Episode 333: Runnin' Utes Mount Rushmore Since 2000

Who makes the Runnin' Utes Mount Rushmore since 2000? One CBB site weighs in...so Andrew weighs in as well! Plus, Utah's offseason additions earn a D+ from one pundit. And, another has high praise for the international prospects + plenty more! 

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SPEAKER_00 0:37

For a limited time only, Super Chicks is giving you a chance to seize the Caesar. Well, it's all new chicken wrap. As always, you can chase that down with their signature frozen custard and their flavor of the week, which this week is Reese's peanut butter cup. Goodness gracious, that sounds so dang good. You can find the nearest Super Chicks to you online at Superchicks.com. And remember, it's chickswithnex.com. On this episode, we're gonna jump into the family station wagon and visit Mount Rushmore. That is Utah Hoops. Mount Rushmore, since the year 2000, one college basketball site has weighed in. So we'll take a look at what they said and whether or not we agree or disagree. Plus, Utah's offseason gets a D plus from a college basketball pundit. Fair or not fair, we'll discuss. And Utah's international prospects get some praise. We'll have all that and more, including some wholesome coach chill content coming up for you here on the show. But first, I wanted to remind you to follow the podcast over on X at Running Hoops Pod. You can rate, review, and subscribe to the show over on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We are at 78 five-star reviews. So the March to 100 is on. I'd love to get there by November 2nd. When Utah tips off against, well, I'm still working to confirm that, but hopefully we'll know soon enough. And as always, you can support the show over on Venmo at Runin' Hoops. All right, we will begin with my favorite topic: scheduling, though it has nothing to do with our schedule, just one of our Big 12 compadres as Iowa State has released its non-conference schedule for the upcoming season, becoming the second Big 12 team to do so. The Cyclones will open up with Memphis on November 2nd in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the Sanford Pentagon. They won't play another team of note until November 24th, when they open the Players Era 16 in Las Vegas against San Diego State. Then they would get one of Maryland or Tennessee. They'll have a minimum of one more game beyond that and potentially a championship game of that little event in Vegas should they get there. On December 6th, they'll host Purdue in a return game of a home and home series and play in-state rival Iowa in the Cyphawk battle on the port on December 10th. And that's pretty much it. They get Missouri State in Kansas City in the Hall of Fame Classic, but the Cyclones aren't exactly challenging themselves in the non-con, that is for sure. Now, for those of you who don't follow the rest of the league very closely, this is fairly typical for Iowa State, like three to five games against, quote, tough competition and then a bunch of blowouts against lesser competition. TJ Ozelberger typically has his team ready to go. And of course, last year they played at Purdue and won. So there's not a lot of questioning of the scheduling philosophy there in Ames, but it just lacks a little bit of substance, that is for sure. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

I wish we'd known each other. This is a little important.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Well, once upon a time, Tom Callahan III was quite excited to get a D plus, but when it comes to grading year offseason in college basketball, it's not necessarily a good thing. This comes to us from Tristan Freeman over at Busting Brackets, and he also works for Hoops HQ. He was the one that gave us the top 20 women's college basketball transfers in the Big 12 not long ago. So what he did was he basically went through each team's offseason additions and graded how each team did with its addition. Pretty straightforward, right? Well, we'll discuss that in a minute. To the grades. Arizona gets a B. Arizona State, a B plus. Baylor, a B. BYU, a C minus. Cincinnati, an A minus. Colorado, a C, Houston, an A, Iowa State, an A. Kansas, a B, Kansas State, a D plus, Oklahoma State, a B plus, TCU an A-Texas Tech a B-UCF a C plus, West Virginia an A, and Utah, a D plus. And here is what he has to say about Utah's offseason. Quote After finishing last in the Big 12, the Ute saw a roster exodus, losing both Brown and Dawes to the portal. On paper, it's hard to say that they got better this offseason, even though Jackson Holcomb and TJ Birch are two good perimeter players who should help shore up the defense. After being in a crowded backcourt at Ohio State, Chapman could be a breakout candidate to watch. Keeping Faye, who missed all of last season due to an off-season injury, is an underrated good move for the program as well. In the end, Utah has a giant hole to climb out of, and its ability to get key players is handicapped. Still, the reality is that they're no closer to competing in the Big 12, which is all that matters. Close quote. Okay, so a pretty tough grade there. And so I went back and looked at each recap that he wrote on each team, and each list of offseason additions was lacking in one specific area, and that area was international prospects. There just wasn't a ton of consideration for the international prospects. Some of them had guys listed, but not a lot did. And Utah didn't have any of their international prospects listed, which obviously Utah is banking on Noam Yaqov, Finn Schott, and Alec Anjibada coming in and having an impact. So I would give Mr. Freeman an incomplete grade on this off-season content. However, it creates a fantastic segue into our next off-season piece of content. And this comes to us from Oliver Fell over at Hoops HQ. And he rated the top 10 international prospects that are coming into the Big 12 this upcoming season. So what we're going to do here is I'm going to give you the 10, and then we're going to go back and read what he said about Utah's players on this list. So here we go. Number one, Miles Sadler from Canada. He'll be playing at West Virginia this season. Number two, Rafan Dion from Guinea. He'll be playing at Houston this season. Finn Schott from Austria, he'll be playing at Utah this season. Kenny Elozi from Nigeria, he'll be playing for Houston this season. Richards Aispers from Latvia, he'll be playing at TCU this season. Amadou Sinai from Cameroon, he'll be playing at West Virginia this season. Ajak Nyon from Australia and South Sudan, he'll be playing at Arizona State this season. Alex Dickinson from Australia, he'll be playing at Colorado this season. And I appreciate Alex for having a name that I can pronounce. Aliu Dium from Senegal, he'll be playing at West Virginia this season. And Endurance Andy Ayamekiu from the Netherlands, he'll be playing at Arizona this season. So there you go. Ten names. I'm sure I pronounced them all perfectly, and I'm sure that you will remember them all. Now, here is what he said about Finn Schott. Quote, there may have never been a better stat stuffer in the history of European youth basketball. Schott has put up six category stat lines of legend that can only be called Wilt-esque. For example, in a game against Hungary in 2022, Schott scored 32 points on 13 of 14 shooting, pulled down 22 rebounds, assisted four buckets, blocked seven shots, and added a steal, totaling an Austrian record 58 efficiency rating. The game prior, he had 22 points, 23 rebounds, three assists, and eight blocks. That's just a taste of the torture Schott has been putting European competition through for the past half decade. Schott played in four youth tournaments for Austria. In every one of them, he led the tournament in blocks per game, led in rebounds in three. He averaged 10.9 per game in that tournament, but finished third. And also led in efficiency rating in three while averaging 12.4 points per game. Since then, he's moved up, playing 11 games for the senior national team, averaging 17 points and 13 rebounds per game against the Netherlands in Eurobasket qualifying. Shot is used to playing far taller opponents in the post and has no problem beating them out for boards. He should be the starting center for Utah day one this season, and he'll likely be getting player of the week honors before Christmas. Close quote. So some very high praise for the Austrian big man who is on his way to Salt Lake City this fall. But wait, there's more. He got a bonus player for his list. So he had 10, gave us 11, and wouldn't you know it's Alec Anjibata from our beloved Red and Utes. Quote, the oldest member of the list at 21 years old, Anji Bata brings an evolved game and international experience to a younger Ute squad. Anjibotta was developed at the famous radio farm Ulm in Germany. There he spent the last two seasons, occasionally starting and helping Ulm to a second place finish in the basketball Bundesliga BBL in 24-25 last season. Anjibata averaged 5.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists, and 0.7 steals per game on an impressive 52.5% shooting inside the arc and 37.1 from outside. Anjibata has proven to be an efficient shooter with sound decision making. He can play at either the three or the four and figures to be a rotation regular in Salt Lake City. He also has an honorable mention section in which Zadi Lubaki gets a nod. Now, noticeably absent from this list is Gnome Yakov. And I suspect that that is because whenever this was written, it just wasn't super clear as to whether or not Gnome would actually head to college. So we're gonna give Oliver a bit of a break here because you'd have to imagine that Gnome makes this list if it was clear that he was heading to Salt Lake City at the time that this was written. So there you go, some off-season content, but we're not done. Let's move to some wholesome Coach Chill content. Now we don't hear a lot from Coach Chill, Raphael Chilius, or Coach Schiller or Coach Daniels someday on the podcast, I hope. But for now, we'll just have to pull from other sources. So this comes to us from an interview that he did with the Creative Coaches podcast hosted by Mike Lopez Jr. And Mike asks him what it takes to make a successful program. Take a listen.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

I think the key uh to successful programs is when everyone has a unyielding, undeniable, living belief in their standards. And they actually live the standards. You know, in in this era where everyone talks about, you know, you got to create standards, great standards. Okay, but the thing is, are they living bricks? Are they living words? And those are the best programs. Like once you create a standard and everyone actually lives it, and even when others come in, like the best is when you you're somewhere and I've been in programs, and all of a sudden the athletic director or someone like that's traveling somewhere. And by the end of it, they're using the same verbiage and vernacular as we do because everyone is actually living the standard and they embrace it. And then the last piece of it is when people have a willingness to accept accountability within those standards. And as you saw, I said nothing about talent. You know, talent's gonna take care of itself, but when you have people who believe in a standard, um, it's unbelievable. And for example, when I was in Villanova and you hear anyone ever came to Villanova, Villanova didn't just use the word attitude, we lived it. And attitude wasn't having a smile on your face, it was the attitude to be able to move on to the next thing if things didn't go your way. And everyone in that program uh relived it.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Okay, so just a few things here. An undeniable belief in the standards and commitment to living the standards so that when others come in, they are living it as well. It's the old you become us, we don't become you. One important distinction he makes there too is that it's not just the players and coaches, it's all of the stakeholders involved in the program that need to be bought in. And that's certainly been a problem throughout throughout Utah athletics. But with guys like Alex Jensen and Morgan Scaly leading the top two programs, it should make a big difference. And then finally, the last thing he says here is notice that I didn't mention talent because talent will take care of itself. So good stuff there from Coach Chill. We don't hear nearly enough from the assistants of the program, that is for sure. All right, well, one of the things that Alex and Coach Chill and others are trying to influence with their standards and their culture is the rebirth of the John M. Huntsman Center as a tough place to play in college basketball. But it's not there yet. However, Utah has played and will play in a number of tough arenas this season. So let's get to one last piece of off-season content here from Basket Under Review, who will also be providing our Mount Rushmore content after the break. But back to the point here. Brian Ralph has ranked the 25 toughest places to play in college basketball. So how many Big 12 arenas made the cup? Well, first we got to get the criteria out of the way here. Arenas were ranked based on the following four things. 40% of the ranking was atmosphere, 30% of the ranking, home court advantage, 20% of the ranking, mystique, 10% of the ranking, slate. That is, how good are the teams that the team that occupies that arena, how good are the teams that they've beaten in that arena? So as we count down from 25, where did the Big 12 arenas land? Well, the first one that shows up on the list is Texas Tech United Supermarkets Arena, and it comes in at 18. Quote, Lubbock is a long way from anywhere, and that is the first weapon. By the time a road team lands, buses in, and walks into the 15,000 seat arena, the locals call the USA. The deck is already stacked. Over the past decade plus, Texas Tech has posted one of the largest home court swings in the Big 12. The Red Raiders have turned a once forgettable program into a perennial fortress, all-rising volume, and West Texas hostility. Coming in right above Texas Tech at number 17 is Hope Coliseum, home of the West Virginia Mountaineers. Quote, start with the number because it's the whole story. Across nearly two decades, few buildings in America have moved the needle more than West Virginia's home in Morgantown. The Mountaineers home court swing is among the largest in the country, a genuine on-court edge that predates any one roster. What keeps it here rather than higher is the ebb and flow of the program's success and fan turnout. But when there's a big game in Morgantown, or the Mountaineers are good, few places are more difficult to play in. So I don't know about that. We continue. Number 14, the Fertita Center, home of the Houston Cougars. Quote: Houston's Fertita Center is small, new, and mean. The renovated 7100 seat arena opened in 2018, and Kelvin Sampson's program, one of the best in the country, has turned it into a genuine fortress with near sellouts every night behind the most physical defense in the sport. The home court numbers back up the eye test over the years. The Cougars have been dramatically tougher inside the Fertita Center than on the road, a compact building that plays much bigger than its footprint, close quote. So this one's interesting to me. Is it the venue or is it just how hard-nosed Samson's teams play? To me, it's the latter, and we won't really know, of course, until Kellen Sampson takes over. Still, I don't know that I'd put Houston's Arena in the top 25. Number 10, the Marriott Center, home of our friends to the south, the BYU Cougars. Quote: The Marriott Center is enormous, nearly 18,000 seats, one of the biggest on-campus arenas in the country, and BYU fills every one of them at altitude. Provo sits above 4,500 feet, and by the second half, visiting legs feel it when a packed, deafening house feels nothing at all. The Cougars' arrival in the Big 12 turned a great atmosphere into one with weekly marquee stakes, and the long-run home edge has been steady throughout. I don't know about that. Yeah, okay, so there's no question that BYU has done a good job of creating a home environment that is allowed and full. But the altitude thing, I mean, there are a handful of arenas that would have a better claim to that than BYU's, like Wyoming, Colorado State, CU Boulder, just to name a few. Also, when push comes to shove, I just don't know that it's a tough place to play. And it certainly isn't number 10 in the country. So to that and Mr. Ralph, I would say, I don't know about that. Number nine, the McHale Center, home of the Arizona Wildcats. Quote: The McHale Center gets loud in a way that surprises people who've never made the trip to Tucson. Arizona basketball is the desert's marquee attraction, and its 14,700-seat arena fills to 97% with a crowd that has watched decades of top 10 teams roll through. The Wildcats home court edge is real and sustained across the Longview, the product of a program that treats a home loss as a civic emergency. Yeah. I mean, Arizona fans are pretty obnoxious, so I'd buy that ranking. Number six, Hilton Coliseum, home of the Iowa State Cyclones. Quote, they named the phenomenon after the building, Hilton Magic. For four decades, Iowa State's 14,000 seat arena in Ames has been the site of upsets that had no business happening. Rank giants walking in and staggering out, undone by a wall of cardinal and gold noise that never lets up. The long view numbers confirm what the nickname always claimed. The Cyclones post one of the most durable home court swings in the country, year after year, good team or bad. And it's been mostly good. Close quote. Yep, not a thing to do in Ames. So once again, I'm good with this one. And then finally, number one on his list, Allen Fieldhouse, home of the Kansas Jayhawks. Quote, play heed all who enter, beware of the fog. The banner has hung in Allen Fieldhouse for years, and by every measure we have, over any window you choose, it isn't a bluff. Kansas owns the longest, loudest home court tradition in the sport. A 16,300-seat building sold out for decades running, a program that loses at home about as often as it snows in Lawrence in July. It leads or nears the top in every pillar we track. Fill rate, mystique, home court swing, and history over as long a data set as you want. There's no debate at the top of this list that the model had to manufacture. Close quote. Yeah, I mean, it's the only arena on the list, and at least in the Big 12, that I would consider a bucket list arena. So I'm completely comfortable with this ranking. I've visited The Fog, but not for a game. Now, a couple I'm surprised didn't make the list. The Octagon of Doom in Manhattan, where Kansas State plays. I mean, it has that nickname for a reason, though I know they've been down recently. The CU Event Center in Boulder, it's an altitude play. The crowd shows up even when the team is bad, and it can be ridiculously loud in there, and they are right on top of you. There seems to be an expectation that Baylor could get there at some point with their new kind of small. Arena. So we'll see if that happens. And then how about this? No love for our neighbors to the north who play in the spectrum. That one seems like a big miss to me when you're talking about a top 25 college basketball environment. Whether other people in the state want to admit it or not, I think that is the tougher venue to go into. And there's a reason why a lot of teams in the state don't want to go into that building. Now, will the Huntsman Center ever get there? That's up to Alex Jensen. I think it can, but we've got a ways to go. All right. When we come back, we gas up the family station wagon and we take a summer trip up to Mount Rushmore. We'll do that right after these words from one of our sponsors. 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Listeners of this podcast will get 30% off their first order by entering the promo code RUNIN'HOOOPS at checkout, or by going directly to the link that is connected to every episode of this podcast. This is a great way to support the show and get a good looking, fantastic fitting t-shirt in the process. That promo code for you at checkout, run and hoops. It is that time of year when families all pile into their cars and go on their summer road trips. And one popular place to go is Mount Rushmore. Now, the Mount Rushmore that we're going to here on the podcast is far more specific because it has to do with our beloved remote. And it once again comes to us from the folks over at Basketball Review, who put out an article discussing who is on each Big 12 team's Mount Rushmore since the year 2000. Now, one thing they didn't do that I wish they would have done as a part of this effort was to provide what they believe the criteria should be for what might place someone on a school's Mount Rushmore. Nevertheless, they didn't do that. So here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna give you their list and rationale. Then we're gonna back up, and I'm not only gonna give you my list, but also some criteria and some rationale. Now that sounds like a good time, doesn't it? So here is their opening salvo. Quote, we're not looking far enough back to consider Utah's trip to the national title game in 1998, but the Utes have still had some great and notable names passed through town since the turn of the century. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they've had quite the run of big men over the years. So here is that list in alphabetical order, I might add. Up first, Andrew Bogutt. Quote Long before his NBA career, Bogut spent a pair of seasons with the Utes, establishing himself quite possibly as the greatest Utah basketball player of all time. The seven-foot big man only needed those two seasons that he spent at Utah to showcase his talents for the next level, turning in a really awesome freshman season before truly becoming elite in year two. After nearly averaging a double-double as a freshman in the Mountain West, Bogut took the next step by putting up 20.4 points per game and 12.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore. In addition to conference honors, he was also named AP Player of the Year, grabbed plenty of national attention before taking the Utes to the Sweet 16, capping off a 29-win season. Bogut was truly an immense presence for the Utes and became the best collegiate player during that historic 2004-2005 season. He made himself the top pick in the 2005 NBA draft and had one of the most productive single seasons in Utes history, ensuring his place long before the Utes would retire his number. So that's the first one. Pretty obvious, right? Who do they have next? Brandon Carlson. The numbers certainly weren't in the same neighborhood, but Carlson is another seven-foot center who turned in quite the impressive career during his time in Salt Lake City. A Utah native and top 100 prospect, Carlson actually got five years in town thanks to the pandemic, beginning his career in 2019 after serving a two-year LDS mission. Carlson put up decent figures throughout his career, becoming one of the Pac-12's most notable shot blockers and rebounders. He earned first team All Pac-12 honors for his final two seasons, putting up 17 points and 6.6 rebounds in his final season, which included a deep NIT run. While Carlson never played in the Big Dance, he does lead the Utes in career blocks and sits among the top five in total points. It's true that he got an extra season in Salt Lake City, but Carlson was clearly a huge asset in the paint for the Utes and just needed a bit more talent around him for the program's final years in the Pac-12, close quote. Now I love this for original friend of the podcast, my guy, BC, but we'll have to see if this holds up. Third, Jakob Purdle. Quote, yet another impressive seven-footer, Purdle arrived in Utah from Austria back in 2014 and would blossom into a prominent frontcourt weapon in the Pac-12. He was already one of the league's most efficient scorers in his first season before taking a big step forward in what would become his second and final collegiate campaign. After great contributions on a Sweet 16 team as a freshman, Purdle contributed 17.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game on another team that reached the Big Dance, this time leading the Pac-12 with nearly a 65% mark from the field. He was named Pac-12 Player of the Year, received all-American billing, and also took home the Karim Abdul Jabbar Award for his hard work. Purdle contributed greatly on a pair of teams that won a combined 53 games. He did bolt for the NBA and become a lottery pick, as it's clear that the Austrian big man was ready for the next level. You could argue he was the backbone of the most successful two-year run for Utah since the turn of the century. Close quote. And last but not least, Delon Wright. Quote, it hasn't just been seven footers, an incredible front court play from the Utes, as Wright was a fantastic backcourt weapon during his years in Salt Lake City. A 6'5 guard out of Los Angeles, he arrived back in 2013 and immediately became one of the most efficient scorers in the Pac-12 before helping the Utes to that deep tourney run in year two. His numbers across the board were electric, averaging 15.5 points per game, 6.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.5 steals as a true freshman for the Utes, while also leading the Pac-12 at 63% from inside the arc. The sophomore season that ended in the Sweet 16 saw similar numbers as Wright was named both an all-American and the nation's best point guard, courtesy of the Bob Cousy Award. He accumulated quite the accolades as an underclassman, and we can't forget his role on Utah's first Sweet 16 run in a decade. Wright was outstanding on both ends and ranks pretty highly among the Utes all-time leaders in steals, despite playing just two years. After all, the NBA was waiting, and Wright became a late first-round pick in 2015. Close quote. After the blurb about Delon Wright, they offer no closing remarks on the Forsome. They just move on to West Virginia. So what do you make of this list? At first blush, it seems pretty fair. But again, we've got no criteria to go off of. So how do we know? Well, luckily, Yield Podcast host has you covered. So let's start at the top. What are the important things to consider when you're thinking about a Mount Rushmore, no matter what the decade is? First, individual greatness. Things to consider here would be their career stats, school records, national awards, conference player of the year, consensus all American selection, those kinds of things. Second, winning. NCAA tournament success, final fours, if you're lucky enough, national championships, conference championships, overall winning percentage while on the team. Third, historical importance. What did the player mean to the program while he was here? Fourth, longevity. Once a Ute, always a Ute, right? Now, one thing that I did not consider here for this Mount Rushmore is the player's pro career, but that is something that could be considered as well as a tiebreaker if you really needed it. So with our criteria firmly in place, I'm gonna give you a list of all of the players that merit consideration here. Now, this is a lot like the first list that the NFL puts out for its Hall of Fame where like everybody that put on a pair of shoulder pads that's eligible is named. So don't be too surprised here as you hear some of these names. But here's my initial list of players that I would consider for this Mount Rushmore: Britton Johnson, Nick Jacobson, Andrew Bogett, Luke Neville, Johnny Bryant, Delon Wright, Jordan Loveridge, Brandon Taylor, Jakob Purdle, Kal Kuzma, Timmy Allen, Brandon Carlson, Mickey Antunin, and Gabe Madsen. Now I'm not going to go through everybody's profile or worthiness, I'm going to bottom line this for you. There are three absolute locks based on the criteria. Number one is Andrew Bogut. If there's one unanimous selection for this Mount Rushmore, it's Andrew Bogut. In just two seasons, Bogut authored arguably the greatest individual career in Utah basketball history. His sophomore season in 2004 and 2005 remains one of the most dominant seasons by any college player this century. He was the consensus national player of the year, a John Wooden Award winner, a Naismith Player of the Year, AP Player of the Year, Consensus First Team All-American, number one overall draft pick, and led Utah to the Sweet 16. He wasn't just Utah's best player that year. He was the best player in college basketball. Despite playing only two seasons, his peak was so extraordinary that longevity becomes almost irrelevant. Very few players in NCAA history have produced a season comparable to what Bogat accomplished in 2004 and 2005. My next lock, Delon Wright. When Larry Kriskoviak arrived, Utah was rebuilding from one of the lowest points in program history. Delon Wright changed everything. He was a consensus all-American, a Bob Kuzi Award winner, a two-time first team all Pac-12 player, led Utah to its first Sweet 16 since Andrew Bogut, helped transform Utah from a conference seller dweller in the Pac-12 into a contender. What separated DeLon Wright wasn't just his statistics, it was how completely he impacted winning. He defended every position, rebounded, created offense, and became the unquestioned leader of the program's renaissance. Without DeLon Wright, it's difficult to imagine Utah returning to national prominence as quickly as it did once it joined the Pac-12. Third, Jakob Purdle. If Wright rebuilt the program, Purdle elevated it. One year after Utah reached the Sweet 16, Purdle became one of the nation's most dominant centers. He was the Pac-12 player of the year, a consensus all American, the Kareem Abdul Jabbar Center of the Year winner, first team all Pac-12, NBA lottery pick, and one of the most efficient players in school history. And his impact on the floor made Utah one of the nation's elite defensive teams. So those are the three locks that Subasket under review had as well. But who should occupy that fourth spot? I believe there are three players that are worthy of consideration for that fourth spot: Brandon Carlson, Luke Neville, and Nick Jacobson. Let's start with Nick Jacobson. Jacobson deserves far more recognition than he typically receives. Following the Rick Pajaris era, he became the face of Utah basketball while helping to maintain the program's winning tradition. The things that make his case are he was the Mountain West player of the year. He was an elite three-point shooter. We remember that shot that sent Utah into the NCAA tournament from the Mountain West tournament in Denver. Second all-time and made three-pointers, a four-year starter, played in the NCAA tournament with the running Utes. His biggest obstacle is probably timing because Bogut arrived almost immediately afterwards and overshadowed what was an outstanding Utah career. Jacobson's resume compares favorably with many players on the Mount Rushmore list, but he lacks the national awards that separate the Mount Rushmore selections. Next, we look at our guy BC, who basket under review put on the mountain. In the modern era of college basketball, few players will leave Utah with a statistical resume that's equal to Carlson's. It may never happen again. A top five score all-time scorer, Utah's all-time leader in block shots, program record for games played, two first team all Pac-12 selections, one of the most productive careers in school history. Carlson accumulated nearly every meaningful career accomplishment possible. The challenge for Carlson, and this is painful for me, because he's my guy, is team success. Unlike the three players on the mountain, Carlson never reached the NCAA tournament or enjoyed a defining postseason run. Obviously, not his fault. He deserved better. His individual excellence is undeniable, but Mount Rushmore often rewards players whose careers coincide with signature team achievements. And that takes us to Luke Neville. Now Luke Neville often gets overlooked because his career falls between the Bogot era and the Kristoviak resurgence. His case, he was the Mountain West Player of the Year, scored nearly 1,900 career points in four years, top five scorer in program history, multiple NCAA tournament appearances, a four-year contributor, and one of Utah's most accomplished centers. And you're talking about a group that includes guys like Brandon Carlson, Andrew Bogat, Jakob Pertle, Mike Doliak. He's right in there with that group. Neville combined longevity with elite production. Unlike Bogut, he built his resume over four seasons while consistently leading winning teams. Although his teams never reached the Sweet 16, Utah remained one of the Mountain West's premier programs throughout his career. He represents sustained excellence rather than one transcendent season. So of those three finalists, Nick Jacobson, Brandon Carlson, or Luke Neville, who gets the nod? For me, it's Luke Neville. And I think his case is the strongest, no question. Not only did he have a lot to live up to coming in in the shadow of his fellow countryman, Andrew Bogett, but he helped lead the team to a conference title and a five-seed in the NCAA tournament. And as we've discussed at length here on the podcast, had they not run into that Arizona team that was full of pros and had underachieved and got that 12 seed, they probably advance as well. So there you go. My Mount Rushmore for Utah basketball since the year 2000, Andrew Bogett, Dylan Wright, Jakob Purdle, and Luke Neville. What do you think? Agree, disagree, hit me up over at Run and Hoops Pod, or you can text or email the show as well to make your case for your Mount Rushmore for Utah basketball since the year 2000. But that's gonna do it for this episode of the Run and Hoops Podcast. I want to thank you as always for listening. Please give me a follow over on X at Run and Hoops Pod or on Instagram at Run and Hoops. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you need a podcast. Let's get those five-star ratings up to 100. And of course, you can support the show over on Venmo at Run and Hoops. But until next time, I'm Andrew Proley. This is the Run and Hoops Podcast. And as always, we know you.