Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Eastern Kentucky on March 19, 2026 , Loss , 58, to, 72
Final Score
Women's Basketball
58
at Eastern Kentucky
72
The University of Utah Athletics
Scout Team is More than just a Practice Squad for Women's Hoops
2/2/2017 3:15 PM | Women's Basketball
SALT LAKE CITY – For the Utah women's basketball team, game preparation goes a bit deeper than simply practicing with your teammates.
Â
There is a lot of preparation by the coaches to generate scouting reports of the opponent in order to practice for the game styles. The Utah athletes are able to learn these scouting reports but it is a challenge to just look at the information on the opponent rather than see it live.
Â
Having a roster if 12 student-athletes is difficult on a weekly basis to have the players learn different offensive sets and the defensive principles of the opponent to try to simulate in practice. When the Utah players are required to learn the offensive sets their opponents may run and use them to scrimmage against their own teammates, it takes away from focusing on what they need to work on.
Â
This is the role of the scout team. The scout team is a group of guys that come in and learn the opposition's style of play, sets, and defensive principles and emulate these in different drills during practices.
Â
The scout team that comes in and plays with Utah is made up by students attending the University of Utah and have a love for the game. Current manager of the team, Andrew Spendlove, director of operations and administration Willette White and video coordinator Rachel Messer went out and looked for the right guys that could fulfill the duties of the scout team.
Â
"We were at the Student Life Center and Andrew came and talked to me while we were playing basketball. He told me he had something me and some of my friends could do that would be pretty awesome. I sat down and talked to Willette about helping out. She said it would be great to have us and said if you can find anyone else let me know and I found some others to help out," Tyler Allumbaugh said about his process of becoming a scout team member.
Â
For Utah, the guys who take part in the scout team are important to the team and are carefully selected. It is important for the guys to have the right intentions and first and foremost, be there to make the team better. Utah wants the type of player that is not out of control and someone who will do what they are told. The coaching staff found exactly what they were looking for.
Â
"I didn't really have anything to be involved with and I loved playing basketball so when I found out about this opportunity, I thought why not do something where I can help someone else out while doing something I love to do," scout team member Joe Legerski said.
Â
While the Utes are stretch and warming up for practice an assistant coach,s who has already constructed a report on the opponent, will take the scout team and teach them the sets they need to learn and run that day in practice.
Â
"We learn probably four to five sets per team and a couple of inbounds plays to run. Defensively they will just tell us what the other team usually runs and so for the most part it isn't too difficult to learn. It is mostly the day of you are given what you need to emulate and then be able to do it live," Allumbaugh stated.
Â
"We are able to give the team a look at the opponent earlier than when they are actually playing them. They are able to get familiar with some of the opponent's sets and know what the game may be like. They are prepared for what is to come during the game," Legerski explained.
Â
There is an advantage to having the scout team be comprised of males. The all-male squad allows the women's basketball team to push themselves because they are going up against someone who is faster, stronger, and can jump a little bit higher. All of these things pay dividends to the team come game time.
Â
"They are quicker and a little stronger so it gets us game ready," Petersen said. "I think at the forefront is that they can focus on our opponent and what our opponent is doing and our kids can focus on what we need to do as opposed to learning another team's offense and sets and their defensive principles. We can really focus on us and not clog our memories and not get in the way of what we need to do. That is probably the biggest benefit of having them as a scout team."
Â
Not only is the scout team important to the success of the team during the games, but also they have become a part of the Utah women's basketball family. The guys attend the home games and are always supporting and cheering on the team. They want the Utes to play well and be able to be as successful as possible.
Â
"It is so much fun to be a part of the scout team. We have been able to grow relationships with some of the women on the team and we always joke around with them and have fun together. For the most part, it is basketball and I love to play it and being able to help the team is so important to all of us," Allumbaugh said. "We love supporting them and want them to do well."
Â
Â
There is a lot of preparation by the coaches to generate scouting reports of the opponent in order to practice for the game styles. The Utah athletes are able to learn these scouting reports but it is a challenge to just look at the information on the opponent rather than see it live.
Â
Having a roster if 12 student-athletes is difficult on a weekly basis to have the players learn different offensive sets and the defensive principles of the opponent to try to simulate in practice. When the Utah players are required to learn the offensive sets their opponents may run and use them to scrimmage against their own teammates, it takes away from focusing on what they need to work on.
Â
This is the role of the scout team. The scout team is a group of guys that come in and learn the opposition's style of play, sets, and defensive principles and emulate these in different drills during practices.
Â
The scout team that comes in and plays with Utah is made up by students attending the University of Utah and have a love for the game. Current manager of the team, Andrew Spendlove, director of operations and administration Willette White and video coordinator Rachel Messer went out and looked for the right guys that could fulfill the duties of the scout team.
Â
"We were at the Student Life Center and Andrew came and talked to me while we were playing basketball. He told me he had something me and some of my friends could do that would be pretty awesome. I sat down and talked to Willette about helping out. She said it would be great to have us and said if you can find anyone else let me know and I found some others to help out," Tyler Allumbaugh said about his process of becoming a scout team member.
Â
For Utah, the guys who take part in the scout team are important to the team and are carefully selected. It is important for the guys to have the right intentions and first and foremost, be there to make the team better. Utah wants the type of player that is not out of control and someone who will do what they are told. The coaching staff found exactly what they were looking for.
Â
"I didn't really have anything to be involved with and I loved playing basketball so when I found out about this opportunity, I thought why not do something where I can help someone else out while doing something I love to do," scout team member Joe Legerski said.
Â
While the Utes are stretch and warming up for practice an assistant coach,s who has already constructed a report on the opponent, will take the scout team and teach them the sets they need to learn and run that day in practice.
Â
"We learn probably four to five sets per team and a couple of inbounds plays to run. Defensively they will just tell us what the other team usually runs and so for the most part it isn't too difficult to learn. It is mostly the day of you are given what you need to emulate and then be able to do it live," Allumbaugh stated.
Â
"We are able to give the team a look at the opponent earlier than when they are actually playing them. They are able to get familiar with some of the opponent's sets and know what the game may be like. They are prepared for what is to come during the game," Legerski explained.
Â
There is an advantage to having the scout team be comprised of males. The all-male squad allows the women's basketball team to push themselves because they are going up against someone who is faster, stronger, and can jump a little bit higher. All of these things pay dividends to the team come game time.
Â
"They are quicker and a little stronger so it gets us game ready," Petersen said. "I think at the forefront is that they can focus on our opponent and what our opponent is doing and our kids can focus on what we need to do as opposed to learning another team's offense and sets and their defensive principles. We can really focus on us and not clog our memories and not get in the way of what we need to do. That is probably the biggest benefit of having them as a scout team."
Â
Not only is the scout team important to the success of the team during the games, but also they have become a part of the Utah women's basketball family. The guys attend the home games and are always supporting and cheering on the team. They want the Utes to play well and be able to be as successful as possible.
Â
"It is so much fun to be a part of the scout team. We have been able to grow relationships with some of the women on the team and we always joke around with them and have fun together. For the most part, it is basketball and I love to play it and being able to help the team is so important to all of us," Allumbaugh said. "We love supporting them and want them to do well."
Â
Utah: 66, Cincinnati: 73 | Big 12 Tournament | Utah Basketball Postgame Press Conference
Wednesday, March 11
Utah: 75, Baylor: 101 | Utah Basketball Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, March 08
Utah: 78, Colorado: 92 | Utah Basketball Postgame Press Conference
Wednesday, March 04
Utah: 81, Colorado: 67 | Women's Basketball Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, March 01