6/4/2018 football Edit

Statistically Speaking: Recruiting and the Larry Krystkowiak Era

Joseph Silverzweig • UteNation

Staff

Joseph has spent the last five years doing in-depth quantitative analysis of the Utes and the PAC 12. His mission is to take sports narratives and put them to the test.

Shortly after the announcement of a new and exciting athletic director for the University of Utah, the highly anticipated commitment of 6'7" guard Both Gach fell the Runnin' Utes way. This commitment serves as the cherry on top of a basketball class that looked suspect at signing day, but has rounded into impressive form, ranking 26th in Rivals' team recruiting rankings. The closing of the class and the start of the new chapter in Utah athletics offers the opportunity to look back on Coach Krystkowiak, and what he's done with a program that hit rock bottom shortly after he arrived.

There's no sugarcoating the early years—Larry started with one of the worst teams in the country, an abysmal 302nd in KenPom and an 11th place finish in the Pac-12 almost felt like the end of the program. It wasn't long before Coach Krystkowiak started to pull things in the right direction, though- first bringing the team together and then attracting much improved talent.

The team soared quickly into the higher rankings, finishing the '14-'15 season with a Sweet 16 tournament appearance and ranked 8th in KenPom before a slight decline in recent seasons. Although not all in their prime, it's no surprise that the Sweet 16 team featured the services of no fewer than three future first round NBA draft picks- Delon Wright, Jakob Poeltl, and Kyle Kuzma.

Utah basketball would take a dip following that aggregation of talent, not surprising when you look back at the players who made up the roster—but by then word had spread about Larry Krystkowiak.

Following the '15 class, class sizes grew sharply and average star rating and team ranking also substantially improved. Utah has yet to reap major benefits on the court from these classes, but much of the story will be told in this upcoming year.

The class Coach K has put together is a special one. This class features two versatile four star threats in Timmy Allen and Both Gach, and is well rounded out by a strong collection of three star players. Considering the impressive over-performance from the 2017-2018 squad and the new influx of talent, the '18-'19 season is shaping up to be yet another stop on Coach Krystkowiak's upward trajectory.

It's hard not to be excited about the next stop on the Krystkowiak train.