The Runnin’ Utes landed their first commitment off this offseason, digging into the transfer portal for former Colorado big man Lawson Lovering. The 7-foot-1 and 225 pound soon-to-be junior had committed at an ideal time, just days after Branden Carlson declared his intentions for the NBA Draft.

Lovering made his announcement on Twitter:

Lawson grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, but spent crucial development time playing AAU ball for the Utah Prospects. Back when he committed to Colorado in 2020, he explained his reasoning for that to Rivals affiliate, CU Sports Report’s, Justin Guerriero.

"I did most of my developing during the AAU season," he said. "Going up there, playing with those Utah kids, it's a lot better competition at practice and it makes me better. Playing in big-time games against highly-ranked guys, you definitely gain experience going up against the best. I love AAU and it’s helped me a lot.”

Utah hasn’t had much success in recent years with landing AAU prospects in Utah. That should change now with Chris Burgess in charge of recruiting the state. Even though Lawson is a transfer, this should be viewed as a positive development towards turning the tides of in-state recruiting.

What Utah is getting

Lawson started all season for the Buffaloes, averaging 23 minutes, 4.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and one block per game. He shot 55.4% from the field, but only averaged 3.6 shots per game.

The big man is purely a center, as he hasn’t attempted any threes in his two seasons at Colorado. Despite that, he has shown the range to stretch the defense.

Burgess is well-known in coaching circles for his work with the bigs. Carlson is a shining example of that, as the elite scorer’s game was noticeably much more well-rounded on both ends of the court this past season.

The belief is that Lovering is just scratching the surface. For the 2022-23 season, he was Top 10 in the Pac-12 in block rate, rebounding rate, and field goal percentage.

With Lovering on board, Utah will still hold out hope that Carlson comes back. If he does, Carlson will slide over to be a stretch-4.

What this means for the class

Lovering joins guard Hunter Erickson who has already signed with Utah. The Runnin’ Utes now have five open scholarships. The intention is to fill those spots through the portal. The key focus was adding size — which they’ve begun with Lovering — and also finding an athletic true point guard.