There have been some really special basketball seasons at Utah even in recent memory but last season was not one of them. First-year head coach Alex Jensen knew this wasn’t going to be an instant turnaround in Salt Lake City and it was a pretty painful opening number. The Utes won just 10 games and finished dead last in the Big 12. However, perhaps that rough start is in the rearview window?
Say what you want about last year’s team, which did contain some very talented players, but very little of that roster returns. Terrence Brown and Keanu Dawes were major losses into the transfer portal and far from the only subtractions for the Utes. Among the returning talent, only Obomate Abbey and Lucas Langarita return who saw time on the court last season and neither of these guards were more than just bench pieces as freshmen.
Roster all over the place
There is understandably a splurge of new faces from all directions, with the Utes adding freshmen, transfers, and international pieces. We’re most interested today in that transfer haul, which includes forwards Grayson Gladdis and Malek Gomma but also three potential starters. Taison Chatman was an oft-injured bench piece at Ohio State while Jackson Holcomb put up 16 points per game at Utah Valley and slides into a significant role on the wing.
However, we’re certainly focused on TJ Burch as the most important of these new additions to the Utes. Burch is a 6-1 point guard from Dallas who was a reserve at Ball State as a freshman before really emerging with Wright State last season. He spearheaded Wright State’s late surge, averaging 12.4 points, 3.6 assists, and a league-leading 2.6 steals per game, becoming Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year. He was the Tournament MVP and got the Raiders into the NCAA Tournament.
How does it translate?
While it remains to be seen if he can be similarly success in Salt Lake City, Burch comes highly advertised even as a mid-major player. He’s a crafty guard who contributes all over the court on both ends. He’s not exactly a consistent sharpshooter but he finds ways to put the ball in the basket and clearly developed into a brilliant defender as a sophomore.
Burch is being thrown into the Big 12 and much tougher surroundings after showing mastery in the Horizon League and a lot of Utah’s potential rests on him adjusting and continuing to deliver. Time will tell if Utah has the talent to take a step forward in this very talented conference but they’re going to need this new-look backcourt of Burch and Chatman to be much more effective than last season’s guards.
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