Home Stretch

Utah is set to take on BYU this Saturday, 10/18, in the first ranked Holy War since ‘09. Sports Editor, John Leone, breaks down the matchup.

John and Collyn discuss the recent struggles of Utah football and preview the West Virginia game with Bryce Cohen of the Daily Athenaeum.

John and Collyn preview Utah’s matchup with Texas Tech, plus some women’s soccer coverage.

Sports Editor John Leone sits down to speak about recent sports events at the University of Utah.

00:05Welcome in guys, this is the homestretch podcast where we talk old things Utah athletics. I'm your host Max Valva and we're diving in headfirst into the very first episode of the season with a big focus on the Utah men's basketball team. So whether you're a diehard Utes fan or just looking for some good sports talk, you're in the right place. This is the podcast where we break down the action, the moves,00:32and the game-changing moments that make Utah sports one of the best in the country. Let's get into it.00:42Okay, let's talk hoops. The 2023-2024 season for the Utah men's basketball team was anything but boring. In fact, it was pretty insane. This season for the Utes was the first in the Big 12, and let's be real, there was a lot of unknowns. It's a new conference, which meant a whole lot of new faces and a whole lot of fresh transfers coming in. Not exactly a recipe for immediate success, right? Well, that's what we thought.01:12But hey, the Utes were picked to finish dead last in the Big 12. Yeah, dead last. People really thought we would be an afterthought in this conference. And they were counting us out before the season even tipped off. Well, you know what? This team proved everyone wrong. They finished the season at a respectable 500, 16 and 16, 8 and 12 in the Big 12. But being in a new conference, that's expected.01:41Although it wasn't quite a Cinderella run when you look at it, the amount of turnover on the roster and the insane competition, the Big 12, was a pretty solid show. But let's be honest, this is a program that expects more. Being the largest university in the state of Utah, we have to show up, we have to do our best to make the fans excited for the season. And that's something that02:11we just haven't seen yet. We haven't made the tournament since 2016, and it's been a long, long time. It's been a disappointing run. It's a program that used to compete, and as a fan of the university, I think I speak for all of us out here to say we want to see more. It's been a long time since 2016. It's been years. And settling for 500.02:41isn't something we should be striving for. Think back to the 90s. The Utes were not just a regional power, we were a national powerhouse. Under the late great Rick Majeris, the Utes made deep runs in the tournament every year. Under Majeris, we had three straight 16 appearances, even a title game appearance in 98. This program wasn't just competitive, it was elite.03:10And now we're still trying to get that back. Nine years removed from playing in meaningful postseason basketball. Think about that. We haven't made the tournament since Kuzma suited up for us. Since Jakob Pertl. All these guys who have been in the NBA for almost a decade. So where do we go from?03:38After a disappointing year, the Utes decided to let go of fourth year head coach Craig Smith and bring in alumni and Utah legend Alex Jensen. You heard me right, that Alex Jensen. A player who once played under Rick Majeris is now back to be the new head coach of the running Utes, the new captain to bring us back to the tournament.04:11So what is Jensen's resume? He's been an assistant coach in the NBA since 2013. First with the Utah Jazz, most recently with the Dallas Mavericks, helping lead them to the NBA Finals last year. Now obviously there's been a little bit of turmoil down in Dallas with Luca Donchitrade and Nico Harrison just killing the vibes down there. So...04:40He's coming back home.04:43Looking at Jensen, he's not just an assistant coach. This guy has experienced coaching at the highest level, working alongside some of greatest NBA players. And he's been a candidate before, and now he's back at

Christian Stringer: Hi and welcome back to the Home Stretch, the Daily Utah Chronicle sports podcast. My name is Christian. I will be your host today, Brooke will be talking about some of our fall sports teams and how they have done so far this season. Hi Brooke, and welcome to the podcast. Brooke Hale: Hi, thank you for having me. Christian Stringer: So what have you seen from some of the Utes fall sports this semester?Brooke Hale: Yeah, it's been super exciting. So today I'll just kind of talk about the women's volleyball team and the women's soccer team, just because they've had really good seasons. I mean, volleyball is still playing. They are going to make a run in the NCAA tournament, which is so exciting. And the women's soccer team, they had their best season so far in years since, like, maybe 2016 so there is a lot to talk about today, and it's very exciting to see, you know, our women's team, you know, being successful, and especially our first year in the Big 12, it's super exciting to see that they can make an impact right away in in the conference. Christian Stringer: Yeah, having hot starts in new conferences is always a great thing. So specifically, what have you seen from the volleyball team so far? Brooke Hale: Yeah I mean, the volleyball team has had a great year. They have been ranked in the top 25 for most of the season, which is super exciting. They will hopefully be hosting the first couple rounds at the NCAA. Kind of depends on like seeding and where they are ranked by the end of the season but they should be in a great spot which is super exciting. Currently they're 21-5, which is an awesome record that is insane. Again, making an emphasis on the first year, on being in the Big 12, that's an awesome record there. Their winning percentage is 8.08 which is super exciting. There are 11 and 4 in conference play, and at home they're 10 and 2. So being at home and especially if they are hosting in the NCAA, that will be awesome. They have a great winning at home percentage. Utah has 1,292 kills against other teams. It has 1,190assists, which is awesome, and aces their leading opponents by 149 which is awesome. That is a ton of aces. So this team this year, they're really stacked. I mean, on all sides, on offense and defense, they're really doing well, and they take on West Virginia, Cincinnati and Iowa State in their next couple games before the NCAA. So I mean, with the 21 and 5 record, they should be in a great spot for the tournament and having three more games and senior night coming up, they should have a great home advantage. So shout out to volleyball. They're doing awesome, they're killing it. I wish you guys the best for the NCAA. I hope you guys can make a great run. You guys have a great team this year and it's super exciting. Christian Stringer: Yeah, good luck to them coming up on the tournament. And I love hearing about that home court advantage. That just seems like a trend here at Utah. In years past, we always seem to have that good home field advantage, home court advantage. So now shifting gears, what have you seen from the soccer team so far this year? Brooke Hale: Yeah, I mean the soccer team I mentioned this earlier there, they had their best season since 2016 which is huge like they were kind of in a rut for a little bit. You know, kind of some a lot of coaching changes, a lot of transfers coming in the program. There's been a lot of up and up and down, especially the last couple seasons. So again, entering the Big 12 this season, they ended the season eight, six and five, which is awesome. I mean, obviously all games are hard and especially the Big 12, there's some great competition. And they made their first Big 12 tournament this year, being in the Big 12 for the first time this year, they were seated, which is super exciting. That's awesome first year, obviously, in the conference, which

Christian Stringer and Brooke Hale talk about both basketball teams and their first year in the Big 12.

Christian and Kyle talk about the Football season so far. They talk about the Utes offense and defense this year.

This episode focuses on the University of Utah's soccer team. Brooke being a former player gives her opinion and insight on the women's soccer team.

Kamry Bailey the senior joins the Home Stretch and talks about the women's volleyball team this season. Kamry also talks about her experience as an athlete and being a student.

Christian Stringer gives a run down on the start of the Football season for the Utes. The Utes have played three games so far and Christain gives details on the players and how the Utes are looking and a preview of the Oklahoma State game.

In this season we got the opportunity to meet with Katie O'Kane. She is a senior on the soccer team this year. She is a midfielder that is from Seattle, Washington. We focused on how she prepared for this season and who she is most excited to play against.

In this episode, Stevie, Kyle and Brooke talk about the Utah Baseball players that have been catching our attention, and give their insights into why the baseball team is having more success this year.

In this episode, Kyle Garrison and Brooke Hale chat about the Utah Men and Women's Basketball teams, addressing what both teams did well this season, and what fans can expect next season.

In this episode, Utah Women's Basketball player Ines Vieira sits down to talk about her thoughts on the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

In this episode, the Utah baseball team's junior pitcher Micah Ashman sat down to talk about his recent baseball accomplishments, and how he is preparing for the upcoming baseball season.

In this episode, Men's Lacrosse Player Jordan Hyde sits down with host Brooke Hale to discuss his upcoming lacrosse season.

In this episode, host Kyle Garrison sits down with Stevie Shaughnessey and Brooke Hale to chat about the recent wins the Utah Women's Basketball team has had and their upcoming games.

In this episode, sports writer and podcast host Kyle Garrison sit down to chat about what he's seen from the Utah Men's Basketball team on the court, and who the key players are for the team.

In this episode, podcast hosts Kyle Garrison chats with Brooke Hale and Stevie Shaughnessey about how Utah did in the Las Vegas Bowl against Northwestern, and what factors contributed to the outcome of this game.

In this episode, sports writer Luke Skinner talks about the upsides of NIL for student athletes at the U, and how NIL has changed collegiate sports.

In this episode, sports writer Kyle Garrison sits down to talk about Cam Rising's return to Utah Football and the transfer portal, analyzing what this could mean for the football program next year.

In this episode, sports writer Kyle Garrison comes back on the show to give us a run down of the first two Utah Men's Basketball games, and his thoughts on how the rest of the season will play out.

Sports writer Max Valva sits down with podcast producer Stevie Shaughnessey to talk about the chances of Utah receiving the 2034 Olympic Bid, and what factors go into this consideration.

In this episode of Home Stretch, sports writer Isaac Dunaway sits down with podcast producer Stevie Shaughnessey to talk about what he is expecting to see during the 2023-2024 Utah Women's Basketball season.

Sports Writer Kyle Garrison speaks with Sports Podcast Producer Stevie Shaughnessey about the recent Oregon versus Utah football game, and what caused Utah's first at-home loss.

In this episode of Home Stretch, Sports Writer Kyle Garrison sits down with Podcast Producer Stevie Shaughnessey to talk about the recent win Utah football had against USC, what allowed this win to happen, and key players that have been helping secure these wins.

In this episode of Home Stretch, Sports Writer Kyle Garrison sits down with Sports Podcast Producer Stevie Shaughnessey to preview the Utah Men's Basketball season and to talk about what fans can expect to see from the players and coaches this year.

In this episode of Home Stretch, podcast producer Stevie Shaughnessey recaps the U women's volleyball Pac-12 conference play thus far, talking about their preseason and current in-season play. You can find more information here. Enjoy!