Utes coach Larry Krystkowiak said he had no information when asked about a Yahoo Sports report published online Friday that alleged former Utes star forward Kyle Kuzma received money from an agent while in school.
Krystkowiak, who released a statement on Friday but spoke to reporters for the first time following Saturday’s loss to USC, expressed anger that a large media contingent turned out to discuss something “negative.”
“Until somebody tells me what Kyle Kuzma supposedly did, he’s not guilty in my mind,” Krystkowiak said. “Whatever took place, maybe it was after he left school – I don’t know. Nobody has put a memo in front of me or interviewed me to know what the hell is going on around the world. Until I know for sure what he did, I can’t respond to that.”
Krystkowiak went on a bit of a rant about how Kuzma did things the “right way” in his recruitment despite some people trying to pay him, and Krystkowiak railed against agents, saying he didn’t have one, can’t stand them and there’s no need for them.
Krystkowiak said he doesn’t know what happened, but seeing the university’s drum and feathers’s logo on ESPN “pisses me off.” He added, “There’s “nothing NCAA-wise illegal within our program.”
Krystkowiak said nobody in the program had contacted Kuzma since the report came out.
“We were told not to. That’s all I’m saying,” Krystkowiak said. “We were told not to. You know, then it looks like we might be telling him what to say or what not to say. I don’t have any – that’s all I know on that.”
Big win, bad night
Utes players Tyler Rawson, Beau Rydalch, Jake Connor and a couple team managers came home to their off-campus apartment following Thursday night’s win against UCLA to find they’d been victims of a break-in.
“I was actually the last one to come home that night after the game on Thursday, and the first thing that Jake said to me when I walked in was, ‘Our house got robbed,’” Rawson said.
Rawson said cash and a laptop were missing from his room and a few drawers had been gone through. Connor’s car, a silver Jeep Cherokee, license plate F10 OBJ, was missing as well as a safe with personal documents. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Unified Police Department of Great Salt Lake.
Metu cleared
Friday morning’s Yahoo report alleged Trojans leading scorer and 6-foot-11, 225-pound junior forward Chimezie Metu or someone acting on his behalf accepted money from a sports agency. The report raised questions about the eligibility of several players across the country and potential violations as a result of those players playing.
However, USC Athletic Director Lynn Swann released a statement Saturday morning stating the university’s compliance office had cleared Metu to play. The statement also said that the compliance staff will investigate the allegations about injured forward Bennie Boatwright, who was also named in the report. Boatwright is out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
Metu scored 14 points, grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and blocked four shots in USC’s 74-58 win.