When I was a freshman here at Utah Valley University, the basketball team had one of the greatest seasons in program history by winning the Western Athletic Conference regular season title and coming one game short of playing in the NCAA Tournament. The team made an appearance in the National Invitational Tournament in which they lost to the University of California-Berkley 64-77.
I had the opportunity to go and see some of the best basketball that this program has ever played and yet I never ended up attending a game. I missed out on seeing an incredibly talented team fall just short of making its first NCAA Tournament appearance and it is something that I truly regret to this day.
When I was in high school I attended every sporting event that I had an opportunity to attend. I was able to watch a football team evolve from going winless in its first season of existence to making the state playoffs three straight years as well as winning two region championships.
We have that same potential here at Utah Valley University. This year the men’s basketball team hired Mark Pope as its head coach and they are looking to build a nationally competitive program in Orem.
In just the second year of their existence the men’s soccer team fell just short of a conference title and made their first tournament appearance. The women’s soccer team also made an NCAA tournament appearance. The soccer teams finished the season in the top-25 for attendance and actually had more fans than the Clyde Field capacity.
The cross-country team won its third consecutive conference championship and won the men and women’s individual titles as well. The wrestling team made news by joining the Big 12 Conference this past summer and beat in-state rival BYU into power conference membership.
There are great things happening at UVU, especially in the athletic department and it is about time people start to take notice. If you can do it for one sport, you should be able to do it for all sports and right now it is time for basketball.
Many fans missed Jaden Jackson breaking the school record for made 3-pointers in a single game against UTRGV on Jan. 7. Others missed when Mariah Seals scored 33 points for the women’s basketball team to help them come from behind to beat San Francisco. And who can forget when the men’s team defeated Weber State in double overtime back on Dec. 9?
As the basketball season goes on we should be there to support our teams. There is nothing more electrifying as an athlete than to play in front of a huge home crowd. We have some incredibly talented teams playing here at UVU and we should be cheering them on as they aim to win WAC Championships and make noise on the national level.
