After a bowl-like break, Utah basketball is back in action at new College Basketball Crown

When Utah tips off against Butler in the opening game of the College Basketball Crown Monday, it will have been 20 days between games for the Runnin’ Utes.

By the time the game starts, 64 teams will have been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament field, with only the Final 4 remaining.

It’s a unique situation, with the new Crown tournament taking place in a one-week, neutral-site locale at the same time much of the college basketball world focuses on the Final Four and the open transfer portal.

“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity. It’s new, something new for everybody,” Utah sophomore forward Jake Wahlin said, “but to have another opportunity to play with these guys, this is such a fun team on and off the court, so it means a lot to a lot of us to have this last chance to compete with each other and go out with a bang.”

The Utes — even with a coaching change that has shaken up the past month — are looking forward to the opportunity, and there is some NIL incentive in the 16-team event that will be played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for the first two rounds before the semifinals and championship are hosted at T-Mobile Arena.

There is a $500,000 NIL package that will be split among the final four teams playing in the Crown. The winner earns the lion’s share with a $300,000 NIL package, the runner-up earns $100,000 and the other two semifinalists will each get $50,000.

“I know it’s the first year of the Crown (and) I haven’t went through the whole process of experiencing it, but so far, it’s been first class, the way they’ve operated, the way they’ve communicated,” Utah interim head coach Josh Eilert said.

“I love the competition in the field, and in a lot of ways, I think there’s a lot more excitement to play in the Crown than there is tournaments like the NIT, especially with the reward on the back end of it, if you can get hot and win some games. There’s a lot of excitement around it, and I think that you can see that with our players.”

Even with the Utes going through a coaching change — Craig Smith was fired Feb. 24, Alex Jensen has been named as his replacement and Eilert is serving as head coach through the end of the season — the players have bonded together to finish the season the right way.

“It’s a good group of good people. It’s not really, not many egos. There’s not really things or people that kind of separate the team,” Utah sophomore forward Keanu Dawes said.

“I just think it’s a good group, and, you know, it’s a good opportunity to be able to continue to grow my relationship with these guys.”

The bracket for the 2025 College Basketball Crown. | College Basketball Crown

After playing 20 games in 10 weeks over the Big 12 regular-season schedule, followed immediately by the conference tournament where Utah lost to UCF in the first round, the nearly three-week gap between games allowed the opportunity for Utah to heal up.

Ezra Ausar missed the Utes’ Big 12 tournament game against UCF with a knee injury he sustained against BYU the weekend prior. His absence was felt, even as it allowed Dawes to post career highs in points (21) and rebounds (15) in Utah’s most recent game.

“Some of those nagging injuries and that wear and tear on your body, the best thing that we could do is probably give them that week, first week off, put the ball down for a while, and get mentally focused, and that’s what we did,” Eilert said last Tuesday.

“We gave them a week off, and then the second week we started transitioning back into the weight room, started working individual skill work and this third week, we’ve been locking in, starting a couple days ago, just getting back into full mode and practice.”

“We want to finish on top. We want to be the first people to ever win the Crown.”

Utah (16-16) hadn’t gotten fully into Butler prep mode when reporters had the chance to speak with team members last week, but the Utes emphasized the Bulldogs (14-19) have their full attention for Monday’s game (1 p.m. MST, FS1).

“You know that obviously, high major basketball teams, anytime we’re playing them, you’ve got to be ready to compete,” Dawes said of Butler, who is a member of the Big East.

There are five Big 12 teams in the field, with Arizona State on Utah’s side of the bracket — that could end up being a semifinal matchup — and Cincinnati, UCF and Colorado also in Vegas.

Another team of interest for Utah fans is Nebraska. Former Utah guard Rollie Worster transferred last year and joined the Cornhuskers program, and he could face a few old teammates in the Crown semifinals if both Utah and Nebraska win first- and second-round games.

While Utah has nine players in the transfer portal, according to various reports, the Utes are expected to have nearly the full roster available in Las Vegas — only Caleb Lohner is absent as he goes through the NFL draft process.

Wahlin was one of the first Utah players to announce he was headed into the transfer portal, but at the time, the Utah County talent shared that he is keeping the option open to return to Utah and he intended on playing in the postseason with the Utes.

“I’m just doing my due diligence with circumstances that have taken place towards the end of the season, but fortunately, I have the chance to play while still being in the transfer portal,” he said.

“I’m thankful for that opportunity. I just love these guys and I think we’re all excited to just keep playing with each other. We all love basketball, and so any opportunity to keep competing, we’re going to take that chance.”

Whatever the reason, there are plenty of motivating factors for Utah to find success in Las Vegas this week.

“We want to finish on top. We want to be the first people to ever win the Crown,” Dawes said, “and I think individually, everybody’s got their goals going forward.

“Nobody really knows what the future holds, but it’s the last time we’ll play together, so the only thing we want to do is win.”

Utah Utes forward Keanu Dawes (8) reaches for a rebound during a first round game of the Big 12 Championship between the Utah Utes and the UCF Knights at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News