NCAA Basketball: Top 10 players to wear jersey No. 34 in 2023-24 season

10. Lawson Lovering (Utah)

Though he was considered a Top 75 prospect from the Class of 2021, Lovering’s numbers haven’t exactly lived up to that early billing. He spent his first two seasons with Colorado, showing some strides as their starting center in his sophomore season. Regardless, Lovering transferred inside the Pac-12 and landed with Utah this past offseason.  While his numbers certainly didn’t leapfrog, he showed his talent for a Utes squad that had flashes of brilliance.

Lovering averaged 6.2 points and 4.7 rebounds while starting nearly all of Utah’s games as a junior. He was by no means the most impactful frontcourt weapon for the Utes, but he played his role well and put up decent rebounding numbers. Lovering made 53% of his shots and started to develop something of an outside game, though it’s still a work in progress. He helped Utah to a 22-win season that unfortunately saw them outside of the NCAA Tournament.

Early returns were solid as Lovering had 18 points and 7 rebounds against UC Riverside in just the second game of the season. He’d later drop 17 points in wins over Bellarmine and Stanford but he wasn’t exactly the guy that Utah was depending on to score. A decent season included solid work in three NIT wins, all as a starter, with plenty to improve on for his senior year.