Around The Hill, 2/3/2022: Spring Captains, Cam Rising, Dark Mode

In Football News...

• The team announced that Cam Rising, Devin Kaufusi, Brant Kuithe, Clark Phillips III, and Jadon Redding were selected as spring captains. This is a great group of guys!

• The USS Salt Lake City uniforms continue to be acknowledged as one of the best uniforms in college football last year.

• WR Sidney Mbanasor (em-BAN-uh-sohr) officially signed on the dotted line and became a Ute yesterday. Mbanasor (6’5”, 200) has an impressive size/speed combination that could develop into something really special.

• The 2022 signing class is complete and is the highest average rating in program history.

• ATH Lucas Hyde signed as a Preferred Walk-on (PWO). Hyde (5’11”, 170) is very talented and is a huge get for the Utes as a PWO. I don’t think it will be long before he earns a scholarship. Hyde is also close with Lander Barton who signed with Utah during the early signing period. Also, I love the bottom-right pic of him as a kid with coach Whitt. So cute.

• LB Helaman Ofahengaue signed as a PWO. Ofahengaue (6’3”, 215) has good size and could fit at either LB or DE depending on how he develops.

• TE James Allemann signed as a PWO. Allemann (6’5”, 210) has experience at TE, WR, and DE.

• WR Jett Meine signed as a PWO. Meine (6’2”, 195), out of Corner Canyon HS, was first team all-state. Meine is also an extremely bright guy who held offers from Harvard and Dartmouth among others.

• Wow. This is pretty huge praise. I’m not too familiar with Sidelines Sports Network so I’m not sure about who they know that is talking about Rising potentially being the first QB off the board but I love the recognition from a non-Utah source!

• Cam Rising and the OL were the best in the country against the blitz.

• Bam Olaseni is a great ambassador of the Utes. Can’t wait for him to get to the NFL and show them what he’s got!

• Former Utah WR Tim Patrick was highlighted as an “unsung hero” for the Broncos this year. You can read about him and all of the other unsung heroes on AFC teams here.
• Yesterday was Nation Girls & Women in Sports Day! Check out this video highlighting some of the women who work in Utah Football.

• Mark your calendars.

In Basketball News...

• Dark Mode game tonight at the Hunstman. Let’s snap that streak.

Trent’s Pick...

• I know of multiple random people who could have created a better name and uniform design over a single weekend. I have no idea how it took two years being “the Washington Football Team” to come up with this new name and uniform. The uniforms are hideously disjointed with each uniform a different font, style, and logo placement. Maybe I’m just a uniform snob, but I feel sorry for all the Washington fans out there.