SALT LAKE CITY — When the University of Utah made the jump from the Mountain West Conference to the Pac-12, in addition to the newer, high-profile teams the Utes would find on their conference schedule every season, one prevalent narrative was the anticipation of “Pac-12 talent” that the Utes' roster would soon be stocked with.
Utah coaches boasted about the doors of high school athletes that they were now able to knock on that they hadn’t previously had access to as a member of the Mountain West.
Until now, much of that high school talent has served largely as a boastful talking point, rather than a critical element of the team’s development.