One last look at the best moments for University of Utah sports during the 2024-25 season

There were tears of joy and the heartbreak of defeat for the University of Utah during its 2024-25 athletic campaign.

National titles were won and thrilling finishes celebrated. There were also several difficult moves made in hopes of building a brighter future.

With August here and the start of the 2025-26 sports season just weeks away, here’s a look back at 10 memorable stories from Utah athletics during the 2024-25 season.

Utes win another skiing national championship

Death, taxes and Utah’s ski team winning national championships.

For the sixth time in eight seasons and fourth time in the past five years, the Utes won the NCAA skiing national championship.

Utah also had a trio of individual NCAA champions, as Johs Braathan Herland won the men’s giant slalom, Erica Laven the women’s 7.5K classic and Joe Davies the men’s 20K freestyle.

That brings the number of national championships won by Utah skiing to 17, and it helped the Utes avenge finishing runners-up by a slim margin the year before.

“I mean last year for sure, you realize it’s a lot more fun to win than finish second, so we were kind of feeding on that all year long that we need to come back and get another title here, so that really inspired us. Very special to win this, ” Utah director of skiing Fredrik Landstedt said.

Utah gymnastics goes to NCAA championships for a 49th straight year

The Red Rocks made their record 49th-straight trip to the NCAA championships this past season, and it came with some thrills in the regional final.

Utah earned the right to host the regional final at the Huntsman Center, and through three events, the Utes found themselves in third place.

A record-tying floor routine, though, vaulted the Red Rocks to a first-place finish, as they edged out UCLA and Denver to advance to nationals.

“It’s a really big deal,” Utah coach Carly Dockendorf said that night. “I think some teams get to come to regionals and they don’t have anything to lose. This is it, you just go for it. And it’s a very freeing space to compete in. For us, there is something to lose. We don’t want to lose that tradition of excellence, we don’t want to be the team that doesn’t make it (to nationals) and ends the streak.

At nationals, Utah earned a spot in the Final Four by taking first in its semifinal. The Utes ended up finishing fourth in the championship.

Alex Jensen is hired as the new Utah men’s basketball coach

It’s been a long time since the Runnin’ Utes have played in the NCAA Tournament — 2016, to be exact — but Utah tapped into its past in hopes of bringing that postseason drought to an end.

Former Ute great Alex Jensen was the clear favorite to replace Craig Smith, who was fired on Feb. 24 as the program’s head coach. On March 6, Jensen’s hiring became official.

Jensen learned under Hall of Famer Rick Majerus during his playing days at Utah, and there is hope that he can bring the Utes back to being a contender after spending the past 12 seasons as an NBA assistant coach.

“It’s funny, when I’ve been at a crossroads in my career — timing, it’s interesting how things happen, and it just felt right,” Jensen said at his introductory press conference.

“Through my conversations, I am extremely diligent. When I make decisions like this and I talk to a number of people, at the end, as hard as a decision it seems at one point, it becomes easy in the end. I think the excitement, the timing, just felt right for me.”

Volleyball hosts NCAA regionals as part of standout season

The Utes made noise on the volleyball court in 2024, going 25-6 on the year, finishing in a third-place tie in the Big 12, as a bevy of returning players led the way for Utah to bounce back from a losing campaign in 2023.

Following a strong regular season that included jumping into the national rankings, Utah was awarded the opportunity to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in school history.

The Utes, as a No. 4 seed, beat College of Charleston before falling to Marquette in the second round.

Still, the opportunity to get back to the NCAAs, and host on top of that, meant a lot to the program.

“I just think, the 10,000-foot view looking back at everything we did, it really makes it feel just all worth it. It’s really satisfying to know that all the work that we put in compiled to this one moment, and we met the goals that we made for ourselves at the beginning,” Utah senior outside hitter/defensive specialist Kamry Bailey said.

Kyle Whittingham brushes off retirement and brings in offensive reinforcements

There was plenty of speculation that the 2024 season could be Kyle Whittingham’s last as head coach of the Utes.

It didn’t help that Utah suffered through an injury-plagued 5-7 season, where the Utes’ lofty goals to be a Big 12 contender — and perhaps make the College Football Playoff — fell apart during a seven-game losing streak.

On Dec. 8, though, Whittingham simply said, “I’m back.”

Turns out, last season fueled Whittingham’s desire to return as Utah’s coach for the 2025 campaign.

“I couldn’t step away on that note. It was too frustrating and too disappointing,” he told ESPN’s Pete Thamel last month at Big 12 media days. Then Whittingham added, “Had we won the championship last year, I might not be sitting here.”

The biggest offseason move for Utah was bringing in a new offensive coordinator to help right the ship on that side of the ball. In stepped former New Mexico OC Jason Beck, a onetime BYU quarterback and later assistant coach.

Beck’s star quarterback in Albuquerque, Devon Dampier, followed him to Salt Lake City.

“The offense is just kind of based around playing to your personnel, to your players. So it’s all about identifying the best players and putting them in positions to have success and to play well,” Beck said of his offensive philosophy.

Women’s basketball makes its 4th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance

Under Lynne Roberts and new head coach Gavin Petersen, the Utah women’s basketball team has made it a habit to reach the NCAA Tournament in recent years.

That happened again in the 2024-25 campaign, as the Utes played in the NCAAs for a fourth-straight year. This time, it ended with a loss to Indiana in the first round.

Even after a coaching change four games into the season — Roberts left to become head coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, while her longtime assistant, Petersen, took over — Utah reeled off another memorable season.

The Utes ended up going 22-9, beat then-No. 3 Notre Dame in the nonconference slate of their season, topped BYU on a half-court buzzer beater in overtime and finished the year in sixth place in the Big 12 standings.

Gianna Kneepkens, Kennady McQueen, Jenna Johnson and Ines Vieira were a part of every NCAA Tournament team during the four-year postseason run.

“(I’m) extremely proud of our team, not only for this season and what we have accomplished, but our graduating senior class and the legacy that they have left,” Petersen said. “A scoreboard for one game is not going to define their success and how much they have impacted our program at Utah.”

5-star gymnast Avery Neff, Utah’s highest-rated recruit ever, joins the Red Rocks

There was plenty of hype surrounding the arrival of Avery Neff on the University of Utah campus, and for good reason.

Not only was the Utah native and five-star talent the highest-rated gymnast ever to sign with Utah, she’s the highest-rated women’s gymnast prospect ever since College Gym News began rating gymnasts in 2020.

Neff hit a snag just weeks into the season, when she suffered a pair of severe ankle sprains and missed nearly 30% of the season.

Once healthy, though, Neff showcased the talent fans were expecting.

She was a four-time All-American (one regular season, three NCAA) and earned her first all-around win with a score of 39.650 during the NCAA regional semifinal.

Neff was also named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

Now, she’s got three more seasons to shine further for the Red Rocks.

“Obviously there was some pressure and stress coming into (college),” Neff told the Deseret News’ Trent Wood, “but now I just kind of feel like they know who I am from a competition standpoint and kind of more as a person now that I am here, not just the fans, but also my team, so when I don’t feel 100% they know how to have my back and I think that’s really helped with my stress.”

Braxton Watts wins individual title at NCAA regionals in record-setting year for golf

In a year full of titles for the Utah men’s golf team, Braxton Watts’ performance at the NCAA regionals was arguably the biggest.

Watts earned the individual crown at the NCAA Bremerton Regional, shooting 12-under during the three-day event. That included finishing 6-under in both the second and third rounds.

“I’m so happy for Braxton. He played incredible golf this week and it’s great that he will finish his season at the NCAA championships. It’s really incredible what the team did during this season, they’re truly a special group,” Utah coach Garrett Clegg said in a press release.

The Utes won four team titles and six individual crowns during the season — both achievements set the single-season mark for the most in program history.

Utah ended up falling one stroke short of advancing out of the NCAA regionals and reaching nationals. Watts represented the Utes at nationals as an individual — he competed in the first three rounds before missing the cut to reach the tournament’s final day.

Maty Wilke’s half-court heave sinks rival BYU

One of Utah’s biggest victories over its rival this past season came in an overtime thriller on Senior Day.

The Utes took an early 17-3 lead over BYU at the Huntsman Center on March 1, but the Cougars rallied, thanks to an outstanding day from freshman Delaney Gibb.

BYU even had a chance to win in overtime, but Gibb lost possession on a drive to the hoop, then Maty Wilke picked up the loose ball with the clock quickly winding down.

She only had time to throw up a heave from half court — and it banked in, giving the Utes a thrilling 76-73 victory.

HALF COURT, FOR THE WIN, IN OVERTIME@MatyWilke
▶️ ESPN+
📺 https://t.co/6BYfyDsqka#GoUtespic.twitter.com/0TZ8CnSNhL

— Utah Women’s Basketball (@UTAHWBB) March 1, 2025

“As soon as it left her hands, I said that’s on line,” said her teammate, McQueen. “And then it went in — just screaming, and it was awesome. Tackled her. It was awesome. What a fantastic ending.”

The Runnin’ Utes take down a blue blood

Going into its first season in the Big 12, Utah basketball fans had the team’s home matchup against Kansas circled on their calendars — it was easily the highlight matchup of Utah’s first season in the league.

The Utes gave their fans who turned out for the game a night to remember.

Utah took the fight to the No. 17 Jayhawks at the Huntsman Center, as the Utes never trailed and they built as much as an 11-point second-half lead before Kansas rallied.

Then the Utes went on a 7-0 run, capped by a record-setting 3-pointer from Gabe Madsen to make the score 67-60. That stepback 3-point make with 1:58 to play was the 288th of Madsen’s career, setting the record for 3-pointer made in a Utah career.

From there, Utah held off Kansas to earn the Utes’ first win over a ranked opponent since Dec. 9, 2023.

“I mean, it’s been an up-and-down year for me shooting-wise, so to do it tonight and in that fashion, it’s pretty cool. I mean, that’s one I’ll remember for a long time,” Madsen said of his record-setting 3-pointer.

Ladies and gentlemen, your ALL-TIME 3FGM LEADER at the @UUtah ‼️‼️ @GabeMadsen53 ‼️#GoUtespic.twitter.com/DxJrbJYwiQ

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 16, 2025