Before Saturday night’s game against Stanford, Utah honored 17 players for Senior Night.
However, not all of those recognized were seniors.
Juniors Cam Rising, Tavion Thomas, Micah Bernard, Logan Kendall, Braeden Daniels, Thomas Yassmin and Brant Kuithe, along with sophomores Devaughn Vele and Clark Phillips III, participated in the festivities because it might have been their final game at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Phillips has been projected as a first-round pick in next spring’s NFL draft.
As coach Kyle Whittingham explained earlier this week, underclassmen who would take part in Senior Night festivities could return to the program.
Some players could opt to leave, or come back, based on NFL draft evaluations after the season.
The seniors honored Saturday were Jaylen Dixon, Gabe Reid, Stone Azarcon, Devin Kaufusi, R.J. Hubert, Mohamoud Diabate, Solomon Enis and Dalton Kincaid.
Whittingham talked about why the underclassmen would be walking on Senior Night.
“Everyone’s been here a year longer. Some guys have two majors and still a year of eligibility and they’re kind of getting a little antsy,” he said.
“It will probably be the same next year and the year after, and then it will go back to a normal situation. With everyone getting that free year in 2020, we had eight underclassmen come out last year. It’s probably going to be the same number this year.”
Whittingham encouraged those players in limbo to be honored on Senior Night.
“If you’re leaning toward (leaving), go ahead and get recognized,” he said. “Worst thing, you come back and you get recognized again next year.
“We’ll have some guys this year that were recognized last year. … There’s nothing sacred about a guy getting recognized and then staying. We just want to make sure the guys that are leaving get their due recognition.”