A conference collapses, a coach parts ways — and 8 more compelling Utes stories from 2023

It’s been an eventful year for University of Utah sports.

There’s seemingly never a dull moment in the athletic department, and this year, the university produced plenty of drama.

There was seismic conference realignment — the Pac-12’s collapse led Utah moving to the Big 12 — the gymnastics program parted ways with its longtime head coach, and NIL deals and transfer portal comings and goings kept things interesting on the hill.

Quarterback Cam Rising’s injury recovery, and subsequent will-he-won’t-he-play saga, was certainly one of the most intensely followed stories of 2023, and the announcement of his return in 2024 can’t be understated.

The ski team won its fourth straight national championship, and women’s basketball, gymnastics, softball, men’s tennis and lacrosse won conference championships.

Basketball looks to be on the upswing at Utah, with the women’s basketball team making a Sweet 16 run and this year’s men’s basketball team looking to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016.

Here’s a look at 10 of the most compelling Utah Utes stories this year.

The Pac-12 collapses

The Pac-12’s demise was the biggest story of the year on the Utah beat, and one of the most notable stories in college sports in 2023.

USC and UCLA left the Pac-12 teetering after bolting to the Big Ten Conference. After the Los Angeles schools’ departures, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff still tried to cobble together a television deal, but Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark beat him to the media deal punch, inking a nearly $2.3 billion media deal with ESPN and Fox that reportedly will pay out $31.6 million per year to each of its schools when it takes effect in 2025.

Kliavkoff, who had turned down a $30 million per school per year offer from ESPN early on in realignment, couldn’t put together a better deal than that. TV networks were not desperate, having secured inventory from the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12. The best Kliavkoff could deliver was an Apple TV streaming media deal, which offered less base money than the Big 12’s linear TV deal.

The conference was effectively over the moment Kliavkoff presented the deal. Oregon and Washington left for the Big Ten, while Utah, Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado (the Buffaloes left before the deal was presented) went to the Big 12. Cal and Stanford eventually found their way to the ACC, while Oregon State and Washington State are currently without a home, striking up a scheduling partnership with the Mountain West.

Failures by Larry Scott and Kliavkoff and TV networks’ desire to form “superconferences” effectively killed off a century-old league, leaving just four power conferences.

Utah gymnastics parts ways with coach Tom Farden

The Utah gymnastics program and coach Tom Farden “mutually agreed to part ways” in November, ending his eight-year run at the helm of the Red Rocks.

In September, an external investigation into Farden’s behavior, first reported by the Deseret News, found that while “Farden’s coaching methods left some gymnasts feeling ‘increased fear of failure’ and pressure to retain athletics scholarships, the coach did not engage in ‘any severe, pervasive or egregious’ acts of emotional, verbal or physical abuse or harassment as defined by NCAA regulations and the U.S. Center for SafeSport.”

Farden was allowed to keep coaching after the review, but athletic director Mark Harlan said that “both chief operating officer/deputy director of athletics Charmelle Green and I will be even more vigilant in monitoring his conduct and his coaching methods, and he will be held to a higher standard moving forward.”

Harlan placed Farden on administrative leave on Nov. 12, stating “recent conduct and actions by coach Farden not related to student-athlete welfare, which simply do not align with our values and expectations.”

That action followed a Washington Post interview with Farden’s attorney, Brian C. Johnson, who said that Farden did not plan on changing his coaching methods, even after gymnasts Kara Eaker and Kim Tessen went public with allegations of emotional and verbal abuse.

A week later, Farden and Utah parted ways.

Utah hired Carly Dockendorf as its new head coach on Dec. 7. The Red Rocks have high expectations this year as they vie for their first national championship since 1995.

Utah joins the Big 12

As the Pac-12 burned down, the Big 12 saw opportunity and struck, adding Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State in what Yorkmark called a “dream scenario.”

Former Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby made shrewd moves to save the Big 12 when Texas and Oklahoma left for the SEC, which set off the realignment cycle, moving fast to add BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston. From there, Yorkmark got the TV deal before the Pac-12, securing the Big 12’s long-term future.

On Aug. 4, after a wild day of Pac-12 members jumping ship, Utah joined the Big 12.

Three Pac-12 schools will join Utah in the Big 12, and the Utes will reignite rivalries with BYU and TCU. Utah is guaranteed a College Football Playoff spot if it wins the Big 12, and the Big 12 is the best basketball conference in the country.

But for the first time in school history — at least in football — Utah moving conferences is, at best, a lateral move.

Utah football team is bit by the injury bug in 8-5 season

The 2023 football season didn’t live up to offseason expectations. After winning back-to-back Pac-12 championships, and with a strong core returning, including Rising, Utah was gunning for an unprecedented-in-the-Pac-12 era threepeat.

But season-ending injuries to key players — Rising, tight end Brant Kuithe, tight end Thomas Yassmin, running back Chris Curry, running back Micah Bernard (played in two games), wide receiver Mycah Pittman, linebacker Lander Barton, defensive end Logan Fano and defensive end Jonah Elliss (missed last two games) — derailed the year.

Quarterback Brandon Rose, who was in pole position for the backup job in the spring, was injured during a fall scrimmage and missed about two months and several other players missed at least two games.

Even with all of the injuries, the quarterback switches — Bryson Barnes started the season, was benched in favor of Nate Johnson, then regained the starting job — Utah was still 6-1 following a win over USC in Los Angeles, with its only loss at Oregon State.

The Utes lost to top-20 programs Oregon, Washington and Arizona down the stretch, knocking them out of Pac-12 championship contention. Losses to the Ducks and Wildcats were blowouts.

With all of the injuries, an 8-4 regular season was looked at as a success, but the season ended on a sour note as the Utes’ offensive ineptitude was magnified in a 14-7 Las Vegas Bowl loss to Northwestern.

Cam Rising’s 2024 return and Rising and Brant Kuithe’s injuries

In a huge boost for Utah’s 2024 team, Rising announced his return to the university on Nov. 19.

Rising will obtain a medical redshirt and be back for his sixth year at Utah in 2024. It’s a boon for the Utes as they enter a wide-open Big 12, with the conference champion heading to the College Football Playoff, which expands to 12 teams next year.

The veteran quarterback has shined in Andy Ludwig’s offense, throwing for 5,572 yards and 46 touchdowns during his Utes career.

Utah gets the leader of its team back, and a player that has pushed the Utes’ offense to new heights.

“Cam Rising, tremendous player. Absolute leader of our football team, he’s the alpha dog of our team,” coach Kyle Whittingham said at Pac-12 media day this season.

Rising led Utah to two consecutive Pac-12 championships. In 2022, he threw for 3,034 yards and 26 touchdowns, with standout performances in both wins vs. USC, including the 2022 Pac-12 championship game. Utah’s 38.6 points per game in 2022 was surpassed in the last 20 years only by the 45.3 points per game scored by the undefeated 2004 team.

Aside from conference realignment, perhaps no Utes story was followed as close as Rising’s injury status through 2023.

Rising underwent surgery for in January to repair his torn ACL, meniscus, MPFL and MCL, while Kuithe had surgery to repair a torn ACL and meniscus in October 2022.

In July, at Pac-12 media day, Whittingham said that  “Cam is going to come right down to the wire” in terms of being ready for the opener.

As fall camp opened July 31, Whittingham said Rising was “right on schedule” in terms of his rehab. But as fall camp progressed, the longtime Utah coach seemed to pull back a little, saying that Rising was “limited” in practice.

The will-he/won’t-he saga continued through October, with Rising cleared to practice, but not play in a game. The decision on whether the veteran Utah quarterback was playing each week was left up to Rising’s surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

Rising took to the radio airwaves on Oct. 5, spelling out all of his injuries. With some frustration in his voice, he described how hard he had been working to return.

After a January surgery, a player returning from just an ACL tear and playing in a game in seven months was very unlikely, but technically possible — Clemson wide receiver Amari Rodgers played in a game six months after suffering a torn ACL. But add in the meniscus, MPFL and MCL, and the timeline of returning by Aug. 31 seemed unrealistic.

Perhaps Whittingham making it clear from the start that Rising’s injury was more severe than just an ACL tear and that he was not likely to play in the first month of Utah’s season would have been better for all involved, from Rising to Utah’s fans.

But there’s no injury report mandate from the Pac-12 or NCAA, and Whittingham likes to hold injury news close to the vest.

Kuithe, who had complications in his rehab, also hadn’t seen the field in a game.

On Oct. 21, after Utah’s win at USC, Whittingham announced Rising and Kuithe were out for the season.

“We’ve been hoping for them each week, but medical staff is the ones who make those calls. We’re not going to question that at all. That’s just not how we operate, so there’s a medical decision to shut them down for the rest of the year. The safest thing to do for them, gives them the best chance to get back to 100%, and so 100% on board with that,” Whittingham said of Rising and Kuithe.

Utah women’s basketball team wins share of Pac-12, makes Sweet 16 run

Lynne Roberts’ squad was one of the most fun to watch in the country last year, averaging 83.5 points per game.

Pac-12 Player of the Year Alissa Pili led Utah with 20.2 points per game and the Utes won a share of their first-ever Pac-12 title by defeating No. 3 Stanford 84-78 in front of a rocking Huntsman Center.

In the NCAA Tournament, No. 2-seeded Utah dispatched Gardner-Webb 103-77, then defeated Princeton 63-56 to set up a Sweet 16 date with LSU.

Utah took the eventual national champions down to the wire in a 66-63 loss. Jenna Johnson missed two free throws with the Utes down by one point, then Alexis Morris hit two free throws and Dasia Young’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer was no good.

It was the first Sweet 16 appearance for the Ute women since 2006, and marked a defining moment for Roberts, who slowly built the program back up from the time she was hired in 2015.

This year’s Utes are on the same track as last year’s team, even though guard Gianna Kneepkens is out for the season with a broken foot. Utah is ranked in the AP top 15 and still has a high-octane offense, averaging 94 points per game.

Skiing wins another national championship

For the fourth season in a row, Utah won the NCAA skiing national championship, adding a 16th title to its trophy case.

Novie McCabe won the women’s 20K classic and the 5K, while Madison Hoffman won the giant slalom and slalom. Sophia Laukli placed third in the women’s 20K. On the men’s side, Samuel Hendry earned a fourth-place finish in the men’s 20K.

Utah had 526 points to win the championship, followed by Colorado’s 491.5 and Denver’s 416.5.

“It’s an incredible feeling to pull this one off,” Utah director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt said. “It was probably the hardest one in my five years at Utah. Colorado came out and they really performed at a higher level than they have all winter, and it ended up coming down to the wire. I’m very proud of our whole team.”

Gymnastics, softball, men’s tennis and lacrosse win league titles

Besides a co-Pac-12 championship for women’s basketball, Utah had four more sports win league titles in 2023.

The Red Rocks won a share of the regular-season Pac-12 championship, sharing the title with Oregon State, Cal and UCLA, but were victorious in the Pac-12 championship meet. The Red Rocks won their third consecutive Pac-12 title, posting a score of 197.925 to edge out UCLA’s 197.850 and Cal’s 197.825.

Abby Brenner won an individual title on vault and Maile O’Keefe finished second in the all-around competition.

Utah gymnastics made another run at the national championship, finishing third at the NCAA championship meet for the third season in a row.

While UCLA claimed the regular-season Pac-12 title, Utah captured the first-ever Pac-12 softball tournament.

Amy Hogue’s squad beat Cal and Washington to set up a championship game victory against UCLA. Tied 4-4, Utah took the lead for good with a three-run sixth inning. Freshman Hailee White drove in a run on a double, then senior Halle Morris hit a two-run homer to give Utah a three-run cushion.

Pitcher Mariah Lopez was able to get out of a jam in the sixth inning before a  1-2-3 frame in the seventh inning.

After winning the Pac-12 title, the Utes carried that momentum into the NCAA tournament, defeating Southern Illinois and Ole Miss to advance to the Super Regionals. Utah bested San Diego State after falling behind 0-1 in the series to punch the Utes’ first ticket to the College World Series since 1994. Though the Utes would lose to Washington at the College World Series, it was a hugely successful season for Utah.

Meanwhile, against all odds, Utah men’s tennis won its first-ever share of a Pac-12 championship, sharing the 2023 title with Arizona and USC. Prior to Utah’s victory, the Pac-12 championship had been won by a California or Arizona school for the last 17 years.

The Utes defeated UCLA on the road, winning 4-3 in comeback fashion. Francisco Bastias defeated Aadarsh Tripathi to cap off the victory for the Utes.

Utah defeated Old Dominion in the first round of the NCAA tournament before falling to North Carolina in the second round.

And last but not least, Utah lacrosse, which competed as a Division I sport for the first time in 2019, checked off a big goal for the program in 2023.

This year, Andrew McMinn’s team won the ASUN conference tournament, advancing to the NCAA tournament after defeating Air Force 11-9 in the conference championship, led by Brandon Dodd’s goal and two assists. Utah fell to Notre Dame, 20-7, in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Utah basketball starts 8-2 with a big win over BYU

Craig Smith was hired away from Utah State to do in Salt Lake City what he did in Logan — make the NCAA Tournament.

Utah hasn’t made the Big Dance since 2016. In Smith’s third year at the helm, could this be the year?

There’s a long ways to go until that is decided, but as Utah finished up nonconference play, there were some promising signs.

As of Dec. 20, Utah was No. 33 in the NCAA’s NET rankings and was just outside The Associated Press Top 25.

A Quad 1 win at home against then-No. 14 BYU is probably the second-biggest win in the Smith era (No. 1 was an 81-66 win over then No. 4 Arizona in 2022). The 73-69 win over the Cougars gives the Utes a great resume win, with plenty of Quad 1 opportunities upcoming to add to that resume — Arizona, Colorado, Washington State, Washington and Oregon.

Branden Carlson, who made the decision to return to Utah, has been outstanding, scoring 18.4 points per game with 6.6 rebounds. Gabe Madsen is scoring 14.4 points per game and Rollie Worster, Keba Keita and Cole Bajema are all around 10 points per game.

NIL and transfer portal shake up college sports

In August 2021, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling changed college sports forever.

The ruling meant that college athletes could profit off of their name, image and likeness for the first time ever.

NIL, combined with the new 2021 rule that made it so first-time transfers don’t have to sit out a year, has turned college sports upside down.

One of the most visible representations of this new era of college sports was at the University of Utah. Donors to the the Crimson Collective gifted football, men’s and women’s basketball, and gymnastics athletes a lease on a new Ram truck or Jeep Grand Cherokee.

When the college football transfer portal opened up in early December, a flood of players entered their name — over 1,500, according to On3.

Utah wasn’t immune to losing players to the transfer portal — 15 payers have entered, including wide receiver Mikey Matthews, cornerback JaTravis Broughton and quarterbacks Bryson Barnes and Nate Johnson were some of the more notable entries.

The portal swings both ways, though, and the Utes added Georgia Tech cornerback Kenan Johnson, BYU defensive end John Henry Daley, UCLA tight end Carsen Ryan and Blinn College safety Maurice Evans thus far.

Correction: A previous version of this story erroneously stated that Brett Yormark was the commissioner when BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston were invited to the Big 12. The commissioner at the time was Bob Bowlsby.