National Signing Day came and went on Wednesday, and with most programs now completely stocked with a crop of new players, some reputable recruiting websites ranked how each program in the country fared.
Of local note, the trio of Rivals.com, 247sports.com and Scout.com all showed the University of Utah coming out with the top class in the state.
Rivals ranked the Utes' class as the 35th best in the country, 247 put it 36th and Scout had it at 41st.
BYU was given ranks of 48th, 50th and 53rd by the three sites. Utah State didn't make Rivals' cut of the Top 100 teams, while 247 put it 101st. The Aggies were ranked 87th by Scout.
Bronco Mendenhall 'amazed' by increased recruiting pool at Virginia
It's no secret that BYU operates under a unique circumstance when it comes to recruiting, largely because of the influence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the university.
In his Wednesday press conference announcing his signees for the 2016 class, new Virginia and former Cougar head football coach Bronco Mendenhall noted the difference it made in recruiting for the Cavaliers without the faith factor in play.
Said Mendenhall, as written by Andrew Ramspacher of The Daily Progress: “We were amazed as a coaching staff at how many more choices there are, once you take out the faith-based component. That became our normal. And I used it as a strength because it was for that particular institution.
“But without that component, if you look now at character and ability and academics, all of those are still very high standards, we're like kids in a candy store with just how many more choices there are.”
Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert profiled by Sports Illustrated
If NBA fans around the country still aren't familiar with Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert despite his momentum-changing blocks, a profile of him featured this week in Sports Illustrated by Ben Reiter may aid in that process.
The piece takes readers through Gobert's formative years in France and details both his impact on the court and personality off of it.
Perhaps the most revealing portion of the piece comes from Gobert himself, as he discusses what drives him.
“Some guys don’t have pride,” he says. “I do. Sometimes too much.”
Ryan McDonald is a sports reporter at DeseretNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanwmcdonald.