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SALT LAKE CITY — Former Utah State forward David Collette has officially joined the the University of Utah men's basketball team, his new university announced Wednesday.
Collete joins the Runnin' Utes after transferring from Utah State at the semester break in January. He was previously enrolled at the Logan-based institution for two years, playing one, while also serving a two-year mission for the LDS Church in North Carolina.
The 6-foot-8, 220-pound redshirt sophomore from Murray started in 31 games for the Aggies in 2014-15, ranking second on the team while averaging 12.8 points and 5.0 rebounds while helping Utah State to an 18-13 overall record and a fifth-place finish in the Mountain West Conference.
Collette led the Mountain West and ranked No. 14 nationally with a .591 shooting percentage in 2014-15 at Utah State, hitting 163-of-276 shots.
"We are very excited to announce that Dave Collette will be joining the Utah basketball program," Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said in a statement. "He brings successful college playing experience to our team and has a physical nature that will help us in seasons to come.
"We welcome Dave and his wife, McElle, to the Utah basketball family, and look forward to the future."
Collette initially enrolled at Utah in 'blind faith,' he told KSL.com at the start of the semester.
"I never had in mind to go to Utah," he said. "I was thinking that I was going to get my release and then I would be able to explore some options, which I wanted to do.
"With not getting my release, I didn't have a whole lot of options, and so I had to strictly narrow it down to schools that I thought would take me, schools that had recruited me out of high school or schools that had tried to contact me at the end of the (season) last year."
Collette, a former Utah State business major who is enrolled at Utah for the spring 2016 semester, must participate as a walk-on at his new university. Utah State denied Collette a release from his scholarship after the former Murray High standout informed his former team of his intentions to leave the program two days before the season opener at Weber State.
When contacted by KSL.com, Collette said he was excited to join the team and expected to start working out with the Runnin' Utes as soon as all necessary paperwork has been finalized.
The Aggies' denial of his release makes Collette ineligible from receiving athletic aid from his new university for one calendar year, in addition to being ineligible to participate with any Division I college basketball team for two semesters. Collette initially appealed the decision to Utah State, but the denial of his release was upheld by a university committee.
Contributing: Josh Furlong, Jeremiah Jensen
