Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus No. 9-Seed Cincinnati (1st Round) on March 10, 2026 , Loss , 66, to, 73
Final Score
Men's Basketball
66
vs No. 9-Seed Cincinnati (1st Round)
73
The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Men's Basketball Opens Practice on Saturday
10/12/1999 12:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 12, 1999
SALT LAKE CITY - When Rick Majerus greets his team for its first practice of the 1999-2000 season on Saturday, he will be looking at a lot of familiar faces. The Utah roster features eight lettermen and four returning starters from last year's team that went 28-5 overall, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, won the WAC Pacific Division title with a 14-0 record and claimed the WAC Tournament championship.
Back to lead the Utes are two three-year veterans in senior forwards Alex Jensen (6-7, 225) and Hanno M?tt?l? (6-19, 250). The co-captains were both named first-team all-WAC Pacific Division in 1998-99. Jensen is the team's leading returner in rebounds (7.6 rpg) and assists (3.4 apg), as well as the second-best scorer coming back (12.1 ppg). M?tt?l? is the Utes' top returning scorer (15.3 ppg) and second-best returning rebounder (5.4 rpg). He is a Playboy Preseason All-American and a finalist for the Wooden and Naismith National Player of the Year awards.
Junior Nate Althoff (6-11, 260) started 30 of 32 games at center last season, averaging 4.9 points and 4.5 rebounds. Althoff led the team in blocked shots (1.3 bpg) and field goal shooting (60.4%). Senior guard Jeremy Killion (5-11, 190) is back for his second and final year with the Utes. Killion, who was named to the WAC Pacific Division all-newcomer team after transferring from Palomar Junior College, averaged 8.9 points per game and shot 34.5 percent from three-point range last season.
Another junior college transfer who made an impact in ?98-99 was Tony Harvey (6-5, 200), who filled any position on the floor from point guard to small forward. The transfer from Cerritos Junior College played in the final 24 games of the season with Utah winning the first 23. A member of the WAC Pacific Division all-newcomer team, Harvey is Utah's third-leading returning scorer (9.0 ppg). The senior also averaged 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game and shot 35.9 percent from behind the arc last season.
Also returning from last season are sophomore center/forward Phil Cullen (6-9, 215) and sophomore guard Adam Sharp (6-2, 180). Cullen played in 33 games last season and started twice, averaging 4.3 points and 2.9 rebounds. He has an excellent shooting touch for a big man, hitting 37.7 percent of his three-point tries as a rookie. Sharp averaged 2.3 points, 1.2 boards and 1.1 assists in 32 games ?98-99.
The eighth letterman on the roster is guard/forward Jeff Johnsen (6-4, 200), who is back from a two-year LDS church mission. Johnsen played in 32 games and started seven as a freshman in 1996-97, averaging 3.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. Also back from an LDS church mission is Mike Puzey (6-8, 125), who was a redshirt during the ?96-97 season. Gary Colbert (6-3, 175), a native of Alta Loma, Calif., will be a sophomore this season after sitting out last year as a non-qualifier academically.
New to the program are junior college transfer Trent Whiting and freshman Nick Jacobson. Whiting (G, 6-0, 180) was an NJCAA All-American at Snow College and can play either guard position. He averaged 18.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.4 steals per game in 1998-99. Jacobson spent his senior year at Roseville (Minn.) High School after playing at three years at Shanley High School in Fargo, N.D. He was an honorable mention All-American and a finalist for the Mr. Basketball award in Minnesota in 1998-99, averaging 31.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
The only starter not returning from last season is consensus first team All-America point guard Andre Miller, who was taken eighth by the Cleveland Cavaliers in June's NBA Draft. Harvey, who saw some time at point guard last year, will contend with Colbert and Whiting to fill Miller's spot in the line-up. If Colbert and Whiting can run the show, the athletic Harvey could then make good use of his scoring abilities on the wing. Any way you look at it, the Utes do have quality depth, which is a big reason why the national preseason publications have listed Utah as a consensus Top 20 pick and a favorite to win the inaugural Mountain West Conference championship.
"I'm looking forward to the start of another season and I'm excited about getting back on the floor with this team," says Majerus. "I am enthused about the group of players that we have coming back, and I really like the chemistry this team has. As we start the season, the biggest challenge for this team will be to find its own identity now that it has lost one of the greatest point guards in America in Andre Miller. We will need some people to step forward into some bigger roles, as was the case after the departures of Keith Van Horn and Michael Doleac, as well."
Utah plays the first of two exhibition games against a foreign team on Nov. 5 at 7:00 p.m. in the Huntsman Center. The Utes open the regular season at home against Arkansas State on Nov. 16 at 7:00 p.m. in the first round of the Preseason NIT.
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