The Utes plan to hold open tryouts for walk-on players on Thursday, hoping to find at least one guy who can join the team for the upcoming season.

Director of basketball operations Jonathan Dykema said he expects somewhere between 35 and 50 guys to show up for the tryout in the HPER Complex on Thursday at 7 p.m. -- though finding the right candidate won't be easy.

The Utes need somebody who can practice with the team during its daily window between 12:30 and 3:30 p.m., who's a full-time student with a good grade-point average to remain eligible all season, and who can handle the stress of the added workload.

Oh, and he has to have some skills, too.

The Utes had expected to have football player A.J. Reilly available as a walk-on this season. But Reilly suffered a season-ending knee injury, and the Utes aren't sure whether he will recover in time to participate at all in the upcoming season.

Adding another walk-on would give them 14 players for workouts; the Utes have only 12 players on scholarship, after the offseason departure of forward Daniel Deane. Forward Sayre Brennan is the only walk-on at the moment.