Polarizing sports media personality Colin Cowherd will be back on the air soon, and his return will have connections with the University of Utah.
Fox Sports announced Wednesday that Cowherd will join the organization in September, and the pregame show of the Utes’ season opener against Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines Sept. 3 will be among his first assignments.
Cowherd, who was let go by ESPN July 24 after making some insensitive comments about people from the Dominican Republic, had a now-famous interview with Harbaugh earlier in the month in which the radio host hung up on the coach.
It is unknown if Cowherd and Harbaugh will reunite for a chat.
"It's hard to put into words how much fun it is for me, as a broadcaster, to build something with really smart, talented people," said Cowherd. "I can't wait for this next chapter in my career to start. Fox Sports is the perfect spot for me at this time in my life."
Lillard discusses life on, off court
Certainly one of the losers during July’s NBA free agency bonanza was the Portland Trail Blazers, who lost four of their five starters from a team that made the playoffs in the spring.
The lone man remaining is former Weber State guard Damian Lillard, who signed a five-year, $120 million contract extension in July. He recently had a wide-ranging interview with Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders where he discussed life on and off the court.
“I mean, the way I see it, anytime you get an opportunity to rise, grow and face a challenge, I’m all for that,” he said. “This will be my first time being in that position in the NBA. It kind of reminds me of my sophomore year in college. I played my freshman year with a lot of good players and the MVP of the league and then everybody left. A new group of guys came in, and I ended up being the leader right away. I did what I had to do.
"I just embraced the situation and took it for what it was. People have no expectations for us, so I mean that takes the pressure off. We’re just going to see what happens," he said.
While followers of the NBA are quickly recognizing Lillard’s ability to play basketball, his rapping ability is lesser known, but he revealed to Kennedy that he has big plans on that front.
“Well, I plan on putting out a short album,” he said. “I want to do it way before the season is even creeping up on us. I want to get something done early. But it’s already done. If I do put something out, it’s not something that I need to do now, it’s already done. I recorded a lot stuff.”
Malone, Stockton headline Jazz all-time starting 5
Fantasy football is just around the corner, but Yahoo’s Kelly Dwyer kept the focus on basketball recently with his all-time starting five, Utah Jazz version.
Although Dwyer argued his case for John Stockton, Pete Maravich, Andrei Kirilenko, Karl Malone and Mark Eaton to be the team, he left the door open for a slew of others who could make a case to crack the lineup.
Dwyer closes by asking, “Who are you going with?”
Ryan McDonald is a sports reporter at DeseretNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanwmcdonald.