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
10/10/2000 12:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 10, 2000
SALT LAKE CITY - With only four returning lettermen on the roster, the get-to-know you process for the 2000-01 Utah men's basketball team begins in earnest on Saturday as the team opens practice. Utah fans will get their first glimpse of the new-look team at Night with the Runnin' Utes on Oct. 26 at 7:00 p.m. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The event is open to the public free of charge.
While it is for certain that Utah will have a new look this season, opinions differ on the outlook. Despite all of the newcomers, prognosticators haven't refrained from placing the Utes in their preseason Top 25 polls and giving them the nod as the team to beat once again in the Mountain West Conference. Head coach Rick Majerus, however, isn't ready to anoint his team as one of the nation's elite and the favorite to win its seventh consecutive league title.
"This is going to be a team that has to find an identity," explains Majerus. "It's really a team that's in a rebuilding year no matter how you look at it after losing four starters. Hopefully they can assimilate a lot of information and overcome their inexperience with enthusiasm. It's going to be a team that, going into the season, doesn't have any structure or direction, as well it shouldn't. With so many returning missionaries, transfers, redshirts and high school players coming in, the players aren't going to have any familiarity with each other."
However, don't mistake this as a team without potential. Sophomore forward Britton Johnsen, who is returning from a two-year LDS church mission, and junior frontline player Chris Burgess, who sat out last season after playing two years at Duke, were consensus top 50 recruits coming out of high school. Also joining the team is point guard Travis Spivey, a second team NJCAA All-American at Salt Lake Community College last season and a starter at Georgia Tech in 1997-98.
Other additions with previous collegiate playing experience are Trace Caton, who, like Johnsen, played on Utah's 1998 national runner-up team before going on his mission, and Kevin Bradley, an athletic combo guard from Compton Community College. The Utes also gained a seven-footer in junior Cameron Koford, who played one season at Weber State before serving an LDS Church mission.
Certainly, all of the aforementioned, as well as the four freshmen on the roster, are players with potential. Whether or not that potential becomes realized, and how quickly, is where Majerus' concerns lie.
"The excitement surrounding Britton Johnsen's return from his mission needs to be tempered," cautions Majerus. "He averaged only three-and-half points per game as a freshman, and was surrounded by a plethora of terrific talent. Now he will have to stand more on his own merits. Chris Burgess is seeking a redemption of sorts and a discovery of self as a player after averaging only 14 minutes a game at Duke. Although Cameron Koford's big, that doesn't necessarily correlate into point production. He averaged only a little over a point and just under two rebounds a game for Weber State.
"Therefore, we have a lot of players who have to look at this as a year of maturing," Majerus concludes. "I think our team will start out rather slowly. They'll have to sort of find their own way as players and as a team. I characterize this as a rebuilding year. Our fans may not want to confront that, but the reality of the situation is that we are very young and have only one senior. It is what it is, this is a year where we have to regroup and move forward."
Back from last year's squad that won a piece of the Mountain West championship and went 23-9 while advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament is senior Nate Althoff, a two-year starter at center who averaged nearly 10 points and five rebounds a game last season. Junior Phil Cullen, who started 14 games in the frontcourt last season, and his classmate Jeff Johnsen, who started five games at the wing positions in 1999-2000, also return with sophomore forward Mike Puzey. If Utah is to overcome its losses, those four veterans will need to step up their play, in addition to helping orientate the newcomers to Majerus' system.
"I don't know if anyone in the league will be as inexperienced, but there shouldn't be anyone more excited because a lot of these guys are getting their first chance, and some of these guys are getting their second chance," says Majerus. "All of them were recruited by me because I thought that they had a passion for the game to match my own."
Utah will put one of its tallest teams ever on the court this season with eight players measuring 6-8 or taller. Althoff, at 6-11 and 265 pounds, is one of the biggest of the group. The Delano, Minn., native has started 55 games the past two seasons and ranks sixth at Utah with 76 career blocked shots. He also knows what to do with the ball when he gets it down on the block, shooting 60.6 percent from the field over the course of his career to set the all-time best mark in school history. Burgess (6-10, 245) is itching to get back into the games after a year of just practicing. The Irvine, Calif., native started 13 games for the Blue Devils in 1998-99, averaging 5.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
Cullen (6-9, 215), a versatile player who can swing between the forward and center positions, averaged 5.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game a year ago. Puzey (6-8, 230) played in 26 games as a freshman, averaging 2.5 points and 2.6 rebounds. After missing the first eight games of the `97-98 season with patella tendonitis in his left knee, Britton Johnsen (6-9, 205) averaged 3.5 points and 1.6 rebounds in 21 games as a rookie. Koford (7-0, 215) played sparingly as a sophomore Weber State, averaging 1.3 points and 1.7 rebounds in 5.3 minutes per game.
Lance Allred (6-10, 240) graduated from Salt Lake City East High School in 1999, but sat out last year after electing late to not go on an LDS Church mission. He joins the Utes on the court this season. The post player was the 1998-99 Gatorade Utah Player of the Year and a first team all-state selection. The Utes have another rookie big man in Jon Godfread (6-10, 240) from Red River High School in Grand Forks, N.D. Godfread was the Gatorade North Dakota Player of the Year and a first-team all-state selection as a senior.
Utah will have to replace its entire starting backcourt from last season The one returnee off the bench is junior swingman Jeff Johnsen (6-4, 200), who averaged 5.9 points and 3.7 rebounds while playing in 32 games with five starts. Caton (6-4, 215) played in all 34 games during his debut season, averaging 4.0 points and 1.1 rebounds. Redshirt freshman Nick Jacobson (6-4, 200) should vie for playing time on the wing after siting out last year. As a senior at Roseville High School, Jacobson was a finalist for the Minnesota Mr. Basketball award, averaging 31.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
Majerus will also use junior college transfers Bradley (6-0, 170) and Spivey (6-1, 205) to help fill the holes in his backcourt, particularly at the point. The Utes also signed one of the top prep players in the state of Utah last season in Marc Jackson (6-0, 170). The Olympus High School product was named the 1999-2000 Class 4A MVP by the Salt Lake Tribune and first team all-state. Jackson averaged 27.2 points to lead the state in scoring as a senior, as well as seven assists, five rebounds and three steals.
One thing that Majerus expects to carry over from past seasons is his team's commitment to academics. Utah leads all NCAA Division I programs with four Academic All-Americans in the past three years.
"My expectation, again, is that we not only have success on the court, but that we continue our tradition--and most important tradition--of academic excellence and graduation. I hope that we can produce our fifth academic All-American, and several of the boys have the academic ability to vie for this award. My most important job will be to ensure that any success on the court is secondary to that in the classroom. I represent our administration, faculty and staff by saying that, without question, our most important charge and commitment is to the student-athlete."
In the days of the pioneers, the terrain of the mountain west was the invariably the toughest to navigate. This season on the hardwood, the Mountain West Conference should live up to the legacy of its name.
"Top to bottom, this should be the most balanced the league has been in my time at Utah," says Majerus. "There's no question that our role will be one of the underdog. If our players relish a challenge, it's there, given the great returning power of the other teams in the league.
The eight-team conference established itself as a major player on the national scene in its inaugural season with half of its teams advancing to the postseason. Co-champions Utah and UNLV were invited to the NCAA Tournament, while Brigham Young and New Mexico played in the NIT. Brigham Young returns five starters, while UNLV and Wyoming both welcome back four. New Mexico and San Diego State add seven newcomers under second-year head coaches in Fran Fraschilla and Steve Fisher, respectively. Colorado State, with four starters returning, and Air Force are both under new head coaches looking to build on successful seasons.
"I think the odds on favorite to win has to be a coin toss between BYU and Wyoming," says Majerus. "Any time you return five starters, plus what many local writers regard as the top prep player in Utah history in Gardner Meads, that team (BYU) has to be picked as a favorite. Wyoming, having kicked our butt late in the year, returns the premier player in the league from two years ago, Ugo Udezue, who was injured last year, along with an all-league player in Josh Davis. They also have brought in a tremendous recruiting class, not to mention some very good young talent that was on the cusp. I'm hoping that we can come on late in the season, jell as a team and get into the mix."
The Utes will play a pair of exhibition games against the EA Sports California All-Stars on Nov. 2 and a foreign team on Nov. 8. The regular season opens on Nov. 17 against Idaho State. All three games will tip-off at 7:00 p.m. in the Huntsman Center.
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Former Runnin’ Ute Branden Carlson
Tuesday, May 19
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - College football analyst Yogi Roth
Wednesday, May 06
Utah Basketball Media Availability | 3.2.26
Monday, March 02
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Utah Basketball General Manager Wes Wilcox
Wednesday, February 25