Pac-12 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2022-23 season

Head coach Craig Smith’s first year with the program didn’t go as well, largely because the two impact transfers (David Jenkins, Both Gach) were underwhelming overall. There were a couple of bright spots on the roster, including Branden Carlson, the lone double-digit scorer at 13.1 ppg and 6.0 rpg. He was easily the team’s best player and gives them an all-conference caliber player to build around this season.

His likely partner in the frontcourt is Ben Carlson, a former four-star recruit who came off the bench in the last two years at Wisconsin. If he can have a breakout season, and the Utes will need him too, the frontcourt won’t be such as big weakness. There’s not much depth behind the duo outside of three-star freshman Keba Keita so at least one of the duo has to warrant starter’s minutes. There’s also BYU transfer and former four-star prospect Gavin Baxter but he’s been injured each of the last three years so expecting full health from him is hard.

The backcourt is a little more stabilized with the return of senior guard Marco Anthony and all-around glue guy and leading passer, Rollie Worster. The 6’5 Anthony led Utah will 7.0 rpg, which is a testament to both him and the Ute’s frontcourt last season. Yet neither are elite scorers so they’ll need Gabe Madsen and Cincinnati transfer Mike Saunders to have a sizeable impact as well.

If 6’7 wing Lazar Stefanovic (7.5 ppg) can break out as a more consistent scorer, the Utes may have the potential to climb out of the bottom tier. But they’ll need to find more offense outside of Branden Carlson to emerge to have a  shot.