Public invited to Utah Tech men’s basketball meet-and-greet preview night Oct. 17

File Photo: Cameron Gooden sinks a free throw against Tarleton State in a WAC basketball game, St. George, Utah, Dec. 30, 2021 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The Utah Tech men’s basketball program will host a 2022-23 Meet and Greet Preview Night inside the Burns Arena on Oct. 17, beginning at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Utah Tech University men’s basketball team photo for 2022-23 | Photo courtesy of Utah Tech athletics, St. George News

The festivities planned for the night include official Trailblazer team and player introductions, a red/white team scrimmage, a 3-point shooting contest and a dunk contest.

In addition, there will be food and prize giveaways and a meet and greet autograph session with the Trailblazer student-athletes at the conclusion of the event.

The Trailblazers return four starters and eight letter winners from last year’s squad that posted a 13-18 overall record in the program’s second NCAA Division I season. The 13 wins last season were five more than the program’s win total from its D-I debut season in 2020-21.

The Blazers also finished 10-6 inside the Burns Arena and wound up 6-12 in Western Athletic Conference play, which was good for 10th place in the conference standings.

Head coach Jon Judkins, who is the all-time winningest college basketball coach (men’s or women’s) in Utah collegiate basketball history, returns for his 18th season on the Trailblazer sideline.

Senior point guard Cameron Gooden is the team’s top returning scorer (11.5 ppg) and assists leader (3.6 apg), while senior forward Dancell Leter is UT’s top returning rebounder (5.2 ppg) and second-leading scorer (10.3 ppg).

The Trailblazers will open the 2022-23 season by playing eight of their first nine games on the road, starting with the season opener at Nevada on Nov. 7.

UT will open its 14-game home slate against CSUN on Nov. 12 in the Burns Arena.

In addition, UT will host UTRGV to open WAC play on Dec. 29, before heading up Interstate 15 to Orem for a New Year’s Eve match-up at in-state rival Utah Valley.

The 2023 WAC Men’s Basketball Tournament will be held the week of March 6-13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Last June, the WAC announced that D-I transitioning members Utah Tech and Tarleton State would be allowed to participate in all conference championships beginning this 2022-23 competition season.

Season and single-game tickets for both Utah Tech men’s and women’s basketball are now available for purchase at the UT Avenna Center Ticket Office during regular business hours, or by calling 435-652-7800.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!