by Dana Greene

You can't win 25 games in two seasons and expect to be coaching the University of Utah basketball team much longer. But the thing is, Ray Giacoletti had to have known this. He must have realized his team had to win this season in order to keep his job. So what did he do? He brought in six freshmen, expecting them all to contribute. That was the kiss of death.

Curtis Eatmon, Luka Drca, Stephen Weigh, Kim Tillie, Danile Dean and David Foster may all turn out to be pretty good players. But not in their first year of college basketball. Nobody in their right mind would expect these freshman to help lead the Utes back to the NCAA Tournament. Yet, this is was Giacoletti expected, and it led to his demise. He must have thought he'd have at least a couple years with these young guys, and maybe he deserved that chance having led Utah to the Sweet 16 just two years ago. But why take that chance? I realize he didn't plan on Justin Hawkins and Richard Cheney leaving the program prematurely. But how about bringing in a couple more junior college guys that could have helped the team sooner?

The worst part is, the Utes could be very good next season. With Luke Nevill, Johnnie Bryant and Shaun Green a year wiser and hopefully better, and with the development of the young guys, the Utes would have been in position to make a serious run at a conference title. Unfortunately, we'll never know if Giacoletti would have been the man to lead them to it.