Utah State Helps Host First-Ever State of Utah Hoops Classic

The love of basketball runs deep in the state of Utah. From cheering in the Spectrum to playing late-night Intramural games, Utah State Aggies have always felt the passion for the sport.

Drew Giel noticed that passion and drive as soon as he got onto campus, working as a graduate assistant for the Intramural Department at Campus Recreation. Working to turn that passion into something bigger, Utah will host its first-ever statewide Intramural tournament, the State of Utah Hoops Classic, on March 20-21 at the University of Utah.

Having previously spent his undergrad at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, working with their Intramural program, Giel got to learn about the state of Wisconsin’s large-scale Intramural tournament.

“It’s a really cool event and a unique thing that Intramural teams get to experience,” Giel said. “Our goal this year is to get things off the ground here in Utah and hopefully turn it into something that happens year after year.”

A collaboration with the University of Utah, Weber State and Utah Valley University, the tournament has become a joint effort of planning, marketing and executing the overall vision. The hope for the tournament is to allow competitive Intramural teams from around the Mountain West to compete against one another, while also using the event to develop student officials at a higher level.

An additional unique aspect of the event is that it will serve as the Unified Sports state championship.

“We’re excited to tie in Unified Sports and allow them to have a special end-of-year tournament as well,” Giel said.

If students are interested in learning more or putting together a team, registration is open until March 19 for men’s, women’s and unified divisions. Drew Giel can be contacted at drew.giel@usu.edu.