Utah's Khoury has proven he can play

Ryan Khoury rolled the dice four years ago when he chose to play baseball at the University of Utah without a scholarship or any guarantees of playing time. The only somewhat firm ground on which he stood was a promise from the coaches that he would get a shot.

He banked on it.

"The coaches up here called me and said 'we don't have any money, but we would like you to come and walk-on,"' he said. "It was a good situation so I decided to come up here and try it out."

The then 141-pound all-star and Region 2 MVP shortstop at Copper Hills High had the resume to play at the Div. I level, but he needed to prove himself — something he was already accustomed to doing.

"Obviously, you're a little disappointed because you don't get a (Div. I) scholarship offer, but I felt I should be playing Div. I," said Khoury, who turned down scholarship offers from several junior colleges.

"I felt like I was always the smaller guy and had to prove myself. I figured I would have to prove myself anywhere I went. I figured I would give it a shot."

Three series into his freshman season, Khoury, whose father was a three-year letterwinner for the Utes in the late 1970s, earned the starting spot — a spot at which he has started every game for the last two years. In all, he's made 204 career starts in 219 possible games.

"It has worked out well," he said. "The coaches back then told me they would give me a chance, even as a walk-on, and they did. I got just as fair of a chance as anyone, and it worked out well. I ended up playing in a lot of games."

Once earning the spot, Khoury (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) didn't do anything to lose the job.

As a freshman he hit .292 with 10 doubles, five homers and 15 RBIs, while fielding at a 89.3 percent clip. The following year he hit .310 with 81 hits, 24 doubles, 8 homers and 53 RBIs, while raising his fielding average move than seven percentage points.

Last year, he hit .317 with 16 doubles, six homers and 38 RBIs, while fielding over 90 percent for the second straight season.

This year, Khoury leads the Mountain West Conference and is fourth in the nation in hitting at .443.

He is making a strong case for Mountain West Conference player of the year honors. He leads or is tied for the lead in 11 more offensive categories , while leading the league in six.