News on Everything Utah!
Source: Utah News
The NCAA transfer portal has changed the athletic world, particularly in college basketball.
Here is a running list of players from the state of Utah’s seven Division I men’s college basketball programs — Utah, BYU, Utah State, Weber State, Southern Utah, Utah Valley and Utah Tech — who have reportedly entered the portal so far during the spring 2025 window, with Verbal Commits as the primary source unless otherwise noted, as well as transfers who commit to those seven schools.
The list will be updated as players announce their intentions.
Special Collector’s Issue: “1984: The Year BYU was Second to None”
Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football’s 1984 National Championship season.
ENTERED TRANSFER PORTAL
TRANSFER PORTAL ADDITIONS
ENTERED TRANSFER PORTAL
TRANSFER PORTAL ADDITIONS
ENTERED TRANSFER PORTAL
TRANSFER PORTAL ADDITION
ENTERED TRANSFER PORTAL
TRANSFER PORTAL ADDITION
ENTERED TRANSFER PORTAL
TRANSFER PORTAL ADDITIONS
ENTERED TRANSFER PORTAL
TRANSFER PORTAL ADDITIONS
ENTERED TRANSFER PORTAL
TRANSFER PORTAL ADDITIONS
Source: Utah News
As President Donald Trump nears 100 days in office – a milestone frequently highlighted as when a president’s influence power starts to wane – he is grappling with pushback from the courts to his deportation efforts and economic uncertainty around his trade policies and tariffs.
He is underwater nationally, and some states have reacted poorly to some of his key initiatives. But other states – such as Utah – continue to be staunch supporters of the president.
The multiple challenges will likely continue to be fueling people’s opinions about the president well past the 100-day mark. Here’s a look at what people think of the job he is doing, both at the state and national level:
Most national polls show Trump with negative job approval as he battles with multiple controversies around his presidency. All of these polls closed April 10 or later, capturing initial reactions to the impact of tariffs and some pitched court battles over deportation practices:
There continues to be scant polling data about the president’s performance, but online pollster Civiqs continues to regularly sample the state. Trump had a 57% approval, 39% disapproval rating in Utah surveys through April 16, close to where he has been for weeks.
Drew Linzer, the director of Civiqs, previously told the USA TODAY Network the firm uses advanced and proprietary modeling to develop results from online surveys of around 200 to 250 registered voters daily across the country. Voters in Utah and other states are represented in the sample “proportional to the sizes of those states in the US population.”
USA TODAY Network reporters continued to find Civiqs data roughly mirroring the results of the 2024 election.
It’s important to note that each pollster has their own methodology, with responses gathered online, over the phone, through the mail or in person — with some using a combination of methods. They also draw from different cohorts. Registered and likely voters are more likely to be surveyed near elections, while responses may come from all Americans between elections.
Those variations can make it difficult to compare one poll to another, even from the same pollster at different parts of the political cycle.
The Pew Research Center, which has conducted public opinion polls for more than two decades, says good polls can “give everyone in the population – regardless of their wealth, age, education, race, knowledge of politics or experience with it – an equal voice about the issues of the day.”
Nate Trela covers trending news in Colorado and Utah for the USA TODAY Network.
Source: Utah News
Utahns born into low-income families still have a better chance of making more than their parents than if they were born elsewhere, a new study shows, but those younger Utahns lost ground between generations.
The state looks “very good in terms of economic mobility,” said economist Raj Chetty.
Chetty is the William A. Ackman Professor of Economics at Harvard University and the director of Opportunity Insights, which uses data to study the science of economic opportunity and ways to give children from all backgrounds better chances of succeeding.
He spoke recently at a Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute seminar about upward mobility between generations.
Intergenerational mobility — the idea that you’ll do better than your parents — is core to the American dream, but it’s not guaranteed.
The ability to move up depends largely on where you grow up, according to an analysis by Opportunity Insights and the U.S. Census Bureau.
And though there are still “substantial” divides based on race, Chetty said, there are some “encouraging signs of progress.”
Chetty talked about the Opportunity Atlas, which uses anonymized data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Internal Revenue Service to follow millions of Americans from childhood to adulthood.
It specifically compared average household income, pulled from tax return data, at age 27 for Americans born to low-income families in both 1978 and 1992 to get a localized picture of changing opportunities over time.
After normalizing incomes based on 2023 dollars, the research found upward mobility largely declined for millennials compared to Generation X.
Utah still offers “a significant amount of upward mobility in a single generation,” Chetty said, from parents making the 25th percentile of about $27,000 to kids born in 1992 making an average of about $36,100 at age 27.
That’s the sixth-highest outcome of any state for the 1992 cohort, according to the Opportunity Atlas data.
But it’s an 8.4% drop from the average income of Utahns born in 1978 to low-income parents.
That drop is among the biggest in the nation.
There were some exceptions. In counties where data was available, minorities either saw gains between generations or a smaller drop.
Utahns identifying as Hispanic or Latino and Black born in 1992 saw the largest gains over people born in 1978, though their earnings at 27 were still less than white people born in Utah.
And while children in most of the 21 counties in Utah with enough data available made less between generations, even while making more than their parents, there was a small gain in Sanpete County and a 7.6% gain in Millard County.
On the flip side, counties reliant on employment in coal, oil and other fossil-fuel-related industries – namely Carbon, Duchesne and Uintah counties – saw the biggest drops of at least 20%.
That likely ties to one thing researchers wrote of upward mobility: “Children’s outcomes are shaped by parental employment rates of peers with whom they interact most,” a nontechnical version of the research reads.
Chetty said researchers noticed four other patterns in areas with high economic mobility:
He also talked about solutions that have worked elsewhere to improve upward mobility. For example, the use of Housing Choice Vouchers (formerly known as Section 8) is typically clustered in low-mobility neighborhoods, Chetty said.
But social support interventions can help families move to high-mobility neighborhoods.
A program in Seattle helped significantly more families move to better neighborhoods, and children in those families earned at least $200,000 more during their careers.
Now increased to a larger scale through the Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration Act, the program is continuing to work to improve odds at upward mobility, he said.
But moving everyone isn’t scalable, he said, so place-based investments are also important. Revitalizing areas with high rates of poverty or other issues also helps kids interact with people in other economic classes, Chetty said.
He pointed to programs in Berkeley and Atlanta that have led to improved interactions with “folks in surrounding communities.
A third solution is improving access to higher education and workforce training, he said. Children from low-income families are less likely to get a postsecondary education than kids from high-income families, he said, even with the same SAT scores.
“Very few institutions educate low-income children and deliver good outcomes for them,” Chetty said.
At some level, Chetty said, officials could be satisfied with Utah offering better opportunities than other places.
At some level, Chetty said, Utah officials could be satisfied that the Beehive State offers better opportunities.
But there’s no guarantee that remains the case, he said.
Chetty stressed that officials choosing to do things to help some people won’t hurt those who already have a good chance at mobility.
“You can create opportunity in one place without taking away from others,” he said, adding it’s not a fixed pie but one that can grow.
Utah Speaker of the House Mike Schultz has personal experience with that. The Hooper resident said he grew up “on the bottom end” but had great mentors and connections.
“There are so many of us in this community who grew up this way, who are these numbers,” Schultz said.
It’s important, he said, to “intermix and integrate” and otherwise create opportunities for people in lower economic classes.
Megan Banta is The Salt Lake Tribune’s data enterprise reporter, a philanthropically supported position. The Tribune retains control over all editorial decisions.
Source: Utah News
Source: Utah News
Could the Big Ten be looking to expand yet again? There is an interesting rumor out there right now surrounding one school linking up with the league.
There is a rumor swirling around the web right now that the Big Ten is interested in adding Utah as a new member to the league. The rumor started with a message board post and has since been picked up by at least a pair of notable podcasts related to the Big Ten, including Locked on Big Ten.
Advertisement
Craig Shemon — host of Locked on Big Ten — talked about the thought of Utah joining the Big Ten during an episode on Wednesday where he broke down the rumor. Shemon said the rumor could have some merit to it since Utah does meet a number of the Big Ten checklist items. But he also noted how Utah just joined the Big 12 last year and there would be a number of financial hurdles for the Utes to clear to even consider leaving for the Big Ten.
Shemon added that it seems very unlikely that anything could materialize between the Big Ten and Utah for at least a few years, but down the road it would make sense for the Big Ten to add the Utes when the league is ready to expand again. The full break down from Shemon can be found in the video below:
This feels like something that probably doesn’t even warrant a post since it started on a message board. But let’s not forget that some of the biggest moves and stories have started with message board posts. So let’s not just instantly dismiss the idea of Utah eventually joining the Big Ten. The key word there being eventually…
Advertisement
Like Shemon said in his recent podcast episode, this doesn’t seem like a move that is anywhere near close to being done. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Utah was on a shortlist of schools that the Big Ten is targeting in future expansion. It would make sense for the Big Ten to look out west again in its next expansion to help spread its footprint more equally and make travel easier for the other newcomers (USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington).
So for now, I wouldn’t spend too much time looking into this one. But in three or four years, I wouldn’t be surprised it we see Utah joining the Big Ten along with a few other western schools.
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Rumor suggests Big Ten is interested in adding Utah
Source: Utah News
On the morning of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Semifinals, ESPN announced that the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad will return to the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah, in January 2026.
The meet will host two quad meets on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. Session I will air live on ABC at 4 p.m. ET, with Session II slated for primetime on ESPN2 at 8 or 9 p.m.
“We are thrilled to return to Utah for the third annual Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad,” said ESPN Events director Kristen Shaver. The event sponsor states a shared commitment to the competition’s goals.
“Sprouts is on a mission to empower women both on and off the mat, whether it’s fueling performance through nutrition or partnering with organizations who are changing the game in women’s sports,” added Nick Konat, president and COO.
The 2025 edition, held in Oklahoma City, drew national attention as one of the premier regular-season events of the NCAA gymnastics season. It was also one of the most competitive, with all eight participating programs going on to appear in this year’s postseason competition.
Five of those eight teams will compete in today’s national semifinals, with defending National Champion No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 4 Utah, No. 5 UCLA, and No. 8 Michigan State all bidding for a national title. These five will join No. 5 California, No. 9 Kentucky, and 2021 NCAA Champion Michigan on the 2026 roster.
“To have all eight teams make a postseason appearance with five advancing to the National Championship speaks volumes to the stature of this early-season event,” Shaver said. “We believe strongly in the power of women’s sports and are committed to furthering the growth of gymnastics.”
After garnering groundbreaking viewership numbers in its 2024 and 2025 editions, the meet will return to primetime television in 2026. ESPN reports that the first two years of the event stand as the “most-watched live, regular season collegiate gymnastics meets ever” aired on ESPN platforms.
While the meet doesn’t serve as a postseason qualifier, organizers argue its execution sets the event apart from other regular-season meets.
“The teams at ESPN working on the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad treat it as if it were the national championship,” said Hannah McSwain, an Associate Manager for ESPN Events.
FORT WORTH, TX – APRIL 15: The crowd watches the action during the Division I Women’s Gymnastics … More
“From the podium and the equipment the athletes compete on to the on-air broadcast featuring our postseason talent – we aim for the event to have a postseason feel at the beginning of the season.”
Upon launching the event and gymnastics as a new sports category for ESPN Events in 2024, McSwain says the team’s first year was “a learning experience” as they familiarized themselves with the sport.
“We familiarized ourselves with the sport, including the nuance, precision, and passion,” she attests. “We work with our experienced production team, hire two meet directors with more than 40 years combined experience, and seek input from the participating schools to ensure we are building the best event for these athletes.”
The event’s organizers key that the meet’s success is part of a greater pattern in women’s gymnastics and women’s athletics – one that will play out at this week’s championship.
“We’ve seen with a lot of growth sports, especially women’s sports,” said Mallory Kenny, Director of Programming. “If you create a consistent programming strategy – such as SEC Network’s Friday Night Heights – and find new ways to showcase the stories of these incredible athletes, fans will not only come to watch, but they are likely to return.”
Kenny and the ESPN events team have the data to support their commitment to growing the sport. “In only three years, we have nearly doubled the programming hours of women’s gymnastics across our platforms, making the sport more accessible to more fans.” As for ESPN’s winning strategy, Kenny credits the commitment to outreach and accessibility for fans.
Our production team and commentators do a great job of making these events accessible to both the die-hard gymnastics fan and the casual gymnastics fan who may be tuning in for the first time,” she adds.
“Through our new NCAA media rights agreement and our relationship with our conference partners, we have a lot more options in terms of new events and new storytelling opportunities within this sport.” ESPN’s original content series, Game On, directly responds to these budding opportunities.
AUBURN, ALABAMA – FEBRUARY 2: (EDITORS NOTE: This is an in-camera multiple exposure image) Anna Hill … More
“One of the keys to further expansion of women’s gymnastics coverage is expanding our audience and connecting with younger fans through marquee events, enhanced production, and activating across our digital and social platforms,” Kenny says.
This Saturday’s ABC broadcast of the national championship is a prime example – and it’s just the beginning. Amanda Gifford, ESPN’s Senior Vice President of Production, attested to the meticulous execution of Thursday’s semifinals and Saturday’s finals.
ESPN is “always looking to raise the bar in our presentation,” Gifford shares. “We think there are a lot of opportunities regarding innovation with gymnastics.” In 2024, the ESPN events team debuted a new scoring tower to display results, dubbed a “game changer” by coaches, media, and fans.
This weekend’s broadcast will introduce a new feature designed to highlight the gymnasts’ explosive power and technique: 4-dimensional replay, available for vault and uneven bars.
“Each apparatus has 30 cameras surrounding it and will help us display the true athleticism and dynamic performances of these gymnasts,” Gifford says.
The new addition to 2025’s broadcast is one of many steps intended to increase accessibility and enjoyment for viewers. For new viewers, “gymnastics is challenging,” Gifford and her team admit.
“It’s on us to educate the viewer and find ways to make understanding the sport as easy as watching it. As the sport continues to grow, and we find new ways to make gymnastics accessible and available, we have to continue to evolve in our storytelling and presentation.”
Gymnastics coverage has come a long way, and ESPN’s work is no exception. Gifford tells me that witnessing the sport’s progress has been “special.”
“We’ve gone from a small number of live televised meets to more than 70 – aided by the launches of both SEC Network and ACC Network – and grown our coverage to include multiple conference championships, NCAA regionals, a pre-championship preview show on ABC, ESPN Events’ creation of the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, and more,” she shares.
The team that works on this sport is so passionate about gymnastics,” she adds. “Some are lifelong fans, former gymnasts or dancers, or have just grown to love the sport over the years they’ve worked on it at ESPN. Coming in new to the sport this year, the energy of the ESPN team behind the scenes is exciting to be part of, and I think that translates to our coverage.”
Fans can witness the innovation for themselves, beginning with the two national semifinals on Thursday, April 17, broadcast live on ESPN2. The National Championship, dubbed ‘The Four On The Floor,” will be broadcast live on ABC on Saturday, April 19. Detailed scheduling and streaming can be found here.
Full details regarding timing and commentary for the 2026 Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate quad will be announced at a later date, with tickets going on sale this Fall. Fans eager to book their trips can secure pre-sale access by signing up for the event mailing list at www.sproutscollegiatequad.com/tickets.
Source: Utah News
Source: Utah News
KEY POINTS
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox remembers visiting a public school in Layton a couple of years ago where many of the students and their families were facing rough economic times.
The principal showed the governor a pantry inside the school stocked with food for the kids to take home.
The extra food, the principal explained, was helping the children satisfy an essential education resource: Basic nutrition and sustenance.
The principal then added something Cox has not forgotten: “Kids can’t learn when they’re hungry. … Kids can’t learn when their thoughts are elsewhere.”
That compassionate impulse to feed and educate Utah’s kids is at the heart of House Bill 100, said the governor.
Cox, lawmakers and community advocates for fight against hunger gathered Tuesday at the Utah State Capitol to sign, ceremoniously, the bill passed during the recent Legislative session to provide school lunch at no cost to eligible students.
HB100, said Cox, “Isn’t just about providing school lunch — it’s about helping kids learn, and kids can’t learn when they’re hungry.”
HB100 expands the number of Utah’s K-12 students eligible to receive free school lunch — while shielding participating kids from embarrassment and also aiming to reduce food waste.
A trio of provisions highlight HB100:
Eliminating the “reduced price threshold” is a defining element of HB100, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Tyler Clancy, R-Provo, and Sen. Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy.
The new legislation will reportedly provide no-cost meals for approximately 40,000 currently classified as “reduced price” children whose families are perhaps waging daily battles to stay in the middle class.
“These are families that a couple years ago probably would be considered middle class — but due to inflation and a number of other concerns, the price of food in particular has hit these families hard,” said Clancy during a bill presentation last month to lawmakers.
The price of a healthy meal in Utah’s San Juan County, he noted, “has gone up 77% since 2020.”
Allowing “reduced price school lunch” students to receive “no-cost” school lunch, Clancy added, would signal “a small adjustment to our social safety net” that can keep many Utah families on the path to self-sufficiency — and well-fed students succeeding in the classroom.
HB100 also requires schools to protect students who are receiving “no-cost” school lunch from being stigmatized or embarrassed. Special buttons, different-colored lunch trays or other things that might identify free-meal recipients to their classmates are prohibited.
“The shame and the stigma associated with participation in social safety net programs can sometimes actually be an inhibitor to participation in those programs,” Clancy told the Deseret News.
Utah schools would also be encouraged to implement “share tables” where unopened or sealed foods can be shared, instead of simply tossing it in the trash.
During Tuesday’s event, Clancy said collaboration between lawmakers and community organizations such as the Policy Project and Utahns Against Hunger “found a common sense solution that doesn’t just address hunger — but also food insecurity, shame, stigma and many other things.”
As a police officer, Clancy has witnessed the heavy toll food insecurity can exact on Utahns — including many children.
“What HB100 represents is a system that’s coming together … for all those children who are in need.”
Cullimore saluted Clancy’s tenaciousness in pursuing the bill and the benefits it provides many of Utah children. “Thank you to everyone who participated and got it across the finish line.”
Emily Bell McCormick, the founder and president of The Policy Project, said Tuesday that she fights back emotion thinking about the Utah children who will benefit from HB100.
“Our legislators did the right thing and got this passed for the kids,” she said.
Even for working families, rising housing costs and other expenses are burdening many, added Bell McCormick. The new school meal program will help lighten some of those burdens — while demonstrating the state’s investment in its youth.
Neil Rickard, a child nutrition advocate with Utahns Against Hunger added that HB100 helps benefit youth by improving upon existing school meal programs for students facing economic hardships during volatile periods.
“By eliminating the reduced price category, it’s just getting to that chunk of students who are in- between the reduced and free categories,” he said.
Contributing: Brigham Tomco
Source: Utah News
A Utah mom allegedly texted her dad saying she needed significant financial help days before she allegedly shot and killed her husband as he slept, according to reports.
“I need 13K by Friday,” Jennifer Gledhill texted her father on Sept. 18, ABC 4 reported, citing an unsealed search warrant and court documents.
Gledhill, 42, sent the message to her father, Thomas Ray Gledhill, three days before investigators believe she killed her husband, National Guardsman Matthew Johnson, in the master bedroom of their Cottonwood Heights home — about 15 miles outside of downtown Salt Lake City.
Thomas then allegedly sent her $1,000 through Venmo on the same day she requested the money, according to the court documents.
It’s unclear why Gledhill needed the money or what the funds were for.
Warrants were issued to search Gledhill, her father, and her mother, Rosalie Christianson Gledhill’s Venmo accounts, ABC 4 reported.
Investigators also obtained search warrants to review records of Gledhill’s USAA and Chase Bank accounts and “all accounts pertaining to Thomas Gledhill.”
Thomas, 71, and Rosalie, 67, were arrested in October — days after her daughter was charged with murder — on four felony counts of first-degree obstruction of justice for allegedly helping their daughter clean up the crime scene.
The couple allegedly helped Gledhill clean her home after investigators suspect she fatally shot her husband. Witnesses also placed the elderly couple at her house for over five hours around the time of the killing.
Court documents show that Gledhill received a new mattress soon after the suspected killing, and her mother allegedly admitted to investigators to buying it for her through Amazon, ABC 4 reported.
Thomas told investigators that he did not enter the master bedroom while at her home.
Rosalie also told authorities they were only at their daughter’s residence for an hour while Thomas said he didn’t remember the details of the day.
Following Johnson’s death, the mom of three allegedly disposed of his body and reported him missing on Sept. 28 — eight days after detectives believe he was killed.
Johnson’s body has still not been found.
The documents state that data from Gledhill’s cell phone record shows she only contacted her father after Johnson was reported missing, KUTV reported.
“Based on the evidence and statements made by Jennifer and Thomas, [an officer with the police department] determined Thomas is involved in assisting his daughter, Jennifer, with the disposal of evidence and information leading to the disappearance of Matthew Johnson,” the documents state.
Thomas and Rosalie have not been charged with Johnson’s murder.
The cold-blooded killing allegedly came after a night of drunken sex during which Gledhill admitted to sleeping with another man, according to investigators.
The alleged killing was brought to light after a man came forward and told cops he’d had “an extramarital affair” with Gledhill and that she confessed to him about the gruesome murder, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement in October.
Her alleged lover — who has not been named — claimed Gledhill told him her husband had confronted her on Sept. 20 and “yelled at her because he knew she had been sleeping with someone else.”
“The defendant told the informant that she shot Mr. Johnson [the next day] as he slept in their bed,” the statement said.
“She told the informant that she put Mr. Johnson’s body into a rooftop storage container, slid him down the stairs of their home, and loaded his body into the back of their minivan.”
Gledhill “then took her husband’s body north, dug a hole, and buried him in a shallow grave,” the DA added of her alleged lover’s info.
Prosecutors believe the alleged murderer then smashed Johnson’s phone, drove his truck to a different part of the neighborhood, and brought her car to a car wash.
She was caught on surveillance cameras “thoroughly” cleaning out the car after the alleged killing and police tracked her phone’s GPS data to the exact spot where the truck was later found.
Gledhill was arrested on Oct. 2 and pleaded not guilty to murder. Her trial has been set for December 2025.
Court records revealed the couple was going through a contentious divorce and custody battle over their three children, who are 11, 7, and 5 years old. Gledhill had gotten a temporary restraining order against Johnson in late August
She has been ordered to have no contact with her kids.
Source: Utah News
