Coach Jim Boylen is expected to join nearly a dozen other coaches at the Coaches vs. Cancer Las Vegas Golf Classic that begins next week at TPC Summerlin, the home of the PGA Tour in Las Vegas.

The event benefits the American Cancer Society and Nevada Cancer Institute.

Organizers said Boylen will join coaches such as USC's Tim Floyd, Nevada's Mark Fox, Creighton's Dana Altman and UNLV's Lon Kruger at the event (not to mention Texas A&M's Mark Turgeon, a close friend of the man Boylen replaced, Ray Giacoletti), with two rounds of golf starting Tuesday, sandwiched around an "exclusive" reception.

Can't wait to see how Boylen's game stacks up ...

The Utes were not among the 33 teams publicly honored by the NCAA last week for compiling multi-year Academic Progress Report scores in the top 10 percent of all men's basketball programs.

But they're not in the dumper, either.

The Utes have a multi-year APR of 930, according to figures released by the NCAA, exceeding the Division I average for men's basketball teams by just two points -- and more importantly, eclipsing the mark of 925 that needs to be cleared to avoid sanctions. That's a big relief, considering the Utes have endured serious player turnover in recent years, precisely one of the things the APR is designed to dissuade.

And while the Utes don't measure up with rivals Brigham Young and Air Force -- the two Mountain West Conference schools that were honored among the top 10 percent -- they did exceed the average in all of the pertinent sub-groups the NCAA published. They nudged above the average score among public institutions (918) and BCS schools (925), for example, though they tied with baseball as nearly becoming the lowest-scoring sports at Utah.

Thank heavens for the golf team, and its 928 score.

All in all, the Utes fell within the 40th-to-50th percentile among men's basketball teams, and within the 10th-to-20th percentile among all sports.

That's not bad -- just imagine the poor Weber State football team under former Utah coach Ron McBride, losing nearly six scholarships because of APR problems -- but count on coach Jim Boylen to work hard to improve it. Being one of the lowest-scoring teams at the university that just barely squeaks by is not something that is going to sit well with him, in the long term.

Looks like coach Jim Boylen has dipped into the junior-college ranks to find his latest assistant coach.

The Utes announced today that Boylen has hired Barret Peery to complete the coaching staff after the departures of former assistants Marty Wilson and Chris Jones. The 37-year-old Peery had been the head coach at the College of Southern Idaho for the past three years, leading the Golden Eagles to a 85-19 record and three straight Scenic West Athletic Conference championships in that span.

The Payson native also was named the league's coach of the year last season, after guiding the Golden Eagles to a 30-2 overall record.

"This is a great hire for us," Boylen said in a statement. "Barret is a quality coach and an outstanding recruiter. He has national recruiting connections, is aggressive and sharp. We want to be a running team and Barret will help us become that. CSI averaged 110 points a game last year."

The recruiting connections might help the most, though.

CSI has long since become a harbor for some of the nation's top juco talent; all nine sophomores from last season's CSI team have accepted scholarships at Division I programs. Now, with Peery in crimson and white, it's not hard to imagine the the Utes becoming a potential destination for some of the players who wind up in Twin Falls, such as Daequon Montreal, the 6-foot-8 forward who will be the top returing scorer for the Golden Eagles next season.

The Utes also now have a definitively Southern Utah feel, with Peery joining recently hired Stan Johnson as former SUU players and coaches on the staff. Peery also started his coaching career as a graduate assistant in Cedar City -- he actually recruited Johnson -- before moving on to jobs at Utah Valley and Portland State.

Even more than that, it's clear that Boylen is willing to gamble somewhat with relatively inexperienced assistants, provided they have shown him they have the energy, passion and desire to work as hard as he demands, as he tries to rebuild the program. Boylen had made it clear that he had no interest in hiring coaches who did not seem committed to his vision, no matter their pedigree.

"It was going to take something special for me to leave CSI and that's how I feel about this job at the University of Utah," Peery said in a statement. "I am excited about the opportunity to work with Coach Boylen. I truly believe in what he has going on and his vision for the program."

We noted forward Stephen Weigh's successful pro debut in his native Australia last week, but now there's more news -- Weigh has signed to join the Brisbane Bullets of the National Basketball League for the 2008-09 season.

Meanwhile, from what I can gather, he will continue playing for the Rockhampton Rockets of the QABL -- basically a second-division developmental league.

"Stephen is a great multifaceted player who can shoot, pass and dribble," Brisbane coach Joey Wright said in a statement announcing the signing a few days ago. For his age Stephen is excellent and his work ethic and hard work are second to none and we look forward to building a team around such an exciting young talent."

Make sure you tell assistant coach Jeff Smith congratulations, the next time you see him.

Smith and his fiancee, Alison -- also an employee of the athletic department -- are getting married today in Michigan, where coach Jim Boylen is attending the wedding. After the celebration, the Smiths plan to honeymoon in the Bahamas -- excellent choice -- before returning to their home in Salt Lake City in a week or so.

Coach Jim Boylen still hasn't filled the vacant assistant coaching position on his staff, but the Utes are undergoing some other changes a little further down the letterhead.

Director of player development Derek Deprey is leaving the Utes -- his last day is today, director of operations Jonathan Dykema said -- to become the general manager of a new health club in Milwaukee. That's where Deprey and his pregant wife are from, so they will be around old friends and family as they start their own family. Shame for the Utes, though; Deprey is a terrific guy.

With Deprey leaving, the Utes have promoted video coordinator Jason Larson -- his cousin is Tribune photographer Leah Hogsten, incidentally -- to director of player development, and moved graduate assistant Mark Plaisier up to Larson's video job. That's good news for both of those guys.

And one other note ...

While the Utes already have an impressive home schedule for next season that includes Gonzaga, Oregon and Cal, they are expecting to make it even better by adding LSU to the group. The deal hasn't been finalized yet, but the Utes expect that it will be soon.

Looks like Stephen Weigh is back to his old self.

The former Utah forward enjoyed a spectacular professional debut with the Rockhampton Rockets in his native Australia tonight, erupting for 30 points and six rebounds in nearly 40 minutes off the bench in a 101-59 season-opening victory over the Toowoomba Mountaineers in the second-division Queensland Australian Basketball League.

Weigh left the Utes in the middle of last season, you'll remember, while battling a sprained knee and riding an 0-for-16 shooting slump. He wasn't expected to be healthy for much of the rest of the college season, so he chose to return home, get healthy and take a shot at a pro career.

Certainly, it's off to a promising start.

Coach Jim Boylen has said all along that he wanted to hire assistant coaches who desperately wanted to join the Utes -- not guys who didn't share his passion for trying to rebuild the program or felt entitled to the job.

And judging by one phone call, I'd say Stan Johnson fits that description.

Boylen hired Johnson today, and Johnson spent several minutes telling me how much loves the state and how much of a hard time he gets from his friends in California because of it. But he said he grew up a rabid Utah fan -- the Taylorsville High graduate was friends with Murray's Britton and Jeff Johnsen, he said -- and longs for the opportunity to help build the Utes into a college basketball power again.

"I've been around Utah basketball when it was at its peak," he said. "I know what's possible there. Coach Boylen has a great vision, great passion, and I myself am very passionate about the state. We can get Utah basketball to what it's capable of, not only competing for conference titles but nationally, doing some great things."

The 29-year-old Johnson grew up cheering for the Utes, and graduated from Taylorsville High School in 1998 -- the same year the Utes played in the championship game of the NCAA Tournament.

"I was probably never good enough to play there," Johnson said. "But I know I'm good enough as a coach now to come back and help them."

One down, one to go.

Coach Jim Boylen has hired Cal State Northridge's Stan Johnson to fill one of the two vacant assistant coaching positions on his staff that were created with the departures of Marty Wilson and Chris Jones in recent weeks.

The 29-year-old Johnson basically will replace Wilson, on account of his connections among California schools. In fact, Boylen said Johnson will start recruiting some of those schools for the Utes tomorrow morning.

"The biggest thing for me is that he kind of shares my vision of Utah across your chest meaning something," Boylen said. "He wants to be here, he's passionate about being here. He understands our state and he's excited about what we trying to build. I'm excited about it."

Johnson is a native of Salt Lake City who graduated from Taylorsville High School and played basketball at Southern Utah -- in fact, he helped the Thunderbirds win the Mid-Continent Conference championship and reach the NCAA Tournament in 2001. He played his final college season at Bemidji State in Minnesota, where he also started his coaching career.

After one season coaching at Bemidji, Johnson coached three seasons at Southwest Baptist University in Missouri before joining the Matadors less than a year ago. Obviously, that doesn't comprise the most glamorous resume, so he must have really impressed Boylen with his hunger and dedication.

Meanwhile, Boylen said he's hoping to fill the other position on his staff by next week.