Bogut standing tall

Of all the accolades he's received or will receive this season, Deseret Morning News Athlete of the Month isn't likely to be at the top of the list for Andrew Bogut.

Utah's 7-foot center was recently named as a finalist for both the Wooden and Naismith Awards, given to college basketball's top player. He's been featured in several national publications such as USA Today and Slam Magazine and will be the subject of a story in Sports Illustrated next week. He is interviewed daily by media outlets from around the United States and his native Australia. He's had NBA scouts drooling all season as they've followed him from one city to the next. He has a good chance to be on several all-American lists at the end of the season.

Not bad for a 20-year-old who was cut from his local team in Australia just four years ago.

Bogut was the obvious choice for the newspaper's Athlete of the Month award in January, a month his team never lost in eight games, starting with a 65-54 win over LSU early in the month and concluding with a 72-58 win over BYU on the last day. Bogut exceeded his season averages in most categories during the month, averaging 20.3 points and 13.0 rebounds per game and making 70 percent of his field goal attempts.

Largely because of Bogut, Utah is back on the national basketball map with a 15-game winning streak and a No. 15 ranking in the two major polls.

By now, you probably know that Bogut came to Utah two years ago, a year after signing a letter of intent to play for coach Rick Majerus.

You probably know how he burst on the international scene in the summer of 2003 by leading Australia to the Junior World title in Greece and earning MVP honors. Then he came to Utah that fall and earned Mountain West Conference freshman-of-the-year honors after averaging 12.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.

You probably know how Utah's new coach Ray Giacoletti made a special trip to Australia last spring to talk to Bogut and his parents and ensure that he'd return to Utah for his sophomore season.

You're also probably aware that Bogut starred for his country in last summer's Olympics in Greece, where he averaged 14.4 points and 8.8 rebounds, going against some of the best players in the world.

You probably know that right now Bogut is considered one of the premier big men in college basketball and ranks second in the nation in rebounding (11.7 rpg), third in field goal percentage (64.9) and is 27th in scoring (19.5 ppg). You know that Bogut is a big reason why Utah is one of the surprise teams in college basketball with its 20-3 record and national ranking.

But here are a few things you may not know about Andrew Bogut:

He gained his initial love of basketball from television.