1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball team

1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball
1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball
WAC regular season champions
NCAA tournament Runner-up
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
	Mountain
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 7
Record	30–4 (12–2 WAC)
Head coach	Rick Majerus (9th season);
Captain	Michael Doleac; Drew Hansen
Home arena	Jon M. Huntsman Center
	Seasons ← 1996–97 1998–99 →

1997–98 WAC men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Mountain
No. 7 Utah	12	–	2	.857	30	–	4	.882
No. 18 New Mexico	11	–	3	.786	24	–	8	.750
Wyoming	9	–	5	.643	19	–	9	.679
Colorado State	8	–	6	.571	20	–	9	.690
UNLV †	7	–	7	.500	20	–	13	.606
BYU	4	–	10	.286	9	–	21	.300
UTEP	3	–	11	.214	12	–	14	.462
Air Force	2	–	12	.143	10	–	16	.385
Pacific
No. 15 TCU	14	–	0	1.000	27	–	6	.818
Fresno State	10	–	4	.714	21	–	13	.618
Tulsa	9	–	5	.643	19	–	12	.613
Hawaii	8	–	6	.571	21	–	9	.700
SMU	6	–	8	.429	18	–	10	.643
San Diego State	5	–	9	.357	13	–	15	.464
Rice	3	–	11	.214	6	–	22	.214
San Jose State	1	–	13	.071	3	–	23	.115

† 1998 WAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball team represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference during the 1997–98 men's basketball season. Led by head coach Rick Majerus, the Utes made a run through the NCAA tournament all the way to the National Championship Game and finished with an overall record of 30–4 (12–2 WAC).

Including the previous season, Utah won 59 of 67 games overall and 27 of 30 games in conference play.

Roster[edit]

1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
SF	3	David Jackson	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Portland, Oregon
PG	11	Jordie McTavish	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Fr	Salmon Arm, BC, Canada
F/C	13	Hanno Möttölä	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	So	Helsinki, Finland
SG	15	Derek Broomhall	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Sacramento, California
SG	21	Trace Caton	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	211 lb (96 kg)	Fr	Alamosa, Colorado
PG	24	Andre Miller	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Los Angeles, California
F	31	Britton Johnsen	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Fr	Murray, Utah
G	34	Drew Hansen	—	—	Sr
G	35	Jeff Johnsen	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Murray, Utah
C	42	Jon Carlisle	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	Fr	Salt Lake City, Utah
F	50	Alex Jensen	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	So	Bountiful, Utah
C	51	Michael Doleac (C)	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	Sr	Portland, Oregon

Head coach

Rick Majerus (Marquette)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results[edit]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 15*	No. 16	Cal State Fullerton	W 87–59	1–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
November 19*	No. 16	at Weber State	W 87–72	2–0	Dee Events Center Ogden, UT
November 22*	No. 16	Southern Utah	W 66–48	3–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
November 25*	No. 16	at Loyola Marymount	W 89–50	4–0	Gersten Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
November 29*	No. 16	UC Irvine	W 83–45	5–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,921) Salt Lake City, UT
December 2*	No. 11	vs. Providence Great Eight Tournament	W 64–58	6–0	United Center Chicago, IL
December 6*	No. 11	at No. 24 Wake Forest	W 62–53	7–0	LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, NC
December 10*	No. 9	Utah State	W 71–55	8–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
December 12*	No. 9	Azusa Pacific	W 78–58	9–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
December 20*	No. 7	at Oregon State Ford Holiday Classic	W 69–61	10–0	Rose Garden Portland, OR
December 27*	No. 6	at Milwaukee	W 65–51	11–0	Wisconsin Center Arena Milwaukee, WI
January 3	No. 4	Rice	W 73–65	12–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
January 10	No. 3	at BYU	W 71–61	13–0	Marriott Center Provo, UT
WAC regular season
January 15	No. 4	Colorado State	W 65–51	14–0 (1–0)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
January 17	No. 4	Wyoming	W 75–58	15–0 (2–0)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
January 22	No. 4	at Air Force	W 57–46	16–0 (3–0)	Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO
January 24	No. 4	at UNLV	W 67–54	17–0 (4–0)	Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, NV
January 29	No. 3	UTEP	W 62–56	18–0 (5–0)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
February 1	No. 3	at No. 14 New Mexico	L 74–77	18–1 (5–1)	University Arena Albuquerque, NM
February 5	No. 5	BYU	W 83–68	19–1 (6–1)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
February 7	No. 5	at Rice	W 60–49	20–1 (7–1)	Rice Gymnasium Houston, TX
February 12	No. 5	at Wyoming	L 56–62	20–2 (7–2)	Arena-Auditorium Laramie, WY
February 14	No. 5	at Colorado State	W 60–48	21–2 (8–2)	Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO
February 21	No. 6	Air Force	W 55–41	22–2 (9–2)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
February 23	No. 6	UNLV	W 79–68	23–2 (10–2)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
February 26	No. 5	at UTEP	W 87–70	24–2 (11–2)	Special Events Center El Paso, TX
February 28	No. 5	No. 16 New Mexico	W 65–55	25–2 (12–2)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
WAC Tournament
March 5*	(M1) No. 5	vs. (M5) UNLV Quarterfinals	L 51–54	25–3	Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, NV
NCAA Tournament
March 12*	(3 W) No. 7	vs. (14 W) San Francisco NCAA tournament first round	W 85–68^[2]	26–3	BSU Pavilion Boise, ID
March 14*	(3 W) No. 7	vs. (6 W) No. 17 Arkansas NCAA tournament second round	W 75–69^[3]	27–3	BSU Pavilion Boise, ID
March 19*	(3 W) No. 7	vs. (10 W) West Virginia West Regional semifinal	W 65–62	28–3	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Anaheim, CA
March 21*	(3 W) No. 7	vs. (1 W) No. 4 Arizona West Regional final	W 76–51^[4]	29–3	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Anaheim, CA
March 28*	(3 W) No. 7	vs. (1) No. 1 E North Carolina Final Four	W 65–59^[5]	30–3	Alamodome San Antonio, TX
March 30* CBS	(3 W) No. 7	vs. (2 S) No. 5 Kentucky NCAA Championship Game	L 69–78	30–4	Alamodome (40,509) San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

^[6]

Rankings[edit]

^[7]

Team players in the 1998 NBA draft[edit]

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	12	Michael Doleac	Orlando Magic

^[8]

References[edit]

^ sports-reference.com 1997-98 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
^ "Utah Overwhelms San Francisco, 85-68". The New York Times. March 13, 1998. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
^ "Utah Fights Past Tough Arkansas Defense". The New York Times. March 15, 1998. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
^ "Ute Movement Buries Arizona". Los Angeles Times. March 22, 1998. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
^ "Utes Hold off Tar Heels, 65-59". The Washington Post. March 29, 1998. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
^ 2014-15 Utah Utes men's basketball media guide Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Jul-30.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1064–1065. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1998 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved March 10, 2019.

External links[edit]

1998 NCAA Basketball National Championship Utah vs Kentucky

[1] sports-reference.com 1997-98 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary

[2] "Utah Overwhelms San Francisco, 85-68". The New York Times. March 13, 1998. Retrieved March 4, 2023.

[3] "Utah Fights Past Tough Arkansas Defense". The New York Times. March 15, 1998. Retrieved July 9, 2022.

[4] "Ute Movement Buries Arizona". Los Angeles Times. March 22, 1998. Retrieved March 10, 2019.

[5] "Utes Hold off Tar Heels, 65-59". The Washington Post. March 29, 1998. Retrieved March 10, 2019.

[6] 2014-15 Utah Utes men's basketball media guide Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Jul-30.

[ESPN-7] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1064–1065. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[8] "1998 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved March 10, 2019.

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v t e Utah Utes men's basketball
Venues	Deseret Gymnasium (19??–1939) Nielsen Fieldhouse (1939–1969) Jon M. Huntsman Center (1969–present)
Rivalries	BYU In-state Utah schools
Culture & lore	Swoop
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics