Pac-12 Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2023-24 season
By Tuck Clarry
7. Utah Utes
It’s year three for Craig Smith and it’s hard to not be optimistic that the Utes can continue building after a six-game improvement in the conference win column last season. Utah brings back three of their five leading scorers from last season.
The most notable returnee is big man Branden Carlson, who impacted both ends of the court while averaging 16.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. Carlson is one of the most consistent bigs in the country and could fight Arizona’s Oumar Ballo, UCLA’s Adem Bona and Oregon’s N’Faly Dante for the title of best big in the conference.
Smith will need to find a way to offer Carlson spacing as the Utes averaged just 33% from three last season. There is a lot of continuity returning from last year, with senior Gabe Madsen offering his 38% perimeter shooting and the opportunity to have a larger role in the offense. The Utes will roll out a starting lineup of upperclassmen, something that should help maintain their 37th ranked adjusted defense according to KenPom.
Rollie Worster is a fun guard that can lead Smith’s offense, and if he’s able to improve on his shooting a lot could unlock for the point guard and the team. Worster had the highest assist rate in conference play but struggled to shoot from outside hitting just 27% of his looks from the perimeter last season.
What would greatly help this team is the eligibility of transfer Deivion Smith who comes to Salt Lake City by way of Georgia Tech. Smith is the athletic wing player sorely lacking on this roster and would have been an ideal replacement for graduated Marco Anthony. Should Smith get approval, he slides in immediately to contribute averaging 8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists in his last campaign.