Last week, the Utah basketball program officially signed four new players, including Judge Memorial's Daniel Deane.
Head coach Ray Giacoletti couldn't be happier about officially landing the son of former Ute Greg Deane.
"We're ecstatic about the chance for him to play right here close to home," the Utes coach said.
The senior from Judge weighed many options this past summer, including a couple of serious looks from Gonzaga and Stanford.
"It came down to the wire between Utah and Gonzaga," Deane said. "My dad really helped me with pros and cons of both programs, and it came down to playing close to home and the coaching staff," he said.
Internet rumors had Deane looking at Wake Forrest and North Carolina as possibilities. Ultimately he turned them down because he knew Utah was the place for him. With the addition of Deane and Olympus product Shaun Green, Utah has two of the state's top big men. That factor also helped to sway his decision.
"I remember watching (Keith) Van Horn and (Michael) Doleac play together. I liked Doleac's play because he was always a hard worker at Utah, and that's kind of what I do," he said.
Giacoletti says that's the best part about his game. "He's a great person off the court, but on the court he's a monster. You can't teach that," Giacoletti said.
Winning the in-state recruiting war is the first step for Giacoletti to maintain the Utes' dominance in the Mountain West Conference.
"There's no doubt about it, your team's success has direct bloodlines to your ability to bring in good players," he said. "I couldn't be happier about this first class."
Losing star center Andrew Bogut to the NBA will test the ability of his replacement, 7-feet-1 center Luke Nevill.
The bigger question centers around the loss of Justin Hawkins and Richard Cheaney. Deane watched those players leave the program and says that it didn't shake his confidence in Utah's program.
"I definitely feel we're going in the right direction," he said. "I think coach Giacoletti made the right decisions for the team."
The senior attended the NBA's Top 100 camp at Virginia Commonwealth University. Deane was voted Best Defensive Player. Skeptics still wonder about Deane's ability because Judge plays at a 3A level. He says he's not worried about that.
"I don't have any fears. I've played against the top (high school) players in the country, and I can safely say I did all right in my individual battles," Deane said.
E-mail: tpeterson@desnews.com