These Utes are in the transfer portal, but still playing for their school

Runnin’ Utes forward Jake Wahlin isn’t sure where he’ll be playing next season. Neither, frankly, are most of his teammates. With a new coaching staff headed to Salt Lake City, Wahlin is one of nine Utes who have already entered the NCAA’s transfer portal.

But the 6-foot-10 sophomore from Provo still wants to suit up for Utah at least one more time. The Utes will take on the Butler Bulldogs on Monday afternoon in the first round of the College Basketball Crown, a new postseason tournament in Las Vegas with a $300,000 prize for the winning squad. The game tips at 1 p.



m. MT and will be broadcast on FS1. “This is such a fun team on and off the court, so it means a lot to a lot of us to have this last chance to compete with each other and go out with a bang,” Wahlin said.

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No one really knows what’s in store for them a year from now. There’s kind of a beauty in that because we really only have the here and now just to focus on each other.” Wahlin, who averaged just over six points and five rebounds a game last season, has said he wants to talk to new Utah head coach Alex Jensen before making a decision on his future.

“I’m just doing my due diligence with the circumstances that have taken place toward the end of the season,” Whalin said. “Fortunately, I have the chance to play while still being in the transfer portal.” The Utes have reportedly seen nine players enter the portal: It’s unclear how many players in the portal will suit up for the Utes on Monday.

But interim head coach Josh Eilert, who took over after Craig Smith was fired late in the regular season, credited his players for their approach to juggling the portal and this postseason opportunity. “The best job you have is the job you have,” Eilert said. “You get two feet out the door and you’re focused on something else, you’re not going ot be doing a very good job and you’re doing yourself a disservice.

I think these guys have been very professional in how they’re handling it, given the situation. “They can still contact and be contacted by other schools. They certainly have not closed the door on the University of Utah.

” Dawes, a sophomore who averaged eight points and six rebounds a game for the Utes, said that it has been a “stressful” time as he tries to figure out his future. But, he said, he is looking forward to at least one more game as a Ute. “We want to finish on top.

We want to be the first people to ever win the Crown,” he said. “Nobody really knows what the future holds, but this will be the last time we play together — so we want to win.”.