1996–97 Utah Utes men's basketball team

1996–97 Utah Utes men's basketball
1996–97 Utah Utes men's basketball
WAC tournament champions; WAC Regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
	Mountain
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 2
Record	29–4 (15–1 WAC)
Head coach	Rick Majerus (8th season);
Captain	Keith Van Horn
Home arena	Jon M. Huntsman Center
	Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 WAC men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Mountain
No. 2 Utah †	15	–	1	.938	29	–	4	.879
Tulsa	12	–	4	.750	24	–	10	.706
No. 11 New Mexico	11	–	5	.688	25	–	8	.758
TCU	7	–	9	.438	22	–	13	.629
SMU	7	–	9	.438	16	–	12	.571
Rice	6	–	10	.375	12	–	15	.444
UTEP	6	–	10	.375	13	–	13	.500
BYU	0	–	16	.000	1	–	25	.038
Pacific
Fresno State	12	–	4	.750	20	–	12	.625
Hawaii	12	–	4	.750	21	–	8	.724
UNLV	11	–	5	.688	22	–	10	.688
Colorado State	10	–	6	.625	20	–	9	.690
Wyoming	8	–	8	.500	12	–	16	.429
San Jose State	5	–	11	.313	13	–	14	.481
San Diego State	4	–	12	.250	12	–	15	.444
Air Force	2	–	14	.125	7	–	19	.269

† 1997 WAC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll^[1]

The 1996–97 Utah Utes men's basketball team represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference during the 1996–97 men's basketball season. Led by head coach Rick Majerus, the Utes made a run through the NCAA tournament to the West regional final. The team finished with an overall record of 29–4 (15–1 WAC).

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
SF	3	David Jackson	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Portland, Oregon
F/C	13	Hanno Möttölä	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Fr	Helsinki, Finland
SG	15	Derek Broomhall	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Sacramento, California
SF	18	Brent Wieland	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Prosper, Texas
PG	24	Andre Miller	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Los Angeles, California
G	34	Drew Hansen	—	—	Jr
G	35	Jeff Johnsen	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Murray, Utah
F	44	Keith Van Horn (C)	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Sr	Diamond Bar, California
F	50	Alex Jensen	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	Bountiful, Utah
C	51	Michael Doleac	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	Jr	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

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 23, 1996	No. 4	Azusa Pacific	W 83–50	1–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Nov 26, 1996*	No. 4	at Utah State	W 60–41	2–0	Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Logan, Utah
Nov 30, 1996*	No. 4	at Cal State Fullerton	W 74–67	3–0	Titan Gym Fullerton, California
Dec 4, 1996*	No. 3	Southern Utah	W 60–40	4–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Dec 7, 1996*	No. 3	vs. No. 15 Arizona John Wooden Classic	L 61–69	4–1	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Anaheim, California
Dec 14, 1996*	No. 9	Weber State	W 83–48	5–1	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Dec 21, 1996*	No. 9	No. 14 Texas	W 80–68	6–1	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Dec 23, 1996*	No. 9	Wisconsin-Milwaukee	W 77–63	7–1	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Dec 28, 1996*	No. 8	at UC Irvine	W 77–50	8–1	Bren Events Center Irvine, California
Dec 31, 1996*	No. 7	No. 2 Wake Forest	L 59–70	8–2	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Jan 4, 1997	No. 7	Colorado State	W 84–63	9–2 (1–0)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Jan 11, 1997	No. 9	at BYU	W 61–51	10–2 (2–0)	Marriott Center Provo, Utah
Jan 16, 1997	No. 9	at SMU	W 74–57	11–2 (3–0)	Moody Coliseum Dallas, Texas
Jan 18, 1997	No. 9	at TCU	W 81–77	12–2 (4–0)	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum Fort Worth, Texas
Jan 25, 1997	No. 5	Rice	W 78–58	13–2 (5–0)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Jan 27, 1997*	No. 5	No. 24 Tulsa	W 84–58	14–2 (6–0)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Jan 30, 1997	No. 4	at UTEP	W 74–51	15–2 (7–0)	Don Haskins Center El Paso, Texas
Feb 1, 1997	No. 4	at No. 13 New Mexico	L 71–87	15–3 (7–1)	The Pit Albuquerque, New Mexico
Feb 6, 1997	No. 5	BYU	W 85–49	16–3 (8–1)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Feb 8, 1997	No. 5	at Colorado State	W 82–67	17–3 (9–1)	Moby Arena Fort Collins, Colorado
Feb 13, 1997	No. 5	SMU	W 84–63	18–3 (10–1)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Feb 15, 1997	No. 5	TCU	W 94–91	19–3 (11–1)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Feb 22, 1997	No. 5	at Tulsa	W 56–54	20–3 (12–1)	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Feb 24, 1997	No. 5	at Rice	W 75–66	21–3 (13–1)	Tudor Fieldhouse Houston, Texas
Feb 27, 1997	No. 4	UTEP	W 68–55	22–3 (14–1)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Mar 1, 1997	No. 4	No. 11 New Mexico	W 78–58	23–3 (15–1)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
WAC Tournament
Mar 6, 1997*	No. 3	vs. SMU WAC Tournament Quarterfinal	W 59–58	24–3	Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, Nevada
Mar 7, 1997*	No. 3	vs. No. 14 New Mexico WAC Tournament Semifinal	W 72–70	25–3	Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, Nevada
Mar 8, 1997*	No. 3	vs. TCU WAC tournament championship	W 89–68	26–3	Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, Nevada
NCAA Tournament
Mar 14, 1997*	(2 W) No. 2	vs. (15 W) Navy First round	W 75–61^[2]	27–3	McKale Center Tucson, Arizona
Mar 16, 1997*	(2 W) No. 2	vs. (7 W) UNC Charlotte Second Round	W 77–58^[3]	28–3	McKale Center Tucson, Arizona
Mar 20, 1997*	(2 W) No. 2	vs. No. 21 Stanford West Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 82–77 ^{OT^[4]}	29–3	San Jose Arena San Jose, California
Mar 22, 1997*	(2 W) No. 2	vs. (1 W) No. 5 Kentucky West Regional final – Elite Eight	L 59–72	29–4	San Jose Arena (18,543) San Jose, California
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

^[5]

Rankings

Awards and honors

Keith Van Horn – Consensus First-team All-American, WAC Player of the Year (3x)
Rick Majerus – WAC Coach of the Year

Team players in the 1997 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	2	Keith Van Horn	Philadelphia 76ers

^[6]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1996-97 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
^ "Big and balanced, Utah sinks Navy". The Baltimore Sun. March 15, 1997. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
^ "Van Horn, defense get Utah into Sweet 16". The Baltimore Sun. March 17, 1997. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
^ "Utah Holds Off Stanford in OT, 82-77". The Washington Post. March 20, 1997. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
^ "2019-20 Utah Utes Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Utah Athletics. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
^ "1997 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020.

[1] sports-reference.com 1996-97 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary

[2] "Big and balanced, Utah sinks Navy". The Baltimore Sun. March 15, 1997. Retrieved February 13, 2022.

[3] "Van Horn, defense get Utah into Sweet 16". The Baltimore Sun. March 17, 1997. Retrieved February 13, 2022.

[ncaa-stan-4] "Utah Holds Off Stanford in OT, 82-77". The Washington Post. March 20, 1997. Retrieved June 12, 2021.

[5] "2019-20 Utah Utes Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Utah Athletics. Retrieved June 13, 2020.

[6] "1997 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020.

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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	Gambling scandal 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 2024–25
NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics