Bountiful’s Zac Seljaas, a 6-foot-7 swingman, has verbally committed to play for BYU.

“I just knew it was right for me,” said Seljaas, who also held offers from Utah, Utah State and the University of San Francisco.

Seljaas visited the BYU campus last week and said he informed coach Dave Rose of his decision Sunday.

As a sophomore last year with the Braves, Seljaas displayed an excellent combination of size and skill. He averaged nearly 15 points, four rebounds and three assists per game, earning second-team all-state honors. Seljaas has excellent range, knocking down 49 3-pointers ...

Golden Holt is at it again.

Now in its third year of existence, the annual Great Western Shootout high school basketball tournament has once again lured some of the top prep basketball teams in the country to Utah County. The tournament, slated for Dec. 5-7 at Orem High School, will feature five-star forward De’Ron Davis out of Overland High School in Aurora, Colo., as well as last year’s MaxPreps national champion Lone Peak Knights.

“This is going to be one of the top basketball tournaments in the entire country,...

Brekkott Chapman called the guy who’d been following him around the country for much of the 2013 calendar season to tell him exactly what he wanted to hear.

When he did, Larry Krystkowiak was speechless.

Chapman’s commitment to the University of Utah Monday remains a major coup for a Runnin’ Utes program entering their third season under Krystkowiak and third in the Pac-12 Conference. The Roy High School senior was ranked the 49th prospect overall nationwide by ESPN.com and is considered one of the most versatile ...

If the football team manages to dirty up the floors at East High School with mud or grass, it’s Christian Folau who is the first person to take to the janitorial closet and clean up the mess. He’s the first player on the field to break down practice and he’s the player who sets up cones for various football drills.

As a sophomore on the East High School football team, Folau was voted as a team captain by his peers.

“The level of maturity this young man has is off the charts,” said East head coach Brandon Matich.

In. Out. Back in.

Former Lone Peak assistant Trace Bevell will be the Jordan boys’ basketball coach after all, following a roller-coaster hiring process.

Bevell was tabbed as the Beetdiggers’ head coach in May, only to have that job stripped of him — and an offer to instead be an assistant extended – in June.

But Jordan principal Tom Sherwood says Bevell will in fact be the school’s next coach, though neither he nor district officials would offer details of the flip-flops.

“We did evaluate the situation and we did deci...

Joe Tukuafu was ready to make his decision.

When the East tight end showed up to a workout Monday morning, he told coach Brandon Matich he wanted to commit to the University of Utah. The pair phoned Utah assistant coach Jay Hill, who helped them track down Utah coach Kyle Whittingham so Tukuafu could inform him of his decision to play up the street for the Utes.

A 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, Tukuafu was recruited by Utah as a tight end, but Matich said he’s a player who can play on either side of the ball.

The architect of Timpview’s state championship offense won’t be wearing Bingham blue after all.

Chad Van Orden, a longtime coach for the Thunderbirds’ football team, said earlier this year he was headed to Bingham to work as a quarterbacks coach. Van Orden instead is off to Alta.

“I’m hoping he’s going to come on and coach,” Alta coach Bob Stephens said. “We’re really excited, but I haven’t talked to him and finalized anything.”

Bingham coach Dave Peck said Van Orden accepted a job at rival Alta teaching math next year. Peck, however, said he was unsure ...

The Fourth of July holiday has passed, and the prep football season is approaching rapidly.

That means it’s time to begin preparing the state’s fans for the upcoming season. The TribPreps sports team will begin our Two-A-Days previews Monday. Our plan is to preview every team in the state leading up to the season kickoff Aug. 23.

We will post previews every day of the week at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. (or as close as possible to those times). And as we close in on the final days before the season begins, we’ll crank it up to Three-A-Days (there are 104 football-playing schools, and we want to get...

After eight dominant years in Hoosierland, Drew Trost decided it was time to come home.

Trost was hired as the boys’ basketball coach at Juan Diego Catholic High School in May following eight seasons at the Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond, Ind. In those eight years, Trost’s teams went 129-57, won two sectional titles and in 2011, according to this story by Mike Hutton of The Post-Tribune.

In an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, Trost, who was named 2011 Coach of the Year by the Northwest Indiana Times as well...

Jordan High School once again is without a basketball coach.

After parting ways with Rob Geertsen earlier this year, the school announced the hiring of former Lone Peak assistant Trace Bevell as its new coach in May. However things have changed since then.

A Canyons School District spokesman said Bevell no longer is the Beetdiggers’ coach, a change made last week.

“We have offered him a job as a teacher and an assistant coach on the boys’ basketball team,” Canyons spokesman Jeff Haney said Wednesday.

Haney would not discuss the reason for the change, ci...

T.J. Haws will have a new running mate in the backcourt in the 2013-14 season.

Frank Jackson, a freshman guard for Lehi who put up 30 points on the vaunted Lone Peak Knights during their national championship season in February, has transferred to Lone Peak, according to Knights’ coach Quincy Lewis.

Lewis said Jackson registered at Lone Peak in April, adding the family moved into their new place of residence the first week of May, making Jackson eligible for the upcoming basketball season in late 2013.

Park City senior Ben Saarel wrapped up an incredible high school career with state titles in the 800 and 1,600 at the Class 3A state track meet last month.

Saarel was honored as the Gatorade Utah boys track and field athlete of the year Thursday.

Saarel, who will compete at the University of Colorado next season, competed in the adidas Dream Mile in New York, which he won in 4 minutes, 2.72 seconds.

Saarel ends his high school career with the state record in the 800 (1:51.13), 1,600 (4:07.95) and 3,200 (8:49.08).

Sky V...

Jordan High quarterback Austin Kafentzis has given a verbal commitment to play for Wisconsin and former Utah State coach Gary Andersen.

Kafentzis, who led the Beetdiggers to a state championship last year as a sophomore, is in Madison for the Badgers’ camp and gave his commitment Tuesday, according to his father, Jordan defensive coordinator Kyle Kafentzis.

“He just felt it was the right thing to do,” Kyle Kafentzis said. “It was the right place for him.”

Kafentzis, the top quarterback recruit in the state, had received offers from Utah, BYU, Utah State and Hawaii. He participated ...

Midvale • The Utah High School Activities Association’s (UHSAA) Board of Trustees convened for the final time of the 2012-13 calendar year Thursday morning in Midvale, and the ever-important catastrophic injury and insurance topic was the primary goal of the meeting.

Wells Fargo insurance broker David Nielson addressed the board members regarding potential options of how to protect student-athletes under the UHSAA athletic umbrella and after hours of deliberation, the board voted unanimously to go sign back on Mutual of Omaha.

The new deal will fe...

She dominated Class 4A softball, her right arm leading her Salem Hills Skyhawks to a state championship.

Kirtlyn Bohling now has been recognized for it on a national level.

In its 28th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, announced Bohling as its 2012-13 Gatorade Utah Softball Player of the Year on Thursday.

Bohling, a 5-foot-9 junior pitcher, led the Skyhawks (25-3) in the circle and posted a 24-2 record with a 0.35 ERA and 281 strikeouts over 158 2/3 innings....

Midvale • The feverish popularity of streaming and broadcasted high school sports in the state of Utah could be getting a new look, or even an entirely new network.

In Wednesday morning’s Utah High School Activities Association executive committee meeting, associate director Kevin Dustin addressed committee members regarding the UHSAA’s future broadcasting plans and potential avenues.

Their contract with KJZZ recently expired, leaving the station with exclusive negotiating rights to try to reach an agreement on a contract extension.

“We’re at the end of ...

Snow Canyon’s Riley Gates was named the Gatorade Utah baseball player of the year Tuesday.

Gates helped lead the Warriors to a repeat of the Class 3A state title earlier this month.

Gates is the first Gatorade player of the year from Snow Canyon. He went 6-4 with a 0.83 ERA and 114 strikeouts over 59 innings this season. He threw two no-hitters.

Gates also provided plenty of punch at the plate. He batted .446 with three homers and 37 RBIs.

“Riley Gates is a tremendous kid who I have immensely enjoyed coaching the last ...

Davis High’s Alex Morrell has given a verbal commitment to play at USU Eastern in Price after returning from a Mormon mission.

The 6-foot-6 Morrell will play at the former College of Eastern Utah after he returns from a mission in Raleigh, N.C., in 2015, said Chad Rawlings, his AAU coach. Morrell averaged 6.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game during his senior season with the Darts, according to MaxPreps.com.

— Aaron Falk

East High running back Ula Tolutau has committed to Wisconsin.

The junior picked up an offer from Gary Andersen late last week and needed only a few short days to make his decision to commit.

“I know that’s a winning program,” Tolutau said Thursday.

The running back said he got to know Andersen when the coach and his staff tried to recruit him to Utah State and felt comfortable with them.

Tolutau becomes one of the first Utah prospects to commit to Wisconsin since Andersen took over the reins, but he doubts he will be ...

Former BYU quarterback Riley Nelson is headed back to Logan High, where he will take over offensive coordinator duties for his alma mater.

“You want to surround yourself with guys you trust, and I trust Riley Nelson,” said Logan coach Mike Favero, who now will handle the Grizzlies’ defense.

Nelson played for Logan from 2003 to 2005, amassing 9,869 total yards and 130 total touchdowns, according to Utah High School Activities Association records.

Nelson played one season at Utah State but finished his collegiate career at BYU.

A national title. A state title. A national dunk contest victory. Now, an All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award.

Eric Mika’s banner year continued this weekend as the former Lone Peak High School center dominated in the inaugural West Coast All-Star Classic at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash. The Brigham Young University commit scored 28 points en route to the game’s All-Star Game MVP honors, as Percy Allen of The Seattle Times reported Saturday.

According to this story by Allen, Mika had five dunks and five bl...

Mika Pinner is headed home.

The former Mountain View basketball standout is headed back to Orem after announcing Monday that she would transfer from Western Wyoming Community College to Utah Valley University.

“We really like the skill set that she brings,” UVU coach Cathy Nixon said in a team release. “She’s a good outside shooter that will stretch out our offense. We’ll have a pretty young team next year and she’ll bring us some much needed experience having played some very competitive basketball at the junior college level.” 

Pinner, a 2011 Mountain View graduate, averaged 14.6...

Hopefully you can get a refund on your hotel reservations down in St. George, Class 3A baseball fans.

The Utah High School Activities Association announced Sunday night that the 3A state tournament has been moved from Dixie State College to Utah Valley University in Provo.

The move was made because Dixie State was named the host site for the NCAA Division II West Regional. That means the 3A baseball field needed to find a new home.

Kevin Dustin, assistant director of the UHSAA, said updated brackets will be on the UHSAA website Monday.

Spanish Fork also will host four games, Dustin said in an email.

— Kevin Winters Morriss

Thursday was one of the wildest days of Korey Rush’s life.

At long last, the highly-touted East High School defensive end made a choice on where he’d play college football — he chose Arizona State University — but before he called Sun Devils coach Todd Graham and informing him of his decision, Rush’s friends at East found out where he decided to commit to.

The news spread like wildfire.

“Everybody knew about it before I actually called coach Graham and officially committed,” Rush said. “It kind of looked bad on my part, but I’ve always had the feeling about Arizona State and didn’t...

The Lone Peak boys’ basketball team will receive its trophy as MaxPreps.com’s national champion during a ceremony at the school Thursday.

Knights coach Quincy Lewis will accept the Army National Guard national ranking trophy, which will be presented for the seventh year.

Lone Peak finished 26-1 overall and captured the Class 5A state title for the third consecutive year.

Lone Peak’s lone loss came against Montverde Academy in the title game of the City of Palms tournament in Florida.

MaxPreps ranks more than 20,000 boy...

It’s not exactly football, but it’s the next-best thing.

Going one-on-one against a defensive back isn’t quite the same without a helmet or pads, Isaiah Kaufusi said. But he’s been glad to play anyway, get the dust off his football repertoire.

There’s not a lot of chances to work on running routes, making high-point catches or getting a handle on footwork in the offseason. At Mountain West Elite football camp, that’s what the Brighton rising senior can work on while continuing his hunt for more Division I scholarships this spring.

“I know I have to get f...

Former BYU guard Kevin Santiago has been hired as the boys’ basketball coach at Timpview High School.

Santiago, who had been coaching the school’s sophomore team, lacked the high school coaching experience of some candidates, Timpview athletic director Al Poland said. But Santiago impressed the school with his energy and plan to get Timpview more involved with summer AAU basketball.

“Watching the model [Quincy Lewis] has put together at Lone Peak, there were a lot of people questioning whether we were ever going to be able to close any kind of gaps unless we looked at what successful peopl...

There are some big shoes to fill for Camie Oakey.

Springville High School announced the hiring of Oakey as its girls’ basketball coach Tuesday afternoon. Oakey replaces Nancy Warner, who took the same job at Lone Peak.

Oakey heads to Springville after two seasons as the Mountain View girls’ coach. She served as an assistant coach at Mountain View from 2008 to 2011.

Oakey, who played high school basketball in Texas, played four years at the University of Utah, including in the Elite Eight in 2006, according to a release from the Nebo School District.

A trio of Cyprus High School basketball players capped their prep careers Wednesday by putting pen to paper on letters of intent.

The Pirates’ three co-captains — Marquessa Gilson, Abby Barrett and Julie Caputo — led Cyrpus to a 16-5 record this season. Gilson and Barrett, both Tribune all-state honorable mentions in Class 4A, will play together at BYU-Hawaii. Caputo, the Pirate point guard, signed to play at Carroll College in Montana.

— Aaron Falk

Lone Peak has found its next football coach.

Mike Mower, an assistant with the program for the last three seasons, will be the Knights’ next leader, the Lone Peak High School sports Twitter account (@LPHSsports) announced Thursday morning.

Soon-to-be principal of Lone Peak Rhonda Bromley oversaw the hiring process, along with a hiring committee that included community members, former high school football coaches as well as administrators.

“Right now Mike Mower is the person we need,” she said, adding this will be Mower’s first varsity head coaching job in his 28 years of coaching ...

For a moment there, it looked like there was a chance Lone Peak coach Quincy Lewis would lose his entire starting five to the collegiate ranks.

After the Lone Peak Knights won their third-straight Class 5A state championship in March, finishing the season 26-1 and earning national championship honors by MaxPreps.com, junior guard TJ Haws entertained the idea of reclassifying himself to the Class of 2013 and graduating early to enroll at Brigham Young University, where he’s committed to play basketball.

“I think if ...

Bingham High School decided to stick with people it knew to fill its two basketball coaching openings.

Miners athletic director Brad Bevan said in an email late Sunday that the school has hired Jake Schroeder as its new boys' basketball coach.

Schroeder graduated from Bingham in 1999 then went on to play basketball at Snow College and Portland State. He's served as an assistant coach at Dixie State for the last seven years, according to Bevan.

Bingham named Charron Mason as its girls coach last month after longtime coach Rand Rasmussen announced his retirement. Mason served as an assistant to Rasmussen.

Schroeder earned first-team Big Sky honors during the 2004...

Rob Geertsen won’t be coaching the Jordan Beetdiggers next season.

After leading the boys’ basketball program for the last six seasons, Geertsen was informed that his contract would not be renewed for the 2013-14 season in a meeting March 12.

Despite a 74-57 career record and leading the program to its most wins (17) in the last 29 years this season, the coach was informed by Principal Tom Sherwood it was “a good time to make a change.”

“Ever...

After leading Springville to an undefeated season and a Class 4A crown this season, Nancy Warner confirmed Friday to The Salt Lake Tribune that she has accepted a job teaching and coaching at Lone Peak High School. She will start next school year. Warner told the Tribune that her family lives near Lone Peak High School in Highland and felt it was a better situation for her family and children being closer to home.

Under Warner, Springville dominated girls’ basketball in Utah in 2012-13. The Red Devils went 25-0, defeating several Class 5A schools in the preseason and eventually winning...

Cottonwood Heights • The Utah High School Activities Association has taken the penultimate step toward altering its by-laws in hopes of avoiding the confusion and outrage that arose last fall after two high school football teams received different sanctions for playing ineligible players.

“The idea here is if you play an ineligible player, you are going to forfeit the contest,” UHSAA assistant director Bart Thompson said.

The UHSAA’s Board of Trustees voted Thursday in favor of eliminating exceptions and making forfeiture mandatory. The issue now will go to the association’s member schools for a final vote. Fi...

Lone Peak senior Nick Emery helped lead the Knights to the Class 5A state title earlier this month.

He was honored Thursday as the Gatorade Utah boys’ basketball player of the year.

Emery, who plans to play at BYU after serving an LDS mission, averaged 17.9 points and 3.8 rebounds. He added 3.6 assists and 2.8 steals.

The Knights finished 26-1 and ranked No. 1 in the nation by maxpreps.com.

Parsons gets shot at big stage

South Sevier senior Race Parsons will compete in the American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk and 3...

One of the state’s most dynamic talents has been recognized as the very best.

Springville senior forward Malia Nawahine was named the 2012-13 Gatorade Utah girls’ basketball Player of the Year on Thursday.

Nawahine is the second Gatorade Utah girls’ basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Springville High School, the other being former Red Devil star and current BYU Cougar, Lexi Eaton.

Nawahine, a 5-foot-10 senior guard/forward, led the Red Devils to a perfect 25-0 record and the Class 4A state championship this season. Nawahine averaged 18.6 poi...

The excitement of the state basketball tournaments was less than two weeks ago, so here’s a little update on some hoops news.

First Bingham High will be looking for a new boys’ coach as well as a new girls’ coach. Kyle Goon reported that Rand Rasmussen will retire as the girls’ coach. But boys’ coach Mark Dubach also is stepping aside.

Dubach became the Bingham coach in 2003 and led the Miners to seven consecutive region titles and the state title in 2006. His Miners finished this season 14-10 after falling to Alta in a Class 5A playoff opener.

In other hoops news, the regions are ...

Cyrpus High basketball standouts Marquess Gilson and Abby Barrett made up a tough duo on the hardwood during their senior seasons.

The two will have a chance to keep playing together. Both Gilson and Barrett verbally committed to play at BYU-Hawaii, coach Josh Adams said Monday.

“They’re really, really excited to go together,” he said.

You can read a little bit more about Gilson and Barrett here.

— Aaron Falk

Lone Peak football coach Tony McGeary announced his resignation Monday. You can read here about the allegations of financial misconduct that preceded that decision.

McGeary, who coached at the school for five seasons and won a state championship in 2011, declined to be interviewed for the story when I contacted him this week. On Wednesday evening, however, he sent this statement denying any wrongdoing. I have included that statement, in full and un-edited, below.

— Aaron Falk

2/27/13

There will be plenty of eyes on Weber’s Hayden Schenck during the Class 5A tournament this week in Ogden.

The senior, whose 26 points per game were the second best in the state this year, has an offer to play at Dixie State University. But he’s also been in talks with Utah, BYU, Utah State and Weber State.

“The knee kind of freaks them out,” he said after Monday’s opening-round win over West.

Schenck tore his ACL in the first round of last year’s playoffs, but he http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/tribpreps/55471053-190/schenck-larsen-basketball-coach.html.csp" target="_blank">rebounded quickly from his surgery. Schenck played in all 23 games for the Warriors this season and has led them t...

South Sevier’s Race Parsons is one of the best scorers in the history of Utah high school basketball, and he continues to climb in the record books.

The senior guard dropped 18 points in a 56-32 win over North Summit in the opening round of the Class 2A state tournament Thursday, moving him past Robbie Reid (2,032 points for Spanish Fork from 1990-93) for fifth all-time.

Parsons has now scored 2,056 points in his four seasons with the Rams. He needs 45 more points to move past Mike Maxwell (Highland, 1983-87).

But Parsons might be running out of time.

Former Judge Memorial star Stallon Saldivar made history on Saturday night.

A senior guard at Northern Arizona University, Saldivar, a 2009 graduate of Judge Memorial, recorded the first triple-double in NAU history, scoring 13 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists in NAU’s 77-74 overtime loss to Eastern Washington in Flagstaff, Ariz.

In addition to being the first-ever Lumberjack to record a triple-double, Saldivar was the 10th D-1 player to notch a triple-double this season. His triple-double...

After receiving reports of alleged hazing incidents regarding the Jordan High School wrestling team, the Canyons School District is in the midst of an ongoing investigation, according to Jennifer Toomer-Cook, director of communications for the Canyons School District.

Toomer-Cook said Canyons received the report late last week, adding the investigation began immediately.

“Since that time our investigators have confirmed some incidents of hazing,” she said.

The best team in Utah is once again dubbed as the best team in the nation.

On Monday morning, the Lone Peak Knights, at 17-1, were ranked as the No. 1 team in the country in the weekly MaxPreps.com Xcellent 25 National Basketball Rankings after spending the last few weeks as both No. 2 and No. 3.

The Knights have won seven straight games since their lone loss of the season — a 66-45 loss to Montverde Academy in the City of Palms Classic championship game on Dec. 22 — and look to be steamrolling toward a third con...

In another step toward clarifying potential pitfalls with the much-discussed transfer-and-eligibility issues, the Utah High School Activities Association’s Board of Trustees gathered Thursday morning to be informed of potential rule changes drawn up by the UHSAA Executive Committee last week.

With trustees representing most of the state’s regions in attendance, UHSAA assistant director Bart Thompson laid out the proposed changes created by the executive committee, most importantly the issue of dealing with ineligible players and the potential repercussions once an ineligible player is di...

Playing in a nationally-televised game in the birthplace of basketball, the Lone Peak Knights put on a show that would have made Dr. James Naismith proud.

Lone Peak, playing its final out-of-state game of the 2012-13 season at the Spalding Hoop Hall Classic in Springfield, Mass., annihilated two-time defending California state champion Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) 81-46 Monday morning in a game televised on ESPNU.

“It was a special deal to play in this thing,” said Lone Peak coach Quincy Lewis. “The school...

The Lone Peak boys’ basketball team will get a little national exposure Monday morning.

The Knights, the top-ranked team in Class 5A and ranked No. 3 in the nation by Maxpreps.com, will play Archbishop Mitty from San Jose, Calif., at 10 a.m. MST Monday on ESPNU.

The game is part of the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass. The Knights headed east on a red-eye flight Friday night for the game.

Lone Peak enters at 14-1, with its lone loss coming against Maxpreps.com’s top-ranked team, Montverde Academy of Florida, in the City of Palms tournament title game. Archbishop Mitty is 13-3 ...

The Utah High School Activities Association is working on clarifying issues many had trouble understanding this past fall.

The UHSAA Executive Committee met Wednesday afternoon for several hours to discuss potential changes to the constitution, most prevalently, the issue of whether or not a team should be forced to forfeit a game it plays if an ineligible player participates in the game.

Mark Van Wagoner, UHSAA’s legal counselor, said the forfeiture rule has been a main target of the executive committee for some t...