In the last two years of Pac-12 football, the USC Trojans lost three times to the Utah Utes. No team was more of a nemesis for Lincoln Riley and the Men of Troy than Kyle Whittingham’s Utah team, which defeated USC in the 2022 Pac-12 Championship Game to deny the Trojans a spot in the College Football Playoff. Utah beat USC twice in 2022 and prevented the Trojans from having an unbeaten regular season, much as Washington did to Oregon last year. Kalen DeBoer did to Dan Lanning in 2023 what Whittingham did to Riley in 2022. Utah, having beaten USC twice in 2022, beat the Trojans again in 2023, this time in Los Angeles, where the Utes have historically struggled. Bryson Barnes led a game-winning field goal drive to break USC’s heart in the final minute. Utah fans reveled in USC’s suffering. Now, however, Utah fans will have to root for a USC player: Isaiah Collier got picked by the Utah Jazz in the 2024 NBA draft.
Collier becomes the latest piece in a prolonged Jazz rebuilding project. Utah has become a developmental NBA team in recent years after its big “start over” trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves which unloaded Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley. The Jazz will enter the 2024-2025 NBA season knowing they might not make the playoffs. Learning and growth will be the main goals for the season, while Conley and Gobert chase an NBA title with the contending T-Wolves. Collier isn’t likely to be an instant success in the NBA. Jazz fans are smart enough to know Collier will need two to three years to hit his stride and hopefully realize his pro potential. This is not an instant-impact situation where Collier is expected to immediately elevate the Jazz franchise. Hopefully Utah fans will eventually enjoy what a USC Trojan brings to the table. It probably won’t happen in one year. This — like the Jazz organization itself — is a long-term project in Salt Lake City.