"You're going to think about these games for the rest of your life," he said. "Make sure you give every bit of effort that you can, so when you're 38, being a lawyer, thinking about it, that you don't have any regrets. … You wish you'd have won, but I think back on those times as great times."

Johnsen still reminisces about the Final Four.

"It's a memory I'll hold on to the rest of my life, especially the national championship game," he said. "I look back and when I was there, checking into the game in front of 40,000 fans at the Alamodome, I didn't know what I was doing. I was just playing basketball. Now I look back, I realize how unique the situation was."

Kentucky halted Utah's glorious run in the title tilt with a second-half comeback.

"I've got teammates who told me they don't watch the game because they're so sick about it," Johnsen says. "I've watched the game. I was a young kid and it was exciting to play in the national championship game. When I get together with (former teammates) Mike Doleac and Hanno Mottola in the summers, they tell me they can't stomach to watch the game."

The Wildcats have beaten the Utes in the NCAA tournament six times since 1993. "Somehow we always ended up being in their bracket," Johnsen laments.

Good news, Ute fans: Kentucky is playing in the NIT this year.

Utah schools' NCAA schedule*

Today
10:30 a.m. Texas A&M vs. BYU

Friday

10:30 a.m. USU vs. Marquette
5:10 p.m. Arizona vs. Utah

All times MDT

E-MAIL: jeffc@desnews.com