The University of Utah is nothing if not a mystery team heading into the 1993-94 college basketball season tonight. The redoubtable trio of Josh Grant, Jimmy Soto and Byron Wilson, plus starting center Larry Cain, are gone. There goes 51 points and 24 rebounds a game. Here comes the next generation.
If anyone can mold this young team into a winner it is coach Rick Majerus, which is probably why preseason polls selected the Utes to finish second in the Western Athletic Conference, one vote behind archrival BYU. With Majerus on the bench, the Utes have been the sixth-winningest team in the country the last three seasons (78-22).Under Majerus, the Utes have produced season records of 30-4, 24-11 and 24-7 the last three years and advanced to the NCAA tournament twice and the NIT finals once.
Majerus sports a heady 82-24 (77 percent) record at Utah and 181-76 (70 percent) as a major college coach, which ranks him 15th among active college coaches in winning percentage.
But this year's team could be his biggest challenge since his first year at Utah. "We're an unknown quantity," says Majerus. "The attitude of the team is good, but they are very young and inexperienced. It will be a case of getting the right chemistry. It's hard to evaluate the team after the two exhibition games because the level of competition was not very good."
When the Utes open the season tonight in the Huntsman Center against Southern Cal College, they will have six players who have never played in an official major college game - freshmen Jimmy Carroll and Keith Van Horn, reshirt freshmen Terry Preston and Jason Jackman, sophomore transfer/redshirt Doug Chapman and junior transfer Ma Jian.
They will be joined (eventually) by veteran guards Phil Dixon, Darroll Wright and Mark Rydalch, veteran center Tony Block, senior walk-on Chris Jones and Lamar transfer Ed Johnson. However, Dixon, Wright and Johnson - the team's most talented players - have been suspended for at least three games for an altercation in a school cafeteria.
Dixon will join the team Tuesday night against Cal-Irvine. Wright and Johnson have been suspended from any university activities until at least Dec. 17.
When they return, Dixon and Wright should complement each other nicely. Dixon is a deadly three-point shooter and one of the WAC's top defenders, but he is relatively weak at putting the ball on the floor and creating scores. That's where Wright comes in. He can penetrate, score from all over the floor and defend. He's the team's best athlete.
Rydalch is another fine athlete, and he can play both of the guard positions. Last season was his first in several years, following knee surgery and a church mission; he should be much improved this season.
"I think Mark is going to have a big year," says Majerus.
The 6-9 Block is another capable player, but he is eratic and tends to disappear at times.
So much for Utah's experience.
To succeed, the Utes must get immediate help from several of their seven newcomers, all but one of whom is either a freshman or a sophomore.
Johnson, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound center/forward, averaged five points per game during his freshman season at Lamar two years ago. He brings the team much-needed size and athleticism.
Preston will man the point-guard position. "We like his court sense, and I think he is going to be a cerebral player," says Majerus. "We are very high on him."
Chapman, a brawny, 6-7, 245-pounder, will be a role player as a banger inside, rebounding, defending, putting a body on opponents. It's a role his brother Keith filled on Majerus' first Utah team.
Ma is a muscular, broad-shouldered 6-7 Chinese who wound up at Utah Valley Community College for a year only when he couldn't gain admission to UCLA, which had recruited him heavily. Says Majerus, "He is a very good shooter, he's a good passer and he has a great body. He just doesn't know and understand the game right now." There is another problem, as well. "It's very difficult to communicate with Ma," says Majerus.
Van Horn reminds Majerus of Grant. Tall and wiry, he has great shooting range and handles the ball well, but he needs to work on defense and rebounding. Carroll, is a versatile, hustling 6-5 guard who is an adept passer and a fine shooter from anywhere on the court. For now Utah is counting on the 6-9 Jackman to give them rebounds and defense.
They comprise Majerus' best recruiting class. All they need is time. Says Majerus, "This is the proverbial rebuilding year."