Krystkowiak a fan of circle and feather logo

After much consternation and speculation from fans and following one erroneous media report, the University of Utah announced Tuesday that, for now, it will retain the circle and feather logo.

With that very logo sewn into the left breast of his white collared shirt, basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak expressed relief at the news.

"I love it," Krystkowiak said. "I think it's one of the coolest logo that we have, actually, that's in sports."

Krystkowiak said when he arrived at Utah he wanted to implement the controversial logo in more permanent areas around the Huntsman Center but was "told to hold off because we weren't sure what was going to come down."

"I'd love to have it out on the middle of the floor," he said. "But when things can change quickly I don't think we want to put anything too permanent that becomes real costly to change it."

Krystkowiak grew up with a sensitive awareness to Indian affairs. He grew up in Shelby, Mont., less than 60 miles from Browning, the center of the Blackfeet Indian reservation in northwestern Montana.

"I went there on a field trip when I was in about the third grade and I've wanted to be a Blackfeet Indian my whole life," he said.

Krystkowiak, of course, doesn't speak for the entirety of the athletic department, and the fact is the decision to abandon the popular logo, if it's made, could come from much higher than those with offices inside the Huntsman Center.

And while the circle and feather won't suddenly appear on the Huntsman Center floor, Krystkowiak was pleased he could continue to wear it on his shirt.

"My own personal flavor is I love that," he said. "The Block U is great, but if I could have one of the two I would pick the drum and feather hands down."

— Bill Oram