3 sign letters of intent with Utah basketball

Three players who previously committed to play for the University of Utah basketball team, have made it official by signing national letters of intent.

The Utes have signed Morgan Grim of Riverton High, Nemanja Calasan, a preseason All-American frontcourt player from Midland Junior College and Carlon Brown, a 6-foot-4 combo guard from Riverside, Calif.

The 6-foot-9, 205-pound Grim averaged 17.4 points per game for Riverton last year and was the only underclassman selected to the Deseret Morning News 5A all-state first team. Grim led Riverton to a 20-5 record and the Utah 5A state title game, where the Silver Wolves lost to Bingham on a last-second basket.

Grim averaged 23 points per game in the state tournament, which was fourth best in 5A. Grim was also voted one of the top 25 players in the 400-team Las Vegas AAU tournament in the summer of 2006. He is an honor student with a 3.5 GPA and was also recruited by Stanford, Pacific and BYU.

"Morgan is the best player in his class in the state this year and we are excited to bring him to the University of Utah," Giacoletti said. "He has a tremendous upside and has continued to develop over the past year. He can run the floor well and has a chance to be a very versatile player for us."

Brown averaged 22.2 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals per game as a junior at Martin Luther King High School.

The three-year starter led his school to a 22-7 overall record and a 9-1 mark in league play in 2005-06. Brown was named first team all-CIF Southern Section, Ivy League MVP, and first team all-Riverside County. He chose Utah over Marquette and Nebraska.

"We are really excited about signing Carlon," said Giacoletti. "He is probably going to remind Ute fans of Andre Miller because he is a bigger point guard who is strong, can really push the ball and pass very well. He is really a good fit for us and we are excited to welcome him to our family."

Calasan (pronounced CHA-la-shan) is a native of Niksic, Montenegro, and on some junior college All-American lists. Last year he was a first team all-region selection, averaging 12.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for a 27-6 team. Midland was ranked No. 1 to start the season.

"Nemanja is a tough, hard-nosed guy who has the chance to be a junior college All-American this year," said Giacoletti. "We've followed his progress the past couple of years as he made his way to Midland, and he will be an excellent addition to our front line next year."

Giacoletti said the Utes have three scholarship openings for next year, so they don't expect to sign any more players.

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