It didn’t take long for new Utah men’s basketball assistant coach Loren Leath to help the Runnin’ Utes tap into their California basketball roots.
Leath was announced as an assistant coach on Craig Smith’s staff just over two weeks ago, filling one of two vacant assistant coaching positions.
Last week, Leath’s connections with a top-tier AAU program, the Oakland Soldiers, paid off in scholarship offers to some of the country’s top prospects.
On what ended up being a busy Wednesday, seven promising basketball talents announced on social media that they had received offers from Utah.
It was a who’s who list of California prospects in the 2025 recruiting class, and another elite one in the 2026 class.
What players announced were offered by Utah?
small eave AJ Dybantsa (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️), the consensus No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class with a player rating of 1.0000, according to the 247 Sports Composite Rankings. Dybantsa will transfer and play at Hurricane-based Utah Prep Academy during his senior season after previously playing at Prolific Prep in Napa, California.
power forward Tyran Stokes (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️), the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2026 recruiting class with a player rating of 0.997, according to the 247 Sports Composite Rankings. He plays at Prolific Prep in Napa, California.
Shooting guard Jovani Ruff (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️), the No. 42 prospect nationally in the 2025 class with a player rating of 0.9830, according to the 247 Sports Composite Rankings. He plays at Long Beach Poly in Long Beach, California.
power forward Christopher Nwuli (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️), the No. 48 overall prospect in the 2025 class with a player rating of 0.9809, according to the 247 Sports Composite Rankings. He plays at Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant.
small eave Jasir Rencher (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️), the No. 110 prospect nationally in the 2025 class with a player rating of 0.9516, according to the 247 Sports Composite Rankings. He plays at Archbishop Riordan in San Francisco.
guard point Angelino Marcos (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️), the No. 125 overall prospect in the 2025 class with a player rating of 0.9448, according to the 247 Sports Composite Rankings. He plays at Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks, California.
guard point Semetri Carr (⭐️⭐️⭐️), the No. 150 prospect nationally in the 2025 class with a 0.9345 player rating, according to the 247 Sports Composite Rankings. He plays at The Branson School in Point Reyes Station, California.
Dybantsa, Mark, Nwuli, Carr and Stokes currently play for the Soldiers in Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League circuit. Ruff plays for Team Whynot in the EYBL, while Rencher is on Team Lillard in the Adidas 3SSB circuit and has previously played for the Soldiers.
Over the weekend, the Soldiers played in Kansas City; On Friday, Dybantsa hit a game-winning 3-pointer from 28 feet to lift Oakland over Arizona Unity, a team highlighted by 2026’s No. 1 overall player, Brandon McCoy.
On Monday, the Soldiers, who are 13-1 in EYBL action this year, will take on Team Herro to finish the club’s basketball tournament in Kansas City.
For an information-hungry fan base, with five open scholarships on the 2024-25 roster, the announcements were welcome news.
One fan even conjured up a clever hashtag, one that the Soldiers’ media team latched onto.
Prior to joining the Utes staff, Leath spent two years as an assistant at Sacramento State.
That followed 10 years with the Soldiers after his playing days, where Leath served as coach from 2012 to 2016 and vice president from 2016 to 2022.
Players like Aaron Gordon, Stanley Johnson, Jalen Green and Ziaire Williams, all top-10 NBA draft picks, came through the Soldiers organization during Leath’s days, and the program now has several top recruits playing for it. as the team competes in Nike’s EYBL division. .
Understandably, each of the seven prospects Utah offered have extensive offer lists. For example, Dybantsa has Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky and North Carolina, among others, fighting hard for his services, according to 247 Sports, while Stokes’ offer list includes Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Texas and UCLA.
Time will tell if the Runnin’ Utes will land any of those players or bring in more talent from California’s rich basketball recruiting zones.
But the move is an indication that Leath’s presence on Smith’s staff gives the Utes a strong connection on the California basketball circuit.
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