Utah will wear throwback uniforms for Thursday night's basketball game vs. Oregon, with junior Jayce Johnson performing as a traditional center.
That's the usual role for Johnson, in a era when a 7-foot post player has an old-school job description. As Ute coach Larry Krystkowiak often says, “There's no question the big man is being phased out of the college game.”
These factors have conspired to make back-to-the basket centers such as Johnson almost obsolete: Players' athletic ability, coaches' 3-point shooting emphasis and, in Krystkowiak's view, the way officials allow inside defenders to play physically
Johnson has an offensive role for the Utes, although his execution of it may make him Utah’s most frustrating player to watch.