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Utah’s 2019-20 men’s basketball schedule will include three games in eight days in NBA and NHL venues in December. Whether the Utes keep visiting Vivint Smart Home Arena annually is a question that the third Zions Bank Beehive Classic apparently will answer.

Arena president Jim Olson once expressed hope of securing another three-year agreement with the four schools this summer, prior to the doubleheader in December. That’s unlikely. The 2019 games — Utah vs. Weber State and BYU vs. Utah State — will offer one more gauge of the market, judging by Ute athletic director Mark Harlan’s observation.

The event “makes a lot of sense in terms of getting the schools together,” Harlan said in an interview summarizing his first school year on the job. But “I don’t know if the numbers and the ticket sales really are bearing out what the hopes were, and that’s something we all need to look at individually — what are we doing to drive ticket sales to that game?”

The Beehive Classic drew 7,729 fans in 2017 and increased only to 10,678 last December, even with lower ticket prices and a Utah-BYU matchup.

The 2019 Beehive Classic date has not been announced, but plan on Dec. 14 — the first Saturday after FBS conference championship games. Utah is booked to play Kentucky on Dec. 18 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and meet San Diego State on Dec. 21 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Donny Daniels had said in mid-April that he would join Utah’s basketball staff. That’s one reason Daniels’ hiring was overshadowed in the reporting of Utah’s announcements last week. The other was Henry Martinez’s arrival as an assistant coach being connected to the commitment of his son Ian, a guard who since has been elevated to a No. 54 ranking in the class of 2020 by 247Sports.

Daniels’ job as director of player development is significant, though. NCAA rules will limit his on-court work with players, but he’ll have a major role in counseling them and advising the coaches.

As a Cottonwood High School product, Ute baseball player Oliver Dunn became a good story this season, even as the team finished 10th in the 11-team Pac-12. The junior second baseman was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 11th round Wednesday. Coach Bill Kinneberg can only be thankful for Dunn’s three years in the program, while hoping that his recruiting class remains reasonably intact. Five of the eight November signees were drafted Wednesday and have decisions to make.

The Utes’ football season opener at BYU is now 12 weeks away. Tribune reporter Jay Drew checked in with Utah’s Kyle Whittngham and BYU’s Kalani Sitake during the coaches’ annual appearance in a charity golf event.

Other voices

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The upgraded Las Vegas Bowl is a good development for Utah fans, with the potential for the Utes meeting a Southeastern Conference or Big Ten opponent in the new stadium between 2020 and ’25, as the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported (R-J).

With most rosters settled after transfers and NBA draft decisions, including Donnie Tillman’s staying in Utah’s program, Jon Wilner assessed the Pac-12 basketball landscape for 2019-20 (MERC).

Former Ute guard Leilani Mitchell was signed to a restructured contract by the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury after being waived prior to the season opener, as The Arizona Republic detailed. (REP)

Trent Wood of the Deseret News reviewed the Ute softball season (DNEWS).

Around campus

With none of Utah's women's track and field athletes advancing from regional competition, the athletic department's 2018-19 school year ended prior to June. What's next? Scheduling announcements, aside from football.

The men’s basketball games vs. Kentucky and San Diego State at neutral sites and a Dec. 7 home game vs. Central Arkansas (announced by UCA) are the only official dates at this point, with the pairings to come for a November tournament at Myrtle Beach, S.C. Other opponents are known, however, including Nevada (road), Minnesota (home), BYU (home) and Weber State (Vivint).