Plenty of new faces as Utah, Alcorn State begin season

Even diehard fans of the Utah and Alcorn State men's basketball teams might need to keep rosters handy as their programs tip off the season Monday night in Salt Lake City.

The host Runnin' Utes and the Braves from Lorman, Miss., both underwent wholesale changes since they last stepped on the hardwood in March for a real game.

Utah's new-look team features nine newcomers, including seven transfers: Miro Little (Baylor), Ezra Ausar (East Carolina), Brady Smith (Salt Lake Community College), Keanu Dawes (Rice), Mike Sharavjamts (San Francisco), Zach Keller (Wake Forest) and Mason Madsen (Boston College). They are joined by two international freshmen, Joul Karram of Israel and Ibi Traore of Mali.

Gabe Madsen, Lawson Lovering and Hunter Erickson highlight a group of eight returners for the Utes. Madsen (the twin brother of Mason) is the top returning scorer, having averaged 13.6 points while hitting a single-season school-record 105 3-pointers in 2023-24.

"These early-season games, we just have a lot of newness to us," Utah coach Craig Smith said after his team defeated CSU Pueblo 98-62 in an exhibition on Oct. 29.

Erickson came off the bench to lead the Utes with 17 points, while Gabe Madsen, Little, Sharavjamts, Ausar and Lovering were in the starting lineup.

This will be Utah's first season in the Big 12. Although the Utes finished tied for sixth in the Pac-12 and made an NIT appearance last year after going 22-15 overall, they were selected to finish last in their new 16-team conference this season.

Alcorn State, which finished second in the SWAC in 2023-24 after back-to-back regular-season championships, has even more new faces in its program.

"We've got a whole new team," Alcorn State coach Landon Bussie said. "This is probably the most teaching I've had to do since I've been coaching. ... I have 13 or 14 new guys."

The Braves will lean on transfers Marcus Tankersley (Detroit Mercy), Willie Lightfoot (Odessa College) and Keionte Cornelius (Jackson State). Bussie described the 6-foot-4 Tankersley, who averaged 16.6 points last year, as "a guy who can play at a high level."

--Field Level Media