Former Ute Andrew Bogut announces retirement from NBA - signs with Austrailian league

One of the best Utah basketball players of all-time, and NBA champion Andrew Bogut hs concluded his career in the NBA and is going home to play ball. Bogut is going home to play for the Sydney Kings in the NBL.

Bogut was the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Bucks after a great, although short career at Utah. The big man averaged 16.5 points and 11 boards in his two seasons at the U, and was a force of nature. Many people may not remember that Bogut had a nice jump shot while on campus, but a broken arm in the NBA really derailed that part of his game. He was really a complete player, not only with scoring, but he was a beast on the defensive side of the ball, blocking shots and rebounds, as well as passing. Boges was a great passer, and his defense and passing really translated to the NBA, and really carried on even after his injuries. He ended up winning a ring with Golden State in 2015.

Here are some of his career highlights from Utah (per UtahUtes.com):

Ranks 27th in career scoring (1,126 points), ninth in scoring average (16.5 ppg), 10th in rebounds (753), seventh in rebounding average (11.1 rpg), second in field goal percentage (60.3) and tied for fourth in blocked shots (109) at Utah ... one of 31 Utah players all-time to score 1,000 points in his career, but just the third to reach that mark in two seasons ... had 40 career double-doubles and 25 20-point games.

The story, as I remember it, is that it took Ray Giacoletti to rerecruit Bogut to get him to come back for his second year, because he was tired of the previous coaching staff. As a Utah fan, I’m thankful he was able to get him to come back. That teamthat he lead that 2004-05 season (sharing the same season as the Fiesta Bowl team too) was, in my opinion, Final Four quality, but got upended by Kentucky (of course) in the Sweet 16. Bogut led a talented team with Tim Drisdom, Marc Jackson, Bryant Markson, and Justin Hawkins. That team had a lot of skill, but couldn’t get over the hump against UK in that Sweet 16 game. He led the Utes to a 31-6 record that season, including the MWC regular season title (they lost the tournament title to New Mexico and Danny Granger).

Bogut had his number retired the following season after we went to the NBA at the Huntsman Center, and I remember him saying that he would have loved to stay in school, but the opportunities ($$$) of the NBA were too much to pass up. In his NBA career he played for the Bucks, Golden State, Cleveland, Dallas and the Lakers.

Now that his NBA career is over, it’s great for him to finish up his playing days at home, where he’s a huge deal. I’m happy for Bogut, and we always have his highlights:

Here’s a list of accolades from Bogut’s final season at the U:

• ESPN.com National Player of the Year
• Basketball Times National Player of the Year
• Wooden Award Top 5 Finalist
• Naismith Award Top 4 Finalist
• Associated Press First Team All-America
• USBWA First Team All-America
• NABC First Team All-America
• Mountain West Conference Player of the Year
• Mountain West Conference All-Tournament Team
• USBWA District 8 Player of the Year
• NABC First Team All-District 13
• MWC Player of the Week Five Times
• Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team