Utah Basketball Adds Three Key Pieces for 2022-23
The University of Utah Utes men’s basketball team’s center Branden Carlson plays against the Colorado Buffaloes at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday March 5, 2022. (Photo by Xiangyao “Axe” Tang | The Daily Utah Chronicle)
April 14, 2022
The University of Utah men’s basketball team had a busy day on Wednesday, picking up a new assistant coach, a four-star commitment and the official signing of a previous commit.
Wednesday marked the opening of the official signing period for college basketball, and Wilguens Exacte Jr. wrote his name in ink on Utah’s dotted line. Exacte Jr. is a 6-foot-6, 225-pound guard who comes to the Utes from the NBA Academy Latin America. Originally from Montréal, Québec, Canada, Exacte brings strength and versatility to the Utes’ backcourt. He’s a high-upside prospect that will help Utah gain a little more physicality on their roster.
The good news continued for Utah with the hiring of Chris Burgess away from rival BYU. Burgess played for the Utes under Rick Majerus in the early 2000s and has deep recruiting ties in the state of Utah. Eric Peterson, Utah’s former assistant coach, left for a head coaching job at South Dakota, leaving his spot on the staff to now be filled by Burgess.
Finally, to cap off the night, multiple sources confirmed that Wasatch Academy big man Keba Keita will commit to Utah. Keita is a four-star prospect who played for Wasatch, located in Mount Pleasant, Utah. Keita is listed at 6-foot-8 and 225 pounds. His final decision was between Utah and UNLV. Originally from Mali, Keita will bring rebounding and physicality to the Utes’ frontcourt.
Last season, head coach Craig Smith spoke repeatedly about his desire to run two big guys on the court at the same time. That vision never quite came to fruition, but a Keita-Branden Carlson frontcourt tandem will likely allow Smith to experiment with that idea much more than he was able to last year.
Lahat Thioune is in the transfer portal and Dusan Mahorcic left the program midseason, so Keita will be a piece to help Utah rebuild their big man rotation. They’ll likely look to add another center before all is said and done, but this is a great start.
Keita joins new Ute and Cincinnati transfer Mike Saunders as former Wasatch Academy basketball stars, strengthening Utah’s presence as a threat for local talent. The hiring of Burgess also helps their recruiting ties. All in all, it was a very successful day for Utah as they continue to build out their 2022-23 roster.
Robert schiavo • Apr 16, 2022 at 10:21 pm
Lets see if we can win more games than we lose and make the nit before we demand the NCAA tournament.let us see if we can fill the lower bowl before demanding the curtains come down.