Utah Men's Basketball Notes

Nov. 2, 2005

Exhibition Game #1

Utah Runnin' Utes (0-0) vs. Whitman College Missionaries (0-0)
Nov. 5 ? 5:04 p.m. (MST) ? Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,000) ? Salt Lake City

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Utah Probable Starters

No. Pos. Name              Ht.  Wt.  Cl.  Hometown1   G    Johnnie Bryant    6-0  190  So.  Oakland, Calif.11  G    Tim Drisdom       6-3  215  Sr.  Artesia, Calif.30  C    Chris Jackson     6-11 245  Sr.  Los Alamos, N.M.20  F    Bryant Markson    6-7  198  Sr.  Monrovia, Calif.21  F    Shaun Green       6-8  208  Fr.  Salt Lake City

Game Data
Utah (0-0) opens its exhibition season against Whitman College (0-0) on Saturday at 5:04 p.m. (MST) in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

Free Admission With Football Ticket Stub
Fans will be admitted free to the men's basketball exhibition game with a ticket stub from the Utah vs. Wyoming football game, kicking off at 1:00 p.m. at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The ticket stub will need to be presented at the Huntsman Center gates, which will open at 4:00 p.m. General admission seating will be available in both the lower and upper bowls.

Tickets for all Utah athletic events can be purchased at the Rice-Eccles Stadium ticket office, by phone at (801) 581-UTIX or online at UtahTickets.com.
Buy Tickets Here

Scouting Whitman College
Whitman College is an institution of 1,500 in Walla Walla, Wash. The Missionaries are an NCAA Division III program and a member of the Northwest Conference. Whitman College opens its 2004-05 schedule against Utah. Last season, the Missionaries went 5-20 overall and 3-13 in conference play.

Skip Molitor, a one-time player at Gonzaga and a former coach in five NCAA Division I programs, has been the head coach at Whitman College since the 1994-95 season. Before going to Whitman, he was an assistant coach for three seasons at Colorado State. His assistant coaching experience includes two years at Montana, two years at Santa Clara, one year at Washington State and one year at Gonzaga.

What's Ahead
Utah plays its final exhibition game against Northwest Nazarene College on Monday, Nov. 14 at 7:04 p.m. (MST). The Runnin' Utes open their regular season versus Texas State on Friday, Nov. 18 at 7:04 p.m. in the Huntsman Center.

From The Training Room
Junior forward Misha Radojevic, who joined the Utes this season as a transfer from Polytechnic Academy in Belgrade, Serbia, tore the ACL in his right knee in pre-season workouts and had surgery on Sept. 30. He will redshirt this season.

Who's Back
Utah has two starters and four other lettermen returning for the 2005-06 season. Last year, the Runnin' Utes went 29-6 overall, won the Mountain West Conference regular season championship with a 13-1 record, and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Both of the returning starters for the Utes are seniors. Point guard Tim Drisdom (6-3, 215) has started 94 of the 100 games he has played in the last three years. In 2004-05, the Artesia, Calif., native averaged 4.7 points, 3.2 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game. He led the Utes in assists in 13 games and shot 39.1 percent from three-point range and 81.5 percent from the free throw line. Bryant Markson (6-7, 198) started 22 games at small forward last season, earning third team all-Mountain West Conference recognition. Markson is Utah's top returning scorer (10.4 ppg) and rebounder (3.9 rpg). The Monrovia, Calif., native also shot 35.8 percent (24-for-67) from three-point range last season while scoring in double figures in 23 games. He also had 27 steals.

Center Chris Jackson (6-11, 245) returns for his final season with the Utes. The fifth-year senior averaged 2.0 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.8 minutes per game last year, playing in 28 contests. Junior forward Jonas Langvad (6-11, 236) averaged 4.0 points and 1.6 assists last season. A shooter who is capable of getting hot from three-point range, Langvad made 15-of-45 (.333) from beyond the arc. He played in 34 of 35 games, averaging 12.6 minutes per contest. The Utes also return two non-scholarship players who lettered last season in senior guard Casey Iverson (6-2, 200) and sophomore guard Chris Grant (6-3, 200).

Who's New
One redshirt freshman and five first-year players will be looking to contribute for the Utes in 2005-06. Redshirt freshman center Luke Nevill (7-1, 250) signed with the Utes during the spring of 2004. The native of Perth, Australia, lived in Marietta, Ga., and attended Kell High School as an exchange student in 2003-04. Nevill averaged 17.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.7 blocked shots and 2.5 assists per game at Kell. He earned honorable mention all-state and second team all-region honors.

Four players signed with the Utes last November. Freshman guard Lawrence Borha (6-3, 205), originally from Staten Island, N.Y., played during the 2004-05 season at Stoneridge Prep in Moorpark, Calif. Borha averaged 29.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 7.5 assists while shooting 53.3 percent from three-point range. Sophomore point guard Johnnie Bryant (6-0, 190) joined the Utes last December after earning his associate's degree. As a first team all-conference pick at San Francisco City College in 2003-04, the Oakland native averaged 15 points and four assists per game. Freshman forward Shaun Green (6-8, 208) was the 2004-05 Utah Gatorade Player of the Year. A three-time first team all-state selection at Olympus High School, Green averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, four blocked shots and two steals per game as a senior. Junior guard Ricky Johns (6-3, 190), a native of Bronx, N.Y., played the last two years at Monroe College, earning region MVP honors both years. He was an NJCAA second team All-American in 2004-05 while averaging 20 points, six rebounds and four assists per game.

Junior center forward Misha Radojevic (6-10, 250) from Belgrade, Serbia, signed with Utah during the late signing period. Radojevic has been playing basketball in the Serbian amateur leagues since graduating from high school. He played for Tamis Pancevo in 2004-05, averaging 12 points and nine rebounds per game. Radojevic tore the ACL in his right knee during preseason workouts and will miss this season. Utah will appeal the NCAA for a medical hardship to regain the year of eligibility, which would give Radojevic two years to play staring in 2006-07.

Utah Picked Second In MWC Preseason Poll
Members of the conference media selected Utah to place second in the Mountain West Conference preseason poll. The Utes earned six first-place votes and finished second with 159 points. San Diego State was picked to claim the MWC men's basketball title, marking the first time the Aztecs have been picked to win the crown. A league record five teams earned at least one first-place vote, with SDSU capturing 10-of-22 first-place votes and 173 points for the top spot in the poll. UNLV, last year's top pick in the preseason poll, garnered three first-place votes and 137 points to place third. Air Force received two first-place votes and 123 points to finish fourth, followed by 2005 MWC Tournament champion New Mexico in the fifth-place spot with 120 points. League newcomer TCU was chosen sixth in the poll with 89 points and Wyoming was seventh with 74 points, despite receiving a first-place vote. Colorado State (65) and BYU (50) rounded out the poll.

Ute senior forward Bryant Markson was named to the preseason all-conference team. He was joined by Marcus Slaughter (Jr., F) of San Diego State, Brandon Heath (Jr., G) of San Diego State, Jason Smith (So., C) of Colorado State and Nick Welch (Sr., C) of Air Force. Slaughter was voted the league's top returning player and Mohamed Abukar (Jr., F) of San Diego State was named the top newcomer.

Giacoletti Era Has "Sweet" Beginning
Ray Giacoletti returns for his second season at Utah after leading the Runnin' Utes to a 29-6 record, the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and the Mountain West Conference regular-season title in 2004-05. He is 146-89 (.621) in eight seasons as a head coach.

Giacoletti had the best record of any first-year head coach in NCAA Division I last season. As a result, Giacoletti was named the NABC District 13, USBWA District 8 and Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year. He has also recently been named the 2005 Playboy Magazine National Coach of the Year. Giacoletti is the only head coach to lead the Utes to the NCAA Tournament in his first season. Giacoletti was named the 13th head coach in the history of the Utah men's basketball program on March 31, 2004. Before coming to the U., Giacoletti went 69-50 in four seasons at Eastern Washington. Giacoletti was named the 2003-04 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year after leading Eastern Washington to its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth in 2004. The Eagles, finishing 17-13 overall and 11-3 in conference play, won 14 of their last 18 games--including 11 straight victories--to capture the Big Sky regular season and tournament titles. Prior to taking over at Eastern Washington, he was at North Dakota State for three years (1997-2000), directing the NCAA Division II program to a 48-33 record.

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Exhibition Game #1

Players Mentioned

Lawrence Borha

Johnnie Bryant

Tim Drisdom

Tim Drisdom

Chris Grant

Shaun Green

Casey Iverson

Chris Jackson

Chris Jackson

Ricky Johns

Jonas Langvad

Bryant Markson

Bryant Markson

Luke Nevill

Miodrag Radojevic

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