Things have become a little dicey with freshman point guard Jace Tavita, who might not play for the Utes this season if he is ruled academically ineligible. The NCAA has "red-flagged" his transcript from Brighton High School, and is investigating whether it's sufficient for college.

If not, the 6-foot-4 guard would have to enroll in a junior college and earn an associate's degree before playing Division I basketball.

Certainly, losing Tavita would hurt, since he's one of the four players on whom coach Jim Boylen is counting in his first recruiting class to help build his program. But the Utes have a number of other guards on the roster -- Carlon Brown, Luka Drca, Lawrence Borha, Tyler Kepkay and fellow incoming freshmen Chris Hines and Jordan Cyphers -- and Tavita's academic risk was hardly unknown.

Even when they were recruiting him, the Utes knew that he had some academic improvements to make, stemming from his sophomore year of high school. He played is junior year at Patterson Prep School in North Carolina after being ruled ineligible at Brighton, though his high school coach at Brighton said he had improved markedly since his return.

The Utes believe Tavita has done the work to catch up, too, and he's enrolled in school now at his own expense until his scholarship potentially begins. Tavita has not been allowed to work out with the Utes in their limited workouts, but the Utes are hoping to hear a decision soon and are pretty confident that the NCAA will find in their favor.