Utes looking for help in JC ranks

After signing JC transfer Antonio DiMaria to a letter of intent on Wednesday, the Utah basketball team hopes to sign two more JC players before the month is over.
The Utes are looking at several players, including Josh Watkins of Howard College (Texas), Will Clyburn of Marshalltown CC (Iowa), Nick Thompson of College of Eastern Utah and Chris Kupets, a point guard who was recently released from his commitment to Boise State.
At the top of the list is Watkins, who is scheduled to make a visit to Utah this weekend. Watkins is a point guard who was named most valuable player of the NJCAA Tournament after leading his team to the championship. The Utes have been after Watkins for a month, but are getting some late competition from Cincinnati, DePaul and Kansas State.
The Utes could use a scorer like Clyburn who averaged 21 points and scored with 54 points in a game this year. Clyburn, who made a visit last weekend, is 6-foot-6, but shoots well enough to play the big guard position. He has offers from Iowa State, Northern Iowa, Saint Louis and Wichita State and is getting some attention from West Virginia.
Kupets is originally from Georgia, but after averaging 26 points as a senior in Athens, Ga., he attended Patterson in North Carolina, the same prep school Utah’s Jace Tavita and DiMaria both played at, before playing at East Carolina and Hill College in Texas.
Thompson is a 6-8 forward originally from Oklahoma, who prepped at Clearfield High before going to Price. He is a good shooter (55 percent), who was second on his team in assists.