SALT LAKE CITY — Northwest Nazarene — an obscure basketball program if ever there was one — visits the Huntsman Center Saturday in the Utes’ season opener. Don’t feel guilty if you have trouble figuring out which team is which.
The Crusaders, from Nampa, Idaho, play in the Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The 2016-17 Utes aren’t exactly famous, either. They have a player named Jakob, but it’s not Poeltl, last year’s Pac-12 Player of the Year. It’s actually Jakub Jokl, a 6-foot-11 forward from the Czech Republic. They have Kyle Kuzma, who started 35 games last year, and is the team’s most recognizable player.