Injury has been the one thing holding Utah back in recent years, but in 2014, head coach Anthony Levrets is hoping for a healthy squad and to prove doubters wrong. Additionally, Levrets is excited to see what some of his younger players can do with star forward Taryn Wicijowski, who sat out all of last season with an injury.
Unfortunately for the Utes, injuries arose before the season even started. Sophomore Emily Potter, the Utes’ tallest player, was coming off a season that saw her earn Pac-12 All-Freshmen Team honors. Levrets had high hopes for Potter this season, but she was ruled out before she could even get started.
Last week, the team took the court with San Jose State without high-scoring UVU transfer Katie Kuklok. After the game, it was determined that Kuklok was also done for the year with a knee injury. The high scorer was supposed to be part of the starting lineup and being out is another big hit to this Utah team.
Both players will be missed, but Levrets and his squad know it’s an opportunity for somebody else to step up.
“Everybody is going to get an opportunity to see what they can do,” Levrets said. “Certain matchups in certain games that you feel like different kids fit better.”
Wicijowski said that the players stepping up for their injured comrades might not be able to replace the production lost but can instead add something new to the team.
“It’s a really great opportunity for one of the younger players to get extra playing time, get extra scoring, get extra defensive stops or whatever it may be,” Wicijowski said.
Before the season started, Levrets said he had a nine-man rotation and was looking for somebody to step up and round out the rotation at 10. Potter was originally supposed to be the tenth player, but with Kuklok also out, the rotation is down to eight.
“I don’t know yet, this is still early in the year,” Levrets said. “It could be eight, it could be nine. We will see how many bigs we end up playing.”
As for Kuklok’s starting spot, it is true freshman Tanaeya Boclair’s to lose.
“They’re totally different players. Obviously, we felt like Tanaeya would have a great freshman year, and now it’s gonna be in a little different role,” Levrets said. “We expect her to play hard and get as much of what we’re doing down as she possibly can, but to get to the point where she doesn’t have to think and can just go play – she’s really talented.”
Despite making the jump to college, Boclair says she’s ready for the starting lineup in her first season with the program.
“It’s just an opportunity that arose and I have to continuously improve myself and continue to earn the starting spot,” Boclair said.
The first chance for players to make a name for themselves and join the rotation will be on Thursday night at Creighton, who is 1-1 on the season. The Blue Jays lost their season opener to Wichita State, but won on Tuesday night at South Dakota State.
With each of their first two games being on the road, Creighton will host Utah for its home opener.
“Creighton plays a lot like us, they’re a motion-based team,” Levrets said. “They move their players all over the floor, they will challenge you to be sound defensively in your base or they’re going to get really good shots.”
The Blue Jays are coming off a third straight 20-win season and return with their best player, the Big East Player of the Year in Marissa Janning. She averaged 17 points per game last season to lead the conference in scoring.
“Really good player on the wing. Malia [Nawahine] will start on her and Cheyenne [Wilson] will also guard her,” Levrets said. “It’s team defense on top of guarding individually.”
After facing Creighton, the Utes will head farther west in Nebraska to face their biggest challenge of the year so far in the No. 16 Cornhuskers. Nebraska is a program that has seen recent success as it looks to get back to the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight season.
The two teams played last year in Salt Lake, where Nebraska got the win on Utah’s home court. Senior Cheyenne Wilson said, “we owe them one.”
Levrets wouldn’t say the Utes owe Nebraska, but instead talked about stopping the Cornhuskers.
“We were up seven at halftime and lost by four [last season], they’re a really good basketball team,” Levrets said. “They have talent at every position – they are very good in transition and then run great half-court offense.”
Utah is set to tip-off with Creighton at 6:05 p.m. MT from D.J. Sokol Arena on Thursday night.
@BenJasarevic