Home Stretch

Utah is set to take on BYU this Saturday, 10/18, in the first ranked Holy War since ‘09. Sports Editor, John Leone, breaks down the matchup.

John and Collyn discuss the recent struggles of Utah football and preview the West Virginia game with Bryce Cohen of the Daily Athenaeum.

John and Collyn preview Utah’s matchup with Texas Tech, plus some women’s soccer coverage.

Sports Editor John Leone sits down to speak about recent sports events at the University of Utah.

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Welcome in guys, this is the homestretch podcast where we talk old things Utah athletics. I'm your host Max Valva and we're diving in headfirst into the very first episode of the season with a big focus on the Utah men's basketball team. So whether you're a diehard Utes fan or just looking for some good sports talk, you're in the right place. This is the podcast where we break down the action, the moves,

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and the game-changing moments that make Utah sports one of the best in the country. Let's get into it.

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Okay, let's talk hoops. The 2023-2024 season for the Utah men's basketball team was anything but boring. In fact, it was pretty insane. This season for the Utes was the first in the Big 12, and let's be real, there was a lot of unknowns. It's a new conference, which meant a whole lot of new faces and a whole lot of fresh transfers coming in. Not exactly a recipe for immediate success, right? Well, that's what we thought.

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But hey, the Utes were picked to finish dead last in the Big 12. Yeah, dead last. People really thought we would be an afterthought in this conference. And they were counting us out before the season even tipped off. Well, you know what? This team proved everyone wrong. They finished the season at a respectable 500, 16 and 16, 8 and 12 in the Big 12. But being in a new conference, that's expected.

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Although it wasn't quite a Cinderella run when you look at it, the amount of turnover on the roster and the insane competition, the Big 12, was a pretty solid show. But let's be honest, this is a program that expects more. Being the largest university in the state of Utah, we have to show up, we have to do our best to make the fans excited for the season. And that's something that

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we just haven't seen yet. We haven't made the tournament since 2016, and it's been a long, long time. It's been a disappointing run. It's a program that used to compete, and as a fan of the university, I think I speak for all of us out here to say we want to see more. It's been a long time since 2016. It's been years. And settling for 500.

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isn't something we should be striving for. Think back to the 90s. The Utes were not just a regional power, we were a national powerhouse. Under the late great Rick Majeris, the Utes made deep runs in the tournament every year. Under Majeris, we had three straight 16 appearances, even a title game appearance in 98. This program wasn't just competitive, it was elite.

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And now we're still trying to get that back. Nine years removed from playing in meaningful postseason basketball. Think about that. We haven't made the tournament since Kuzma suited up for us. Since Jakob Pertl. All these guys who have been in the NBA for almost a decade. So where do we go from?

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After a disappointing year, the Utes decided to let go of fourth year head coach Craig Smith and bring in alumni and Utah legend Alex Jensen. You heard me right, that Alex Jensen. A player who once played under Rick Majeris is now back to be the new head coach of the running Utes, the new captain to bring us back to the tournament.

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So what is Jensen's resume? He's been an assistant coach in the NBA since 2013. First with the Utah Jazz, most recently with the Dallas Mavericks, helping lead them to the NBA Finals last year. Now obviously there's been a little bit of turmoil down in Dallas with Luca Donchitrade and Nico Harrison just killing the vibes down there. So...

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He's coming back home.

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Looking at Jensen, he's not just an assistant coach. This guy has experienced coaching at the highest level, working alongside some of greatest NBA players. And he's been a candidate before, and now he's back at his alma mater. He's ready to turn around this Utah program. He's got the knowledge, he's got the pedigree, and he's got the passion that this Utes team needs.

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Not saying Craig Smith didn't, he was a very passionate guy, but results on the court weren't there. And the recruiting, that's the biggest part. Jensen is tapped into the transfer portal already. He's gonna bring in strong recruits. You best believe that. Trust me, Utes fans. We're in good hands with Jensen. Now before we wrap up, I wanna give a big shout out to the seniors who played their final games in the Huntsman Center last month.

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Gabe Madsen, Mason Madsen, Lawson Loverin, Hunter Erickson, Caleb Loner, and Brandon Haddock. Thank you guys for everything you gave to the program. And I gotta give a big, and I gotta give a special shout out to Gabe. Madsen's been a huge part of this Utah team for the past four years. Something that is becoming more and more rare these days in college basketball.

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with the transfer portal being such a big part of today's Gabe, shout out to you, So what's next for Utah Hoops? The future looks bright. You best believe Alex Jensen is going to bring the Utes back to relevance. It might take a couple of seasons, but the foundation is being built. I think it's going to pay off big time. Keep your eyes open, folks. This team is coming back.

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or coming back strong.

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That's it for today's episode of the Home Stretch Pod. I appreciate you tuning in for the ride. Make sure you follow the channel and leave a review if you're feeling generous. Share the pod with your fellow Utes fans. We've got a lot more coming your way, so stay tuned as we dive deeper into Utah sports all year long. Till next time, this is Max Valva. You've listened to the Home Stretch Podcast brought to you by the Daily Utah Chronicle.

Christian Stringer: Hi and welcome back to the Home Stretch, the Daily Utah Chronicle sports podcast. My name is Christian. I will be your host today, Brooke will be talking about some of our fall sports teams and how they have done so far this season. Hi Brooke, and welcome to the podcast. 

Brooke Hale: Hi, thank you for having me. 

Christian Stringer: So what have you seen from some of the Utes fall sports this semester?

Brooke Hale: Yeah, it's been super exciting. So today I'll just kind of talk about the women's volleyball team and the women's soccer team, just because they've had really good seasons. I mean, volleyball is still playing. They are going to make a run in the NCAA tournament, which is so exciting. And the women's soccer team, they had their best season so far in years since, like, maybe 2016 so there is a lot to talk about today, and it's very exciting to see, you know, our women's team, you know, being successful, and especially our first year in the Big 12, it's super exciting to see that they can make an impact right away in in the conference. 

Christian Stringer: Yeah, having hot starts in new conferences is always a great thing. So specifically, what have you seen from the volleyball team so far? 

Brooke Hale: Yeah I mean, the volleyball team has had a great year. They have been ranked in the top 25 for most of the season, which is super exciting. They will hopefully be hosting the first couple rounds at the NCAA. Kind of depends on like seeding and where they are ranked by the end of the season but they should be in a great spot which is super exciting. Currently they're 21-5, which is an awesome record that is insane. Again, making an emphasis on the first year, on being in the Big 12, that's an awesome record there. Their winning percentage is 8.08 which is super exciting. There are 11 and 4 in conference play, and at home they're 10 and 2. So being at home and especially if they are hosting in the NCAA, that will be awesome. They have a great winning at home percentage. Utah has 1,292 kills against other teams. It has 1,190

assists, which is awesome, and aces their leading opponents by 149 which is awesome. That is a ton of aces. So this team this year, they're really stacked. I mean, on all sides, on offense and defense, they're really doing well, and they take on West Virginia, Cincinnati and Iowa State in their next couple games before the NCAA. So I mean, with the 21 and 5 record, they should be in a great spot for the tournament and having three more games and senior night coming up, they should have a great home advantage. So shout out to volleyball. They're doing awesome, they're killing it. I wish you guys the best for the NCAA. I hope you guys can make a great run. You guys have a great team this year and it's super exciting. 

Christian Stringer: Yeah, good luck to them coming up on the tournament. And I love hearing about that home court advantage. That just seems like a trend here at Utah. In years past, we always seem to have that good home field advantage, home court advantage. So now shifting gears, what have you seen from the soccer team so far this year? 

Brooke Hale: Yeah, I mean the soccer team I mentioned this earlier there, they had their best season since 2016 which is huge like they were kind of in a rut for a little bit. You know, kind of some a lot of coaching changes, a lot of transfers coming in the program. There's been a lot of up and up and down, especially the last couple seasons. So again, entering the Big 12 this season, they ended the season eight, six and five, which is awesome. I mean, obviously all games are hard and especially the Big 12, there's some great competition. And they made their first Big 12 tournament this year, being in the Big 12 for the first time this year, they were seated, which is super exciting. That's awesome first year, obviously, in the conference, which is super exciting. And then they did fall off to the Colorado Buffs. They play them back to back. Their last game actually regular season was at Colorado, and that was a tie, which was a back and forth game, which is a super exciting game, and then the tournament was the next week and they got seated against Colorado, and they fell short to them in Kansas to the Colorado buffs, which was super disappointing. They definitely looked like the better team. But I mean, coming off a great season and especially like half the team was new this year, so there was a big turnover. And, you know finally, things kind of clicking and putting things together, which is super awesome for the soccer team. And again going off the volleyball team, it's great to have some women sports you know doing well, and especially in the Big 12. So the soccer team has a lot to build off of after this season, and they have a lot of young players and experienced players, which is super exciting. And I think this is kind of the season they needed to build off of the talent they have this year. And I think moving into this next year with a lot of new faces they kind of set the tone for you know, this is how we play. This is the expectations and to make the tournament every year, that should be an expectation for this team. So again, shout out to women's soccer. It was exciting to watch them this year and shout out to a woman's volleyball. Again hope you guys have a great run in the tournament. And super exciting to see our women's teams, you know be successful so yeah.

Christian Stringer: Congrats to the soccer team for making that Big 12 tournament, not the outcome we wanted, but here's to hoping for more success in the future more growth, more improvement. Well, that was awesome, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts today Brooke. And thank you guys for listening to the Home Stretch, the Daily Utah Chronicle sports podcast. Stay tuned for new episodes coming every other week. 

Christian Stringer and Brooke Hale talk about both basketball teams and their first year in the Big 12.

Christian and Kyle talk about the Football season so far. They talk about the Utes offense and defense this year.

This episode focuses on the University of Utah's soccer team. Brooke being a former player gives her opinion and insight on the women's soccer team.

Kamry Bailey the senior joins the Home Stretch and talks about the women's volleyball team this season. Kamry also talks about her experience as an athlete and being a student.