Utes Bulletin: Things Happening In Utah Athletics (Week Of 6/26/23)
Jun 26, 2023, 10:07 AM | Updated: 10:12 am
SALT LAKE CITY – Can you believe we have reached the final week of June? Before we know it, the Utes Bulletin will be prepping you all for Pac-12 Media Day and Fall Camp. However, we aren’t quite there yet, so lets enjoy summer just a little longer.
This week’s Utes Bulletin features several positive news stories for the UBoyz past and present, a history lesson, some information on upcoming event fans won’t want to miss featured on Crimson Corner, and a reminder of an event we are EXCLUSIVELY covering this week on KSL Sports.
If you missed anything from the previous week, you can check that out here.
Without further ado, here is this week’s Utes Bulletin that includes stories from the week before and what is on the radar for the coming week of 6/26/23.
About that #Pac12FB season… 🔟+ pic.twitter.com/oNIPTkAsfX
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) January 7, 2023
Utah Football
Despite being in the throes of summer, the past week has been great for Utah football related stories outside of our scheduled breakdowns to help prepare you for the fast-coming 2023 season. Before we get into the fun stuff, here is a reminder of what we went over last week.
We also broke down the Oregon Ducks in our continued effort look into the road ahead for Utah football. This countdown is almost over and will get us to Pac-12 Media Day on July 21.
Built for the uphill battle 🥶 pic.twitter.com/a5xWFKc6gU
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) June 23, 2023
As a heads up, we will be starting one more countdown this week- breaking down each position group for the 2023 Utes in preparation for the start of Fall Camp. There will be two per week- and offensive and defensive position group that will drop every Tuesday and Thursday till “Camp Kyle” begins.
60 In 60
Two Utes were featured last week in Hans and Scotty’s 60 in 60 Countdown. If you missed them, you can read about why offensive lineman Michael Mokofisi and running back Chris Curry are two of the best 60 players in the state of Utah for the 2023 season here.
Two All-Time Great Utah Football Coaches
Last week, Pro Football Focus listed the top-10 winningest active coaches in college football and Utah’s Kyle “Winningham” made the list. Whittingham has been with the Utes nearly 30 years in total but is entering his 19th season as the head coach this season.
Utah football’s former head coach, Ron McBride also had a moment worth sharing. KSL Sports was on hand to check out his Sunday Social yesterday that brought together past and current Utes in an effort to raise funds for his foundation that helps underprivileged youth in the state of Utah. It was the leadup to McBride’s “I Love You, Man” Golf Tournament that will take place today.
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We Love A Good Backup Quarterback Story
Bryson Barnes got some love last week as Utah football released footage of the moment he and the rest of the team learned he would be starting instead of Cam Rising for the Washington State game last season. The confidence the team has in QB2 is pretty inspiring.
or was it the moment right before the game that we found out @bryson_barnes10 would lead us to victory? 🙌 pic.twitter.com/TvC0Mtsktr
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) June 23, 2023
A New 2024 Commit
The Utes got some good news Sunday afternoon with the commitment of two-way athlete Hunter Andrews out of Magnolia, Texas. While Andrews doesn’t have a star-ranking yet, there is optimism it is coming in the season ahead for the talented running back/linebacker.
Commited!!🔴⚫️ #GoUtes @Colton_Swan @MasonYellicoUT @CoachMurd40 @RBlechen @CoachMartin_18 @mcneill_josh @Utah_Football pic.twitter.com/lLkjgIBp1x
— Hunter Andrews (@hunterandrews27) June 25, 2023
Taking A Look At The History Of Rice-Eccles Stadium
Social Media can sometimes be a treasure trove of information. It certainly was a week ago as an Instagram account dedicated to posting old photos from around Salt Lake City found a picture of Rice-Eccles Stadium from 1938. Naturally, we took a deep dive into the team from that season and how the stadium evolved over the years.
It Was A Great Week To Be A Pro Ute
It’s always a great day to be a Ute, but if you were a Pro Ute, last week was particularly awesome.
BIG things coming for our guy, @_DaltonKincaid! 👀 https://t.co/nuAogLbZ6E
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) June 20, 2023
Former Utah quarterback Troy Williams has been making headlines all season for his play with the Pittsburgh Maulers. He will come face to face with former teammate, cornerback Brian Allen who had some key interceptions to push the Birmingham Stallions through.
Crimson Corner Promotes Fun Upcoming NIL Opportunity For Fans
Crimson Corner invited good friend, Andrew McCollough on to promote his upcoming “Across The Green” Golf Tournament that helps Utah football with NIL. The event will take place on July 21 and pairs Ute fans with a current Utah football player for a round of golf.
Be sure to check back as the event gets closer for updated details.
Some General Pac-12 Things
The week before we shared a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel about a letter San Diego State sent the Mountain West Conference letting them know they were likely out the door for (presumably) the Pac-12. Last Monday, Thamel had a update to the report that we put in our initial article about the MWC’s response that you can check out here.
While nothing official either way has come out, all eyes will be on the Pac-12 over the next few weeks as speculation ramps up that the conference may have a media deal ready to be signed and that may include expansion with the Aztecs and SMU. Stay tuned.
The Pac-12 did make a pretty important announcement last week that feels like it maybe went a little unnoticed due to falling on the same day as the NBA Draft. Last January the conference revealed they had fired two executives after an investigation uncovered a coverup of overpayments from a media distributor to the conference starting in 2016. Subsequently, Commissioner George Kliavkoff announced the hiring of a new CFO to help fix the situation moving forward, and her credentials are pretty impressive.
Athletes For Life Ute Reservation Camp This Week
We’ve been heavily helping to promote former Utah punter Hank Mondaca’s charitable organization Athletes For Life here at KSL Sports in the lead up to his football camp he’s running with other former Ute athletes on the Uintah-Ouray Reservation this week.
If you’ve missed our coverage to this point, you can check out our interviews with Mondaca in the lead up below on both Crimson Corner and The Saturday Show. You can also check out this article.
Be sure to follow along with us starting Tuesday evening through Thursday as we bring you live, exclusive coverage of the event from the Reservation on all of our platforms.
NBA Ute
Former Runnin’ Ute Kyle Kuzma will have a new home in the 2023-24 NBA Season after spending the past two seasons with the Washington Wizards. Our Utah Jazz and NBA Insider Ben Anderson wrote last week that Kuzma has opted to not renew his contract and go into free agency.
Kyle Kuzma has declined his $13 million player option and become a free agent, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/ccL63zGgmd
— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 20, 2023
Utah Softball
Utah softball had a fantastic season to help close out Utah Athletics’ overall impressive 2022-23 competitive season. As such, the coaching staff was recognized last week for a second Coaching Staff of the Year award as they turn their attention to next season.
𝗗𝟭𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿
Add one more award to the trophy case for this fearsome foursome.
📰: https://t.co/8aC5SMJ0pp#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/vv5Scmxyvb
— Utah Softball (@Utah_Softball) June 21, 2023
Utah Gymnastics
𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗗.
Myia Hambrick has officially been named Assistant Coach! 🙌
🔗 | https://t.co/1cKOPxfwGl pic.twitter.com/tL3ivB6jov
— Utah Gymnastics (@UtahGymnastics) June 21, 2023
The Utes’ Role In The Greatest Sports Season In Utah History?
In a fun summer piece, KSL producer Chandler Holt took at look back at the 1997 sports season for the State of Utah as a whole, asking the question, was this the best sports season in state history? Take a look for yourself and let us know what you think!
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Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports
