Utah Basketball Rising Star Makes SportsCenter Top 10

SALT LAKE CITY – The praise keeps coming for Runnin Utes point guard Deivon Smith who was featured on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays.

Smith had a strong showing last week for Utah against the Oregon schools but was especially potent against the Ducks where he finished with 24 points, eight assists, and 11 rebounds.

SportsCenter was particularly taken with Smith’s half court buzzer-beater three against Oregon which came in at No. 9 in their countdown.

What’s the best way to cap off a weekend sweep at home you ask? How about @sneakgod landing on @SportsCenter #SCTop10⁉️#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/FdHbG8HMiw

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) January 22, 2024

Deivon Smith Growing In Starting Role For Utes

Smith has had a very interesting rise for Utah due to the back-and-forth over his transfer waiver that kept him off the court for the first part of the season.

Once Smith was able to play, it became very apparent his ability could be transformative for the Utes. That theory has been tested further now that he’s starting in place of Rollie Worster who has been out with injury.

Head coach Craig Smith had nothing but great things to say about Smith during Tuesday afternoon’s media availability and how he’s begun to melt into the team.

“I think it’s a combination of two things,” Smith said. “One, he’s just playing. He played almost 38 minutes the other night, but I think it’s also just- the more games he gets under his belt- out team is almost two thirds of the way through and in a lot of ways he’s only a third of the way through. I think you can really see it, feel it the last three games. He’s really figured it out and gotten into a basketball rhythm and timing. His synergy with our team has gotten to a lot higher level. We as coaches are getting a real feel for his game if that makes sense and putting him in better position on both sides of the ball.”

Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for KSLsports.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports

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