With the NCAA basketball national letter of intent early signing period now in the books, Utah's college coaches can pause and take inventory of who they locked up, how they will complement their programs and what future holes in the rosters need addressing during the official signing period next year.
Some, like first-year Weber State coach Randy Rahe, made the most of the early signing window. Rahe inked four high school players, two of whom played their prep ball here in the state and will be returning from LDS missions in time for the 2007-08 campaign.
Others, such as Utah State coach Stew Morrill, needed less ink in their pens. The Aggies signed only one player during the early period but found him halfway around the globe running the hardwoods of a high school gym in Japan.
Utah coach Ray Giacoletti received written commitments from a pair of highly touted high-schoolers and a preseason JC All-American, while BYU inked three players of its own, including Provo's own Chris Collinsworth. As for Utah's remaining two Division I programs, neither Utah Valley State nor Southern Utah have made official any early signings.
Here's a look at how the early signing period shaped up for Utah colleges:
BYU: BYU has not officially released recruit signings, but four players have committed to play for the Cougars, including Provo High's Chris Collinsworth, who is considered one of the state's brightest prospects.
Mission plans aside for Collinsworth and Jimmer Fredette, a 6-foot-2 guard who signed with the Cougars from Glen Falls, N.Y., Collinsworth could be BYU's future at forward in place of graduating seniors Keena Young and Fernando Malaman.
Fredette, an established AAU outside shooter, is in the mold of a Jimmy Balderson or Brock Reichner, with range beyond the arc. Lamont Morgan, a JC transfer from Saddleback College, could step in to replace senior point guard Rashaun Broadus. Jean Carlos Otero, a 6-foot-7 from Miami-Dade JC who is averaging 15 points and five boards a game through five contests this year, will have an immediate impact. BYU could add another JC guard before the end of the year.
The Cougars must try and shuffle their lineup with departing and returning LDS missionaries. Noah Hartstock from Oklahoma is due back for 2008-09, along with Lone Peak guard Jackson Emery. The Cougars return 6-10 power forward Chris Miles and 6-11 center James Anderson from LDS missions for the 2007-08 season.
Because of the transition recruiting with missions, the Cougars need JC help on the guard line, and Morgan fits that bill, along with current Dixie State College signee Ben Murdock. Collinsworth and Otero fit BYU's need for a versatile inside-out player who can post up and hit the 3, and who can guard opponents' shooting guards and forwards. Fredette is an outstanding shooter who can put the ball on the floor and create his own shot, a key in coach Dave Rose's schemes.
Rose just redshirted Nevada prep sensation Johnathan Tavernari, a proven shooter with NBA range, to aid development and cushion/save eligibility for future departing missionary athletes. Tavernari's own mission status is yet to be determined.
UTAH: Utah coach Ray Giacoletti and his staff inked three players to early letters of intent: Morgan Grim, a 6-9 forward from Riverton High; Carlon Brown, a 6-4 guard from Martin Luther King High in Riverside, Calif.; and Nemanja Calasan, a 6-9 center/forward out of Midland (Texas) JC.
These three recruits will replace senior Ricky Johns and freshman redshirt center David Foster, who is leaving on an LDS mission, as well as fill the scholarship the Utes lost for three years as a result of NCAA sanctions when Rick Majerus was the coach.
Both Grim and Brown were named to the "Best in the West" team, while Calasan is a preseason JC All-American for one of the top JC teams in the country.
The Utes seem to be collecting height, with seven players on next year's team who are 6-8 or taller. There could be a logjam for playing time among those players, although Grim, Kim Tillie and Shaun Green can play small forward. Calasan can also play center along with his normal power forward position.
Brown can play either guard position, which means he could pick up some of the minutes Johns will play this year if the two freshmen guards, Luka Drca and Curtis Eatmon, both play the point.
This year and next, 6-6 Stephen Weigh is the only player between 6-5 and 6-8 on the Ute roster, so next year the Utes may recruit some players in that category.
The Utes seem to be well-stocked for the next few years unless one or more of the foreign players (six on next year's team) decide to return home and play professionally.
UTAH STATE: Currently, the Aggies have only one available player over 6-9 on the roster, and he has yet to play, so Modou Niang, a 6-10 center from Hachioji High in Tokyo, Japan, will bring immediate size and scoring ability to the middle next year. Niang, along with transfer Brayden Bell (6-9) and Stephen DuCharme (6-8), could give the Aggies a very formidable frontcourt.
Through four high school games this year, Niang is averaging 29 points and 14 rebounds per contest. As a junior, he averaged 33.6 points, 14.8 rebounds and three blocks per game.
WEBER STATE: Randy Rahe's second recruiting class got a good boost when the first-year coach at Weber State got letters from a pair of high schoolers currently serving LDS Church missions.
Wasatch High products Josh Cottle (5-9, 160) and Darin Mahoney (6-8, 215) are currently on LDS missions but will join the Wildcats in time for the 2007-08 season. Cottle is a quick point guard who played one season at Utah Valley State prior to serving his mission. He played in 28 games and averaged 5.5 points and 2.8 assists. Mahoney signed with WSU in 2005 after earning 3A MVP honors with the Wasps when he averaged 17 points and 9.4 rebounds per contest.
Wyoming product Kyle Bullinger (6-6, 200) was the Cowboy State's Mr. Basketball as a junior and averaged 23 points while grabbing 10 rebounds per contest for Mountain View High. Trevor Morris (6-9, 230) is a power player who averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds as a junior at Nampa High in Idaho.
"We thought that it was very important that after signing 10 players last spring, seven of them junior college ranks, that we built a little stronger foundation with high school seniors," Rahe said. "That was our goal."
BYU WOMEN: Calling his latest quintet of signings "the best recruiting class since I've been here," BYU coach Jeff Judkins said his staff targeted six prospects and signed five, with the one — from the Salt Lake area — opting to forego the early signing opportunity. Judkins added he's in no hurry to lock up that sixth spot.
Of the new additions, Keilani Moeaki is an excellent post player from the Chicago area and is a scout.com top 100 prospect who returned to form late last season following 2005 ACL surgery and whose brother Tony Moeaki plays tight end at Iowa. Athletic forward Mindy Nielson is skilled on both ends of the court and plays taller than her 5-foot-10 frame.
The Cougars went to the Pacific Northwest to land three perimeter players. Jazmine Foreman is a quick, explosive ball-handler from Vancouver, Wash.; Stephanie Buehler is a lanky, long-distance shooter from the Portland area with NBA-like range; and Coriann Wood, of Washington's Tri-Cities area, draws comparisons to the abilities of former Utah standout Kim Smith.
UTAH WOMEN: Utah coach Elaine Elliott said there's something special about Cydney Knight, a 6-foot-1 forward at Pasco High in Washington who signed a national letter of intent to join the Utes next season.
"You can't measure the intensity and desire that Cydney brings to the court," Elliott said in announcing the signing. "Those characteristics set Cydney apart."
Knight chose Utah for a couple of reasons.
"Out of all the colleges I was looking at, I knew that Utah had everything I had ever wanted in a school, both in a basketball sense and in an academic sense," Knight said in a statement released by the Utah sports information department.
Dick Harmon, Mike Sorensen, Jared Eborn, Jay Hinton, Dirk Facer and Scott Taylor contributed to this report.