An ‘emblem makeover’? University of Utah unveils new institutional logo

School leaders hope the newly designed logo will boost the University of Utah’s national reputation — while supporting major campus changes being planned at the school.

KEY POINTS

  • The University of Utah unveils new institutional logo featuring a pair of red interlocking U’s.
  • The new logo echoes Utah emblem that has been used by Ute athletic teams in recent years.
  • The standalone block U will continue to be used on the hill above the school and in other locales around campus.

It’s only July — but 2025’s already been a historic year at the University of Utah.

The state’s flagship university is celebrating its 175th birthday and has, in recent months, announced plans to relocate the storied Jon M. Huntsman Center as part of a major campus makeover even while rolling out a new strategic plan dubbed “Impact 2030.”

And now the “U” is unveiling a new institutional logo.

The new logo features a pair of red interlocking U’s with an emphasis on “Utah” in its accompanying identifier — “The University of Utah.”

The updated logo “represents an effort to connect University of Utah Health, academics and athletics into one all-encompassing image that will further boost the U’s national reputation and support Impact 2030, the U’s strategic plan,” according to the university.

Hard-core Ute fans will immediately recognize the basic design elements of the new institutional logo.

It echoes the university’s primary athletic logo that was introduced a decade ago.

“This logo refresh is part of our journey to be a top-10 public university because we are expecting to have a national and global reputation,” said Chief Experience Officer Andrea Thomas.

“As we share this new logo across the country, it won’t feel dramatically different because we have been very visible in athletics. This image better aligns with the awareness we already have.”

More than a century ago, the University of Utah built the block U on the hill above campus. Since that time, the standalone “U” letter has become synonymous with the university.

Surveys reveal that the vast majority of Utah residents immediately associate the standalone “U” with the school.

“Outside of the state, however, the standalone ‘U’ runs into competition from other institutions, such as the University of Miami, and brands like Unilever,” according to the university release. “As the ‘U’ builds its national reputation, we are aiming to differentiate and distinguish ourselves as leaders in impact, health care, research and instruction — and the interlocking U institutional logo is a visual representation of that distinction.”

But don’t expect the standalone block U to entirely disappear.

The standalone block U logo on the mountain and other block U structures — such as the U by the Gardner Commons or the Campus Store — will remain the same.

“One way to think of this application is to consider that most people who are on campus, where the block U is featured prominently on banners and other permanent structures, will likely already be familiar with this image and its relationship with the University of Utah,” according to the university.

Meanwhile, the secondary logos used by University of Utah colleges, divisions, departments, programs, units and services are not changing.

Other updates to the university’s brand

With the updated logo, the University of Utah is also introducing a new primary color — Zion Cinder Cone — to its primary palette of red, black and white.

The University of Utah now has six secondary colors — including Salt Flat Grey and Granite Peak, which are shades of grey and blue.

“While the U. is looking to expand its reputation and awareness nationally, this logo change also supports the university’s efforts to emphasize integration and collaboration across the institution as part of its strategic vision,” according to the university.

“This logo represents the impact of the entire institution, including research, health, academics and athletics.

Source: Utah News

A Hall of Fame Utah high school football coach has died. John Colosimo set records and changed lives.

John Colosimo, the legendary football coach from Juan Diego Catholic High School, died this week. Here is what friends and family said about his legacy.

When Juan Diego Catholic High School opened in 1999, principal Galey Colosimo hired his brother, John Colosimo, as his vice principal.

Galey had an early favor he hoped John could fulfill.

“He wasn’t going to coach football,” Galey said. “What we realized was that we just needed coaches. I asked John, ‘Can you just do it for a year or two?’”

John had previously coached football at Judge Memorial from 1985 to 1996, so he agreed to this short stint on the sideline. What he didn’t know, though, was that it would turn into a legendary 18-year career.

It is one he is now fondly remembered as family, friends, students and colleagues mourn his death. John died this week from complications due to Parkinson’s Disease. He was 69 years old.

As the founding vice principal and head football coach at Juan Diego, John helped establish the Skaggs Catholic Center with the mission to empower students to become “active Christians, motivated learners and responsible citizens.”

(Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Juan Diego head coach John Colosimo congratulates players after a playoff game in 2012.

He led the school’s football team for 17 years (from 2002 until his retirement in 2019). Between the two schools (including Judge Memorial), John appeared in 10 state championship title games and won eight (including two 3-peats) and earned 17 region championships (12 of which were consecutive). John’s cumulative 235 victories make him the fourth-winningest coach in Utah history. His 81% winning percentage is the highest rate of any school in any state history.

John’s younger brother, Joe, said he coached with him for 32 years.

“The best. He was the best,” Joe said. “Every player would think John was tough but fair. He was demanding with the kids, and he put them to the test. They knew he loved them, and he was fair.”

John’s son, Gabe, played four years of football under his dad while a student at JDCHS. He laughed, thinking about the ways John used to motivate the team and get the room going.

“This just kind of shows the wit my dad had. He called one of the teams the ‘Wizard of Oz Team.’ No heart, no brain, no courage,” Gabe said. “I don’t know where he thought of all those things.”

John’s work earned him a place in the National High School Football Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Utah Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. JDCHS honored him that same year by naming the school’s football field “John Colosimo Field at Soaring Eagle Stadium.”

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune
Juan Diego High School football coach John Colosimo runs practice in Draper on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012.

Rob Cuff, who is the executive director of the Utah High School Activities Association, has been in the position for 16 years and got to know John over that time.

“I think the first thing that people understand about John is not only was he an outstanding football coach and coach in general — because he also coached basketball, too — but he was an outstanding person,” Cuff said. “You would label him as a players’ coach. Somebody who you would go through a brick wall for. Somebody that you would give your heart for. You did that because he was willing to do that.”

Cuff remembers John’s coaching style as an “old-school and offensive” approach with a “powerful and strong” defense. But the athletes gained more than just game plans from Colosimo.

“John was a teacher first. Even though he was a coach, he was also a teacher. He taught about life,” Cuff said. “His faith was his foundation and his base to everything that he did and the outlook that he looked at life with. He was one that was full of endurance, hard work, full of faith. I think that carried over to his coaching.”

During the football team’s inaugural season in 2002, John started the post-game Rosary tradition. Following every game, player coaches, parents and fans gather in the Grotto of Our Lady of Guadalupe to pray together.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Juan Diego head coach John Colosimo during a practice in 2012.

“I think that’s the big thing that spoke to who he was. Win, loss, it didn’t matter. We’d get home from a five-hour bus ride and it is 2 a.m. and we’d all climb out of the bus, wake up all the teammates, and gather and pray,” Gabe said. “It made it so that it was greater than football. It was building a team. In those moments, he would always share a little piece of wisdom.”

While John crafted dominance on the football field for JDCHS, he also developed the school’s academic infrastructure, which led to national recognition as a U.S. Department of Education National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 2019.

“As great as he was as a coach, he was really foundational for our academic strength,” Galey said. “The accolades come from the popularity of football, but equal to that was his day job. He was helping to build this academic foundation at Juan Diego that is second to none.”

That impact was seen through students who had nothing to do with the football team.

Emily Kasue attended JDCHS from 2012-18 and was placed in John’s mentor group during her senior year, which was the school’s version of homeroom.

(Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Juan Diego head coach John Colosimo speaks with his team during a playoff game in 2012.

Kasue reflected on a day in high school when all of her responsibilities became overwhelming. She was a peer mentor, ambassador, cheerleader and lacrosse player. Kasue was trying to study for her AP classes when she was asked to give a tour for the ambassador program.

“This specific day, I just was not feeling it. I started crying,” Kasue said. “I remember, because I was having such a rough time, Mr. Colosimo opened up his office, and he just let me sit in there the entire time. I just got to sit in his office and chill out. That meant everything to me.”

John talked to the ambassador program for Kasue that day and continued to be a source of support for her even after she moved on to college at Seattle Pacific University, where Gabe also went.

“He said, ‘If you need anything, please let me know. And make sure you remember my son Gabe is there, so if you need anything, just reach out to him,’” Kasue said. “I remember my freshman year, every single time Gabe saw me, he would help me out. He was just so kind. And I didn’t realize that Mr. Colosimo had really specifically talked to Gabe and told him I was going to his school and to watch out for me. It was really sweet to see.”

John battled hard at the end of his life, his family said, after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s around 2010. His wife, Kathie, was by his side the entire time.

(Juan Diego Catholic High School) John Colosimo following a state championship win.

“You talk about how tough football players are – Kathie was one tough wife and mother,” Joe said. “She had to shoulder the burden of helping John through this really unbelievably painful death.”

Gabe said the outpouring of support they have received from the DJCHS community and beyond has been “surreal.” People he has not heard from in 10 years have sent in notes and stories about his father.

“When I think of my dad, I think of the heart he displayed throughout his life,” Gabe said. “My dad loved an underdog and was always looking out for the people who were maybe outcasts or unspoken. He just had such a soft spot for people.”

That legacy remains for all of those who knew John.

“I think he is going to be most remembered for his love and his patience and his generosity. He is one of the most generous men I have ever met at the school. Literally just so nice,” Kasue said. “I think he will be remembered for his spirit. And being truly just a good servant of the Lord. He embodied that in everything he did.”

Information about funeral services for John will be forthcoming and shared via the school’s social media accounts.

Source: Utah News

Utah death row inmate with dementia faces firing squad execution in September, judge says

Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, is set to be executed Sept. 5 for abducting and killing Utah mother of three Maurine Hunsaker in 1986.

A Utah judge on Wednesday set an execution date for a man with dementia who has been on death row for 37 years, even as his lawyers file appeals and argue his condition is worsening.

Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, is set to be executed Sept. 5 for abducting and killing Utah mother of three Maurine Hunsaker in 1986. When given a choice decades ago, Menzies selected a firing squad as his method of execution. He would become only the sixth U.S. prisoner executed by firing squad since 1977.

Judge Matthew Bates signed the death warrant a month after he ruled Menzies “consistently and rationally” understands why he is facing execution despite recent cognitive decline. Attorneys for Menzies have petitioned the court for a reassessment, but Bates said Wednesday that the pending appeal was not a basis to stop him from setting a date.

Bates did, however, schedule a July 23 hearing to evaluate the new competency petition. Menzies’ attorneys say his dementia has gotten so severe that he uses a wheelchair, is dependent on oxygen and cannot understand his legal case.

“We remain hopeful that the courts or the clemency board will recognize the profound inhumanity of executing a man who is experiencing steep cognitive decline and significant memory loss,” said Lindsey Layer, an attorney for Menzies. “Taking the life of someone with a terminal illness who is no longer a threat to anyone and whose mind and identity have been overtaken by dementia serves neither justice nor human decency.”

Utah Death Row Inmate

Jasmine North, Federal Public Defender Mitigation Investigator, speaks with Ralph Leroy Menzies during his competency hearing in Third District Court in West Jordan, Utah, on Nov 18, 2024.

Rick Egan / The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool


The Utah Attorney General’s Office has “full confidence” in the judge’s decision, Assistant Attorney General Daniel Boyer said.

The U.S. Supreme Court has at times spared prisoners with dementia from execution, including an Alabama man in 2019 who had killed a police officer. If a defendant cannot understand why they are being put to death, the high court said, then an execution is not carrying out the retribution that society is seeking.

For Hunsaker’s son Matt, who was 10 years old when his mother was killed, it has been “hard to swallow that it’s taken this long” to get justice.

“You issue the warrant today, you start a process for our family,” he told the judge Wednesday. “It puts everybody on the clock. We’ve now introduced another generation of my mom, and we still don’t have justice served.”

Hunsaker, 26, was abducted by Menzies from a convenience store where she worked in the Salt Lake City suburb of Kearns. She was later found strangled and her throat cut about 16 miles away at a picnic area in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Menzies had Hunsaker’s wallet and several other belongings when he was jailed on unrelated matters. He was convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes in 1988.

Attorneys for Menzies  claim that evidence discovered after his trial could have led to a life sentence, rather than capital punishment, CBS affiliate KUTV reported. They added that the judge who sentenced him to death no longer stands by that decision, the station reported.

Over nearly four decades, attorneys for Menzies filed multiple appeals that delayed his death sentence, which had been scheduled at least twice before it was pushed back. He and other Utah death row inmates sentenced before May 2004 were given a choice between firing squad and lethal injection. For inmates sentenced in the state after that date, lethal injection is the default method unless the drugs are unavailable.

Menzies is among 10 people scheduled to be put to death in seven states during the remainder of 2025. Twenty-five men in the U.S. have died by court-ordered execution so far this year.

Utah last executed prisoners by firing squad in 2010, and South Carolina used the method on two men this year. Only three other states – Idaho, Mississippi and Oklahoma – allow firing squad executions.

Mikal Mahdi, a South Carolina man executed by firing squad in April, was conscious and likely in extreme pain for up to a minute after the bullets missed their target and failed to quickly stop his heart, according to a pathologist. 

Mahdi’s attorney confirmed to CBS News that Mahdi, 41, chose to die by firing squad, over the other two options: lethal injection and electric chair. Witnesses to the execution heard Mahdi cry out as the shots were fired, groan again some 45 seconds later and let out one last low moan just before he appeared to draw his final breath at about 75 seconds.

Prison officials gave no indication that there were problems with Mahdi’s execution. A shield law keeps many details private, including the training and methods used by the firing squad.

Source: Utah News

Despite reports of Ralph Menzies’ worsening dementia, a Utah judge sets an execution date

Ralph Menzies’ attorneys say his dementia is getting worse, and he now requires full-time care at Utah’s prison. A judge on Wednesday signed a death warrant ordering he be executed in September.

A Utah judge on Wednesday set a September execution date for Ralph Menzies, who has been on death row for nearly 40 years for kidnapping and brutally killing a young mother.

Third District Judge Matthew Bates’ decision to sign a death warrant comes a month after he ruled that Menzies’ dementia did not affect the 67-year-old’s competency to the point where he could not legally be executed.

This week, however, Menzie’s attorneys filed a new motion arguing that the death row inmate has continued to mentally decline in the months after experts assessed him — opinions which Bates relied on when determining Menzies’ competency. Now, his lawyers say, Menzies has a full-time aide in the prison who helps him get meals and other daily tasks that he can’t do on his own.

He appeared in court on Wednesday in a wheelchair and using an oxygen tank, which his attorneys say he uses continuously at the prison.

“Dementia doesn’t get better,” defense attorney Eric Zuckerman said during Wednesday’s court hearing. “It’s a clear progression. It gets worse over time.”

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ralph Menzies speaks with his attorney in a West Jordan courtroom on July 9, 2025, just after 3rd District Judge Matthew Bates signed a death warrant ordering that the inmate be executed by firing squad in September.

Bates said that he was legally required to sign the death warrant on Wednesday, which orders that Menzies be executed by firing squad on Sept. 5.

But the judge also scheduled a hearing for later this month, where attorneys will argue whether Menzies should be evaluated again to determine whether he is still considered competent — or if his dementia has progressed to the point where he can no longer understand what’s happening. (Both Utah’s and the United States’ constitution prohibits the government from executing someone if they don’t understand that they are being executed and the reasons why.)

While the potential for another delay over competency is possible, Matt Hunsaker, the victim’s son, said he felt that — at last — he could start to prepare himself and his family for the execution of his mother’s killer after waiting for nearly 40 years.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Matt Hunsaker said that after decades of waiting, he feels “overwhelmed” and “happy” that a judge on Wednesday signed an execution warrant for Ralph Menzies, the man who murdered Hunsaker’s mother in 1986. He spoke with the media after a court hearing on July 9, 2025.

In 1986, Menzies kidnapped Maurine Hunsaker, a 26-year-old mother, from a Kearns gas station, slit her throat and left her body tied to a tree near a picnic area in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

“I’m preparing myself to go see somebody’s life taken from them,” Hunsaker said after the judge signed the death warrant. “This is going to be a humane sort of way; his life will be over in mere seconds. My mom, we don’t know how long she stood there and suffered in that grove.”

Maurine Hunsaker

Eric Zuckerman, one of Menzies’ attorneys, said they’ll seek relief with the Utah Supreme Court and the parole board’s clemency process in an effort to halt the execution.

“We remain hopeful that the courts or the clemency board will recognize the inhumanity of taking a man like him into the death chamber,” he told reporters. “Taking him out of his wheelchair, and executing him, it’s wrong. And Utah can do better.”

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Defense attorney Eric Zuckerman told reporters that it would be inhumane to execute Ralph Menzies, who has dementia and uses a wheelchair and an oxygen tank. A judge on Wednesday, July 9, 2025 signed a death warrants for Menzies, ordering that he be executed on Sept. 5.

Assistant Utah Attorney General Daniel Boyer said Wednesday that the state’s not convinced that Menzies’ attorneys have enough evidence to warrant another look at the man’s competency — but added that they’ll review the defense’s motion for another competency review and respond in writing.

A jury in 1988 ordered Menzies to die for killing Hunsaker, and he’s been appealing the decision ever since. If he is executed, he will be the second Utah death row inmate to be executed in recent years after Taberon Honie died by lethal injection last August.

Utah has not executed someone by a firing squad since 2010, when Ronnie Lee Gardner was killed.

Source: Utah News

Frank Layden, transformational Utah Jazz coach and GM, dies at 93

Frank Layden, a transformational coach and general manager for the Utah Jazz, has died, the NBA announced. He was 93.

Source: Utah News

Utah judge schedules execution by firing squad for a man with dementia

Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, is set to be executed Sept. 5 for abducting and killing Utah mother of three Maurine Hunsaker in 1986. When given a choice decades ago, Menzies selected a firing squad as his …

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah judge on Wednesday set an execution date for a man with dementia who has been on death row for 37 years, even as his lawyers file appeals and argue his condition is worsening.

Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, is set to be executed Sept. 5 for abducting and killing Utah mother of three Maurine Hunsaker in 1986. When given a choice decades ago, Menzies selected a firing squad as his method of execution. He would become only the sixth U.S. prisoner executed by firing squad since 1977.

Judge Matthew Bates signed the death warrant a month after he ruled Menzies “consistently and rationally” understands why he is facing execution despite recent cognitive decline. Attorneys for Menzies have petitioned the court for a reassessment, but Bates said Wednesday that the pending appeal was not a basis to stop him from setting a date.

Bates did, however, schedule a July 23 hearing to evaluate the new competency petition. Menzies’ attorneys say his dementia has gotten so severe that he uses a wheelchair, is dependent on oxygen and cannot understand his legal case.

“We remain hopeful that the courts or the clemency board will recognize the profound inhumanity of executing a man who is experiencing steep cognitive decline and significant memory loss,” said Lindsey Layer, an attorney for Menzies. “Taking the life of someone with a terminal illness who is no longer a threat to anyone and whose mind and identity have been overtaken by dementia serves neither justice nor human decency.”

The Utah Attorney General’s Office has “full confidence” in the judge’s decision, Assistant Attorney General Daniel Boyer said.

The U.S. Supreme Court has at times spared prisoners with dementia from execution, including an Alabama man in 2019 who had killed a police officer. If a defendant cannot understand why they are being put to death, the high court said, then an execution is not carrying out the retribution that society is seeking.

For Hunsaker’s son Matt, who was 10 years old when his mother was killed, it has been “hard to swallow that it’s taken this long” to get justice.

“You issue the warrant today, you start a process for our family,” he told the judge Wednesday. “It puts everybody on the clock. We’ve now introduced another generation of my mom, and we still don’t have justice served.”

Hunsaker, 26, was abducted by Menzies from a convenience store where she worked in the Salt Lake City suburb of Kearns. She was later found strangled and her throat cut about 16 miles (25 kilometers) away at a picnic area in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Menzies had Hunsaker’s wallet and several other belongings when he was jailed on unrelated matters. He was convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes in 1988.

Over nearly four decades, attorneys for Menzies filed multiple appeals that delayed his death sentence, which had been scheduled at least twice before it was pushed back. He and other Utah death row inmates sentenced before May 2004 were given a choice between firing squad and lethal injection. For inmates sentenced in the state after that date, lethal injection is the default method unless the drugs are unavailable.

Utah last executed prisoners by firing squad in 2010, and South Carolina used the method on two men this year. Only three other states — Idaho, Mississippi and Oklahoma — allow firing squad executions.

Menzies is among 10 people scheduled to be put to death in seven states during the remainder of 2025. Twenty-five men in the U.S. have died by court-ordered execution so far this year.

Source: Utah News

Opinion: State trust land exchange efforts can benefit public lands and development in Utah

Some changes to public lands ownership, such as state trust land exchanges, could benefit all public land constituents.

With Sen. Mike Lee’s proposed public lands sale proposal excised from the “Big Beautiful Bill” and the Republican leadership likely not revisiting a painful controversy anytime soon, now may be a good time to reflect more deliberately on how some changes to public lands ownership could benefit all public land constituents.

Senator Lee’s rationale for selling public lands was to provide more available land for housing in communities facing unaffordable housing costs. While there are communities in the West where useable public lands are close to housing infrastructure, this is not true to any significant degree in Utah.

I spent the middle part of my career with Utah’s Trust Lands Administration (then called SITLA), with the specific assignment of finding Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands that could be acquired by Utah’s school trust for development, with proceeds going to Utah’s public school endowment.

The pickings near urban areas were sparse. We looked at plat maps everywhere within commuting distance of the Wasatch Front, and found only small, isolated parcels of BLM land that might be suitable for development.

One reason for our lack of success was historic. Unlike many Western states, Utah was settled with a sizable population for 87 years before the Taylor Grazing Act effectively ended homesteading in 1934. Almost every useable parcel of public lands went into private hands, leaving only steep mountainsides in BLM ownership. Forest Service lands along the Wasatch Front were off-limits, but generally also were too steep for development. Even in the St. George area, larger remaining public lands parcels were far from infrastructure, and BLM’s attempts to sell those lands under existing land sales authorities failed.

The reason that we were looking was that Utah’s school trust owns lands with considerable scenic, natural and cultural resource values that almost everyone would agree should not be developed. The obvious solution was to trade natural lands to the federal government for public management, with Utah’s school trust acquiring lands that could be used to generate funds for schools.

There are public lands — including some remaining BLM lands near cities — that do not have notable natural values, and that can be developed for housing, industry and minerals without significant environmental concern. Senator Lee was a strong supporter of SITLA’s land exchange efforts, and a key player in their success. Local and national conservation organizations helped out as well. After 25 years of exchanges, Utah has placed over 600,000 acres of former trust lands into conservation, and released an equivalent amount of public land for development. During the same time period, Utah’s trust land endowments have grown from almost nothing to $3.7 billion, creating a perpetual asset for future generations of Utah students.

The Utah model would work well for most of the other Western states where Senator Lee proposed public land sales. Each of those states has a large professional land management staff, and a portfolio of state trust lands. Each can determine at the state level what pattern of land ownership works best for their state. While there are legal, regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles to large scale federal-state land exchanges that Congress and the current administration need to address, the win-win nature of this approach can avoid the public perception that unilateral land sales are a zero-sum game.

Source: Utah News

Former Vol scores nine points for Utah in NBA Summer League game

Former Vol Jaden Springer competed in the NBA Summer League Tuesday. Utah defeated Oklahoma City, 86-82, in the Salt Lake City Summer League at Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Former Vol Jaden Springer competed in the NBA Summer League Tuesday. Utah defeated Oklahoma City, 86-82, in the Salt Lake City Summer League at Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Springer totaled nine points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists in 17 minutes for the Jazz. He converted 4-of-8 field goal attempts and 1-of-3 three-point attempts.

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Springer was selected by Philadelphia in the first round (No. 28 overall) of the 2021 NBA draft. The former Vol also played for Boston.

He played for the Vols during the 2020-21 season under head coach Rick Barnes.

Springer averaged 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game for the Vols and was a member of the Southeastern Conference’s All-Freshman Team.

The Charlotte, North Carolina native played high school basketball at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He was teammates with former Tennessee basketball player Brandon Huntley-Hatfield.

More: Jahmai Mashack plays 23 minutes in Memphis debut

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This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: Jaden Springer by the numbers for Utah in NBA Summer League win

Source: Utah News

NBA Summer League 2025 Hot Takes on Top Players from Cali, Utah Results on Tuesday

Walter Clayton Jr. starred in Utah’s third win at the Salt Lake Summer League. The national champion at Florida led the Jazz with 20 points to take down Nikola Topic and the Thunder. Kyle Filipowski …

The Salt Lake Summer League and California Classic wrapped up play on Tuesday night.

First-round picks Ace Bailey and VJ Edgecombe did not play for their respective squads, but plenty of other players stole the spotlight across four games.

Los Angeles Lakers 89, San Antonio Spurs 88

Dalton Knecht and Darius Bazley led the Lakers on a 15-5 run to come from behind and take down the Spurs to close out the California Classic.

Knecht posted 25 points, while Bazley led all scorers with 27 points, including the game-winning put-back dunk.

Bazley has been a revelation so far this summer for the Lakers.

David Jones-Garcia led the Spurs in scoring. He had a 25-point performance in the victory.

Spurs first-round pick Carter Bryant only had nine points, but he impressed with his defense.

Miami Heat 93, Golden State Warriors 79

Pelle Larsson’s 15-point, five-rebound performance helped the Miami Heat take down the Golden State Warriors.

Four other Heat players found their way into double figures. Golden State was led by Jackson Rowe’s 14 points.

Utah Jazz 86, Oklahoma City Thunder 82

Walter Clayton Jr. starred in Utah’s third win at the Salt Lake Summer League.

The national champion at Florida led the Jazz with 20 points to take down Nikola Topic and the Thunder.

Kyle Filipowski produced an 18-point, 16-rebound double-double to complement Clayton’s scoring outburst. Ajay Mitchell led the Thunder with 19 points.

Philadelphia 91, Memphis 90

The Sixers took down the Grizzlies without No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe, who missed his second straight game with a thumb injury.

Judah Mintz stole the spotlight for the Sixers with a 26-point outburst.

Justin Edwards, a regular member of the Sixers’ rotation last season, contributed 15 points out of the starting lineup.

Tyler Burton went off from the Memphis bench with 23 points to lead the Grizzlies in defeat.

All eight teams are now headed to the Las Vegas Summer League, which begins with all 30 NBA teams on Thursday afternoon.

Source: Utah News

Here’s how expensive Utah’s housing market is compared to the rest of the U.S.

New report cites “high but stable housing prices” in Utah last year but says ownership remains unaffordable for many.

Utah remained one of the country’s most expensive housing markets last year even though prices barely budged, according to a new report from the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, which was released Tuesday.

The 2024-2025 edition of the Gardner Institute’s “State of the State’s Housing Market” report found Utah was the nation’s ninth costliest housing market last year, citing “high but stable” prices as characterizing the state’s housing market last year.

Despite home prices rising less than 1% since 2022, the high cost is seen as continuing to put home ownership out of reach for many Utahns. Housing affordability is a priority for Gov. Spencer Cox and other state leaders.

“Utah housing prices and rents showed little-to-no growth in 2024,” Jim Wood, the lead author of the report, said in a statement. “Home sales and listings increased, and residential construction declined as apartment developments tumbled.”

Wood, the Ivory-Boyer Senior Fellow at the Gardner Institute, said “slower economic growth presented challenges for Utah’s homebuilding and real estate industries but helped to dampen price increases for potential homebuyers.”

But Utah’s median single-family home sales price of $547,700 trailed what residents are paying in only eight other states in National Association of Realtors data from the fourth quarter of 2024, the report pointed out.

Here’s where that home is even more expensive than Utah:

  • Hawaii, $1,012,500
  • California, $881,800
  • Washington, D.C., $769,300
  • Massachusetts, $676,100
  • Washington, $669,400
  • Colorado, $613,200
  • New York, $562,400
  • Oregon, $561,300

Utah, the Gardner Institute noted, has steadily climbed in the rankings. Back in 1970, the Beehive State was the 20th most expensive place to buy a house. By 2000, Utah had hit No. 14. In 2022, housing prices hit an all-time high of $510,000, up 44% from 2020.

Other key findings from the Gardner Institute research:

  • Homes are “seriously to severely unaffordable” in five large counties, as measured by dividing the median sales price by median household income. Washington and Salt Lake counties are considered severely unaffordable with ratios above 5.1, while Weber, Davis and Utah counties are seriously unaffordable, with ratios between 4.1 and 5.0.
  • Rents were also stable in 2024, even declining in some markets. In Salt Lake County, the average rent rose from $1,582 in 2023 to $1,593 in 2024, less than a 1% increase.
  • More high-density housing was sold than ever, with the sale of condominiums, townhomes and twin homes accounting for 28% of all residential sales and 28% of residential construction in 2024. The $409,900 median sales price of a condo statewide in 2024 was 27% less than a single-family home.
  • The most building permits for residential units, 1,556, were issued in Eagle Mountain. Next was Saratoga Springs, with permits for 1,354 units. Combined with the 1,036 units permitted by the fifth-ranked city, Lehi, the three northern Utah County cities accounted for 18% of all Utah residential building permits in 2024.
  • At the same time, less than 22,000 residential units overall received building permits in 2024. That’s the lowest level since 2016, but 90% of the drop was attributed to a decline in apartment development, with permits for apartment units down to 4,801 in 2024 from 7,622 a year earlier.
  • Average monthly listings are back to pre-COVID-19 levels, 8,000 to 9,000. Cash buyers bought 6,724 homes in Utah last year, nearly 18% of all homes sold in the state. There were 7% more homes sold in Utah in 2024, a total of 37,641.

So what’s the forecast for the Utah housing market?

Economic uncertainty and slower rates of demographic and economic growth will lessen housing demand in 2025,” the Gardner Institute said, with residential construction, existing home sales, housing prices and mortgage rates largely staying at the same levels as 2024.

That translates this year to Utah seeing approximately 23,000 new residential units built, 36,900 existing homes sold, the median sales price of a home going up 2%, and mortgage rates staying between 6% and 7%.

Source: Utah News