Utah News

Keanu Dawes became the first player from the 2025-26 Utah men’s basketball squad to officially change schools via the transfer portal Thursday, as reports surfaced that the versatile wing committed to Kansas for his senior season.

Dawes, who grew up in the Salt Lake City area, spent the past two seasons with the Runnin’ Utes after starting his collegiate career at Rice. He previously entered the transfer portal following the 2024-25 campaign, though he opted to withdraw his name so he could be part of Alex Jensen’s first season as head coach.

In total, Dawes appeared in 63 games, including 34 starts, across his Utah career, averaging 10.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 24.8 minutes per contest. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony was the first to report his move to the Jayhawks and point out that Dawes will test the NBA draft waters as well.

What Keanu Dawes’ Transfer Decision Means for Utah

Big shoes to fill

Even if Dawes’ departure was expected by some within Utah’s walls for weeks, Thursday’s report confirmed that the Utes not only have to replenish their backcourt depth and reload in the frontcourt; they also have to attempt to replace the rebounding and scoring production the 6-foot-9 wing brought to the table with his athleticism and versatility.

Utah’s first portal addition, Utah Valley transfer Jackson Holcombe, could provide some of the same dribble penetration and aggression that Dawes did, though the former Wolverines guard isn’t the same size-wise (6-foot-7, 207 pounds) and hasn’t proven himself to be the same 3-point threat that Dawes was for Utah in 2025-26. And for what it’s worth, Dawes has more experience at the Big 12 level than the ex-Western Athletic Conference player.

That said, expecting Holcombe to do the same things Dawes did for the Utes isn’t necessarily fair. After all, Dawes recorded 11 double-doubles, including a 22-point, 12-rebound effort against Kansas in February, and finished among the Big 12’s top five rebounders with 8.8 boards per contest. On top of that, he added 12.5 points per game on 54.6% from the field and 31.7% from 3-point range.

If the Utes are to have any chance at snagging a player of Dawes’ caliber in the portal, they better move quickly; several of the top small forwards who entered the portal have committed to new schools, and the price to acquire one could go up as the market begins to dry out.

Another starter heading out the door

Dawes’ Utah exit ensures at least three starters from the 2025-26 squad won’t be on the roster for next season, given Don McHenry and James Okonkwo have both exhausted their eligibility.

Barring a return from Terrence Brown or Seydou Traore, Jensen and company will have an entirely new starting five for the 2026-27 campaign. At this rate, they’re set to lose eight of their top nine scorers to the portal or expiring eligibility. In fact, rising sophomores Obomate Abbey and Lucas Langarita are the only projected returners who logged any minutes this past season.

Utah is expected to bring back Babacar Faye, the 6-foot-9 Western Kentucky transfer who didn’t play in 2025-26 due to injury, for his sixth year of college hoops, giving Jensen and the staff a potential starter to build around.

Utah hasn’t seen the last of Dawes

Assuming he doesn’t pursue the draft waters to their full extent, Dawes will likely see his former team at least once during Big 12 conference play next season.

Utah’s league schedule hasn’t been revealed yet, though based on the fact the Utes and Jayhawks have traded home games in each of the past two seasons, there’s a good chance Dawes will return to the Huntsman Center as a visitor after facing Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse with the Utes just a few months ago.

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Utah lawmakers have voted to stiffen penalties on retailers who chronically overcharge customers.

The new state law, which takes effect on 6 May, was introduced in direct response to a Guardian investigation of pricing practices at two national chains, Dollar General and Family Dollar, according to an official who oversees the state’s price-accuracy inspections.

Both dollar-store chains target cost-conscious families, yet their stores often post one price on the shelf and ring up a higher price at the register.

The investigation, published in December, found that Dollar General stores failed more than 4,300 government price-accuracy inspections in 23 states between 2022 and 2025. The smaller Family Dollar chain failed more than 2,100 price-accuracy inspections in 20 states during the same period.

Among the biggest offenders was a Family Dollar store in Provo, Utah, a city of 115,000 people that is home to Brigham Young University. According to state records, the store failed 28 pricing inspections in the four-year span. During one visit, an inspector discovered overcharges for 48% of the items she tested, including baked beans, Ivory soap, frozen pizza and disposable diapers.

State representative Candice Pierucci, who sponsored the Utah bill, singled out the Provo store and its 48% overcharge rate when she introduced the legislation on the House floor in February. The Republican lawmaker noted that shoppers do not always notice overcharges.

“If you’re like me, once you get to checkout, at that point I’m wrangling two kiddos and I’m not really checking what the amount is,” Pierucci said. “I just assume they’re being honest with the prices listed.”

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After the Guardian published its article, legislators contacted the Utah department of agriculture and food to ask if there was some way to prevent these repeated overcharges, said Miland Kofford, who heads the agency’s weights-and-measures program.

Utah has the nation’s largest average household size, which Kofford said makes residents sensitive to rising costs. “With inflation and price of everything going up,” he said, “big families are trying to budget their money the best they can.”

Kofford, whose program conducts price-accuracy inspections, had an idea for how to pressure retailers into compliance.

Historically, civil penalties for repeat offenders in Utah topped out at $5,000 per failed price-accuracy inspection. Companies tended to pay those fines without complaint, Kofford said.

But in March 2025, Family Dollar missed a payment deadline for one of the failures at the Provo store with the flawed track record. As a result, the fine automatically increased. “Soon as it doubled to $10,000, we got calls from corporate saying, ‘What’s going on? We can’t be paying $10,000,’” Kofford told the Guardian. “And all of a sudden, they changed managers down there.”

Kofford realized that $10,000 was the pain point – the threshold that catches the attention of company executives. As a result, the new law imposes a $10,000 fine per failed inspection starting with the sixth violation. It passed with bipartisan support. In addition to dollar stores, the increased penalties also apply to supermarkets, box stores and other retailers.

Family Dollar did not respond to questions about the failed inspections and the Utah law. The company told the Guardian in a statement in November that “we take customer trust seriously and are committed to ensuring pricing accuracy across our stores.” Dollar General told the Guardian at the time that it was “committed to providing customers with accurate prices on items purchased in our stores, and we are disappointed any time we fail to deliver on this commitment”.

• Jocelyn C Zuckerman contributed to this story

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah has been ranked the number one state in the nation for economic outlook for the 19th year in a row.

On Wednesday morning, the American Legislative Exchange Council released the 19th edition of Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index, an annual report that assesses all 50 state’s economic outlook and performance. Utah was ranked number one.

“I’m proud that Utah has once again been named the No. 1 state in the nation for economic outlook for the 19th year in a row,” said Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams. “This recognition reflects years of forward-thinking decisions focused on economic growth and building an environment where the next generation can succeed.”

Adams also said that Utah is the second-best state for teachers and fourth best state for education. Additionally, the state’s median income for households is $55,000, with income tax dropping over the last six years.

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According to the report, Utah has been the top-ranked state for Economic Outlook for 19 years in a row due to its pension reform and property tax reform. New York has ranked 50th since 2014.

‘Rich States, Poor States’ rankings. Courtesy: American Legislative Exchange Council

“Utah has been named the No. 1 state in the nation for economic outlook for the 19th consecutive year,” posted Governor Spencer J. Cox (R-UT) on X. “Unlike rankings that look backward, this one measures the policies most likely to support opportunity in the years ahead. Utah has remained at the top since the index began.”

In order to create the report, authors observe 15 economic policy variables, including taxes, debt, and free market policies. The ranking details states’ individual performances over the past 10 years.

More information on the report can be found online.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.

Utah has again been named the No. 1 state in the nation for its economic outlook — making this the 19th year in a row — according to a new report released by the pro “limited government” think tank American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). 

For almost two decades now, Utah has held the top spot in ALEC’s yearly publication titled “Rich States, Poor States,” which uses the ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index to rank states’ economic performance of 15 policy variables. In general, states that spend less and tax less perform better in the index. 

All four members of Utah’s U.S. House delegation stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the state’s top Republican legislative leaders — Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz — in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday in a press conference to parade the ranking. 

Each of them (except Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah) is currently running for re-election in a state that’s controlled by a longstanding statewide Republican supermajority.  

Adams, R-Layton, and Schultz, R-Hooper, were in D.C. this week for the White House State Leadership Conference, which is meant to foster collaboration between federal, state and local government officials. 

“Utah continues to set the national standard for pro-growth policy and long-term economic competitiveness,” Jonathan Williams, ALEC’s president and chief economist, said in a prepared statement. “Year after year, the state’s commitment to sound fiscal policy, reducing taxes and improving the economic climate make it a model for the rest of the country. Other states have seen Utah’s success over 19 years and are trying to copy the policies behind it.”

While Utah has long maintained its No. 1 ranking for economic outlook, other states have been jostling to compete, Williams said during Wednesday’s news conference. In this year’s report, Tennessee moved up to second place, Idaho ranked third, North Carolina ranked fourth, and Arizona took fifth. 

“Those are all competitors, but you sharpen the pencils every year, you realize that spending equals taxation, you reprioritize spending, and you keep hardworking families and taxpayers getting back more of their hard-earned money,” Williams told Utah’s state and federal leaders. 

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In past years, Utah Democratic leaders have criticized the ranking as a “biased evaluation” that doesn’t account for factors that affect working-class people while praising policies that have kept minimum wages low and favored tax cuts that have disproportionately benefited the wealthy. 

The state’s top Democrats, House Minority Leader Angela Romero (who is also running for re-election this year) and Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, issued a joint statement later Wednesday saying that as members of the state’s powerful budgetary body, the Executive Appropriations Committee, they “take our responsibility to balance the state budget seriously.” 

“That work includes fighting for the social programs and community investments that make economic participation possible,” Romero and Escamilla said. “But this ranking does not reflect the full picture and the real gaps that thousands of Utah families are facing as they struggle to make ends meet.”

In response to those criticisms, Adams pointed to another report published in January by the Urban Institute that showed Utah, compared to other states, has seen the greatest percentage growth in median income between 1970 and 2023, up 77.6% compared to the national growth rate of 32%. 

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In 1970, Utah’s median household income was $52,602, according to the Urban Institute. In 2023, that grew to more than $93,000 — putting Utah as eighth-highest in the nation for median income out of all 50 states. West Virginia, on the other hand, was the only state to see its median income fall, by 0.4%, to only $55,948 in 2023. 

Nationally, the Urban Institute analysis said median income growth is associated with higher education attainment (like more residents with bachelor’s degrees) and an increase in foreign-born residents. That analysis, however, did not evaluate how incomes have kept pace with cost of living in each state or how they compare to cost of living since 1970, Governing reported. 

In their statement, Escamilla and Romero also pointed to other findings from the Cato Institute, which they said showed “immigrants are a driving force behind our economy, nationally contributing a net fiscal surplus of $14.5 trillion over the past three decades, consistently paying more in taxes than they receive in benefits.”

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“Behind every strong economy, including Utah’s, is an often invisible immigrant workforce. Those contributions need to be acknowledged in any honest assessment of what makes our state thrive,” Escamilla and Romero said. “For us, true economic success means ensuring prosperity is equally accessible. We can celebrate Utah’s ranking while recognizing it is not a complete measure of well-being.” 

Schultz, however, said the “Rich States, Poor States” ranking is “proof” that Utah is the “best fiscally managed state in the nation” while pointing to increased spending on education, low debt and increased wages for Utahns. 

“The proof is in the pudding,” Schultz said. “It’s hard to argue with those numbers.” 

Under Schultz and Adams’ leadership, the GOP-controlled Utah Legislature has cut income taxes for six years in a row. They have said it’s to keep Utah a competitive state to do business in and to encourage continued job growth while also lowering taxes for Utahns. 

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“We understand affordability issues,” Schultz said. “We’ve taken steps to lower housing costs here in the state of Utah. We’ve taken steps to lower gas prices. … We’ve taken steps to lower child care, taxes, all the things to make life more affordable.” 

Adams and Schultz also repeatedly pointed to former President Ronald Reagan, who focused on reduced government spending, lower taxes and less regulation on business to spur economic growth.

“Reaganomics works,” Schultz said, “and we’re very proud to live that.”

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It’s officially transfer portal season.

That means college basketball programs all across the nation — including Utah and BYU — are looking to retool their rosters. The portal officially opened up on April 7 and will close on April 21.

The Cougars and head coach Kevin Young are coming off a disappointing first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament after a season in which they went 23-12 and 9-9 in the Big 12. BYU came into the season with Final Four expectations with five-star forward and No. 1 recruit AJ Dybantsa on the roster.

Utah is coming off one of its worst seasons in the last decade, finishing with a 10-22 mark and a last-place 2-16 record in the Big 12. It was Alex Jensen’s first year on the job, and now he’ll look to accelerate the Runnin’ Utes rebuild with a successful run in the portal.

Here are all the players BYU and Utah have lost and added so far in the portal:

BYU

In the portal:

– Guard Robert Wright III

– Center Xavion Stanton

– Forward Dominique Diomande

– Forward Kennard Davis

– Forward Tyler Mrus

– Guard KJ Perry

– Guard Aleksej Kostic

Additions:

– Kentucky guard Collin Chandler

– Syracuse forward Tyler Betsey

Utah

In the portal:

– Forward Kendyl Sanders

– Guard Terrence Brown

– Guard Jacob Patrick

– Forward Keanu Dawes

– Forward Ibi Traore

– Forward Josh Hayes

– Guard Alvin Jackson III

– Forward Jahki Howard

– Guard Elijah “Choppa” Moore

– Forward Seydou Traore

Additions:

– UVU guard Jackson Holcombe

The Utah Mammoth have officially clinched the highly coveted first wild card spot in the Western Conference. They’ll face the winner of the Pacific Division — either the Edmonton Oilers or the Vegas Golden Knights.

Utah had a number of potential clinching scenarios going into Tuesday. The one that actualized was the Mammoth beating the Winnipeg Jets and the Minnesota Wild topping the Anaheim Ducks.

But the players weren’t worried about playoff positioning as much as they were about finishing the season on a high note.

“I think we were just trying to play as best we could these last two games,” said Nick Schmaltz, who scored two goals in the game. “We had two losses in a row, so we wanted to bounce back at home and put ourselves in the best position we can.

“… We just don’t want to be limping into the playoffs. We want to be rolling. We want everyone feeling confident and hit the ground running right from Game 1.”

If the Golden Knights get at least a point against the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday, they’ll lock themselves in as the Mammoth’s first-round opponent. That result could also come from the Oilers losing in any fashion to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

Although the Mammoth controlled the majority of the game, nothing was ever guaranteed. Their 4-1 lead soon turned into a 4-3 lead. They held on and added an empty-netter for a 5-3 final score.

“We made it tougher than we should have or could have, but when push came to shove and it was tight, we played solid,” said head coach André Tourigny. “We didn’t give much. We were stingy. … The guys were rock-solid.”

Playoff-style hockey

It’s often said that there are players who get you to the playoffs and others who get you through them.

The likes of Schmaltz, Clayton Keller (who’s now on a franchise-high nine-game point streak), Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley have been instrumental in the Mammoth’s success up to this point. But when the playoffs begin, there’s a good chance the depth players’ skill sets will show through.

Whether it’s a meaningless game or a clinching scenario, Brandon Tanev and Liam O’Brien always give it everything they have — and that’s exactly how you have to play in the playoffs.

That was especially true on Tuesday. Every time you looked up, it seemed like one of those guys was hitting someone or hounding down the puck in the corner.

Tanev might count this as a down season because he has yet to score a goal after having 10 last year, but he hasn’t strayed from the dog-on-a-bone playing style that got him to the NHL in the first place.

“They play the right way,” Tourigny said of the line which includes Tanev, O’Brien and Alexander Kerfoot. “I often say to them, ‘You get it out (of the defensive zone), you get it in (the offensive zone), you get it to the net and you get on the body’ — and that’s exactly what they did.”

It’s also worth pointing out the other grinders who typify playoff competitors. Michael Carcone and Kailer Yamamoto aren’t big bodies, but the way they hound loose pucks, you wouldn’t know it; Kerfoot, Kevin Stenlund and Lawson Crouse won’t appear on the highlight reels very often, but they play smart, defensively sound hockey and can be trusted in important situations.

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