2024.

“One thing that’s overlooked … is our relationships, and I relied heavily on that during the recruiting process for him,” Atuaia said this spring. “I had a year with him and a year to prove myself to him and his family and to earn their trust. So it was [our relationship] that essentially brought him over here.”

Heading into next season, Parker appears to have the inside track to being Utah’s starting running back. But he’ll have to recover from a surgery he was rehabbing during spring camp.

“We brought Wayshawn along slowly because he had kind of a minor surgery when he got here,” Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck said. “We were a little bit focused on the other running backs and what they could add to the group. But, during fall camp, [we’ll] really pour into Wayshawn to get him into a really good place for week one.”

The Big Thing: What changes are coming to the College Football Playoff?

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) NaQuari Rogers (21) runs for a touchdown at the Utah Utes spring football game in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 19, 2025.

It’s been nearly a year since the Utes joined the Big 12.

The old iteration of the Pac-12 is a thing of the past. And, college football — and the former Power Five world — will forever be changed.

The unbalanced landscape continues to evolve today. One season removed from the introduction of the 12-team College Football Playoff, the CFP committee is already making changes to the new format.

On Thursday, playoff executives approved a change to how teams are seeded in the 12-team field, voting unanimously to place teams based directly on the selection committee’s rankings and not by conference championships.

Here’s a quick breakdown on what that means for the Utes and the Big 12:

  • With a new straight-seeding format, conference champions from each league will no longer be guaranteed a top-four bye. Instead, they will seed it directly based on the 1-12 model.
  • In the previous model, the four highest-ranking conference champions would earn an $8 million split — $4 million for winning their conference and $4 million for earning a top-four seed — in the 12-team playoff. Despite the new seeding model, the four highest-ranking conference champions will still get that portion of revenue in 2025.
  • More power will be allocated to the Big Ten and SEC in 2026. There are rumors of the CFP expanding to 16 teams, which would grant the Big Ten and SEC four automatic bids each. The Big 12 and ACC would only have two conference auto bids, in comparison, in that scenario.

    • 4th down: Memories from Smith’s Ballpark

    (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Salt Lake Bees play the Oklahoma City Dodgers, at Smith's Ballpark on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024.

    This past weekend, I took some time to take in, and write about, the final moments of baseball at Smith’s Ballpark.

    For nearly three decades, the Salt Lake City stadium was home to the Triple-A Bees, which moved to a new complex at Daybreak this season.

    That meant the University of Utah’s baseball team would be the final tenant in the storied ballpark. And, last Saturday, the Utes closed out baseball’s final chapter in the historic park.

    Knowing the history of Smith’s, I took some time to talk to fans and former Ute players, who played on the field long ago.

    Here are four of my favorite quotes from the story:

    (Anna Fuder | Utah Athletics) The Utah baseball team played its final game at Smith's Ballpark on Saturday, May 17, 2025. The ballpark became the full-time home of Ute baseball in 1996. The program will play at a new 1,200-seat stadium on campus starting in 2026.

    1. “I thought it was a pretty special time because, I mean, as a little kid, you dream of playing in a park like that,” said former Utah pitcher Shawn Andreasen
    2. “This ballpark, in particular, just has so many memories,” Chad Mortenson, a longtime fan, said. “It‘s a shame to see it go.”
    3. “I know a lot of people will miss it,” former Ute pitcher Dan Poulton said of Smith’s Ballpark. “I think it‘s great they’re expanding into their own stadium. But, it‘s also sad that they’re moving away.”
    4. “It‘s brought a lot of joy to a lot of families and people’s lives, including mine,” Utah outfielder Kaden Carpenter said. “I think it means a lot to the city, and I really hope they do something productive with this area and this space.”

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