The identity of the 2026-27 Utah men’s basketball squad has come into focus as Alex Jensen and his staff have replenished their roster with new talent to fill i …
The identity of the 2026-27 Utah men’s basketball squad has come into focus as Alex Jensen and his staff have replenished their roster with new talent to fill in the holes and voids created by the many portal departures the team experienced over the past few weeks.
By the time the transfer portal closed Tuesday night, 11 players from the 2025-26 squad had entered their names into college basketball’s free agency pool, creating a blank slate for the second-year head coach of the Runnin’ Utes to work with as he attempts to turn things around from a disappointing 10-22 showing in his first season at the helm. Utah also lost a couple of key players due to eligibility exhaustion in Don McHenry and James Okonkwo, ensuring that an entirely new starting five would be in play for the upcoming season.
As such, Jensen and company got to work in the portal and recruiting trails. Utah brought in three transfers to play on the perimeter in Jackson Holcombe (Utah Valley), Taison Chatman (Ohio State) and TJ Burch (Wright State), and added one of the top European prospects in Noam Yaacov to potentially start at the point guard spot. Those additions — plus 2026 signees Styles Clemmons, Simeon Suguturaga and David Katoa — will look to gel with the Utes’ lone returning guard, Lucas Langarita, in the backcourt.
Utah also welcomes German forward Alec Anigbata, French wing Zati Loubaki and former four-star recruit Jaxon Johnson as part of its 2026 class. A couple of bigs in Fynn Schott and Weber State transfer Malek Gomma will mix with Babacar Faye, who missed all of last season due to injury, in the Utes’ frontcourt.
With just a couple of roster spots available, it would appear Utah is close to finalizing its 2026-27 team. And while Jensen and general manager Wes Wilcox have retooled their squad admirably, there’s still a noticeable need they should look to address: A true center with favorable size and length.
Right now, the tallest player on the Utes’ roster is between Faye and Loubaki (both are listed at 6-foot-9). There are four other players hovering around that height in Anigbata, Gomma, Johnson and Schott (all at 6-foot-8), but none of the returners or newcomers stand at 6-foot-10 or taller. Not to mention, not all of those players are true centers — some profile as wings more so than anything else (Loubaki, Anigbata and Johnson, notably).
It also wouldn’t hurt the Utes to have a rim-runner who has experience playing at the Division I level. Currently, Faye is the only frontcourt player who fits that bill.
Given Utah struggled to keep opponents off the glass and convert in the paint on the offensive end last season, acquiring a bonafide center to deter opponents at the goal and provide a legitimate presence on the boards would help put a bow on the Utes’ roster revamp for next season.
Prior to when the portal opened on April 7, there were three centers Utah could’ve reasonably targeted: Anton Bonke (Charlotte), Ben Defty (Boston College) and Chol Machot (College of Charleston). All three are 7-footers who can defend at serviceable levels. Bonke and Defty are also solid post scorers, while Machot uses his athleticism to pose as a matchup nightmare on the wing.
The good news for the Utes: Two of those players are still available in the transfer market (Bonke committed to Michigan State shortly after this post published). The bad news, though, is that they’re essentially in the next tier of portal centers down from Massamba Diop and Moustapha Thiam, which means every big man-needy school, except for the two that land Diop and Thiam, could turn their focus to the next group of centers available when the two bigs of note are off the board.
That said, it’d probably cost Utah a pretty penny to bring in a starting-caliber center out of the portal. With essentially everyone trying to copy Michigan’s title-winning blueprint, the market for big wings and lengthy centers is most likely through the roof at this point. And since a majority of the top power forwards and centers have already committed, the pool of players Utah could snag to compete in the Big 12 right away is dwindling by the day.
Regardless, the Utes need to be better in the paint if they’re to be more competitive in the Big 12 next season. In 2025-26, Utah ranked No. 318 nationally in 2-point field goal defense allowing opponents to shoot 54.6% from inside the arc, and were No. 166 in blocks per game (3.4). Jensen’s group also converted just 51.5% of its attempts from inside the arc and were No. 14 in the conference in rebounding margin (-1.4 per game).
If those figures change for the better in 2026-27, it’ll be because the Utes’ frontcourt had the required size, length and toughness to hang with the rest of the Big 12.
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