Utah Athletic Director Chris Hill preferred not to talk about compliance this week, given the timing of BYU's investigation into director of football operations Duane Busby.
Still, a review of self-audits from the U. provided a revealing glimpse into the behind-the-scenes efforts of U. compliance staff to avoid such headlines. Lacking subpoena power, the U.'s compliance office sometimes wished for better responsiveness and found that many rocks were being left unturned.
But as far as they were able to conclude, the U.'s hands are relatively clean.
Also on the hill this week: Lindsay Whitehurst wrote about a scholarship to honor of the first and last Ute tribe member to enroll at the U.'s law school, and Whitehurst explored the apparently unoriginal origins of the "Utah Man" fight song ahead of Saturday's deadline for public comment on proposed changes.
Women's track and field • Utah will be represented at the NCAA Championships for the eighth time in the nine years Kyle Kepler has been at the helm, after Bountiful senior Rosalie Waller advanced in the 800 meters on Friday. Click here to read about Waller's climb from walk-on to NCAA finalist, as reported by The Tribune's Kyle Goon. Six other track athletes competed in preliminaries at Fayetteville, Ark., but failed to advance: Ali Eisenbeiss (800), Susannah Hurst and Rebekah Winterton (10K and 5K), Aoife Hickey and Ilse Kaaja (hammer) and Nikkie Rudder (shot put). Hickey (13th) and Kaaha (15th) just missed out on a top-12 spot and a ticket to Eugene, Ore.
On deck: NCAA Championships (June 11-14 in Eugene, Ore.)
Football • The Tribune's Lya Wodraska dug into the implications of an early signing period for college football, and Utah's Kyle Whittingham told her that about half of his players would sign early if given the chance. Also this week, three 2014 game times were announced, former Utah cornerback Keith McGill signed with the Raiders, and although players were wrapping up their brief time off before summer strength and conditioning, there were some roster shakeups:
• Utah defensive back Hipolito Corporan and running back Jarrell Oliver will transfer.
• The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Lucky Radley (who last weekend learned of his unfortunate, brief childhood association with Santa Barbara killer Elliot Rodger) will transfer to San Diego State.
• Utah received a commitment from Washington prep receiver Justice Murphy.
• The Utes learned that Florida running back D.J. Law will enroll at junior college, after all.
• Travis Wilson's high school teammate Dominick Ela said he will walk on at wide receiver.
And in case you missed it, The Tribune's Brennan Smith alerted readers to the Utes' lack of love from CBS and ESPN bowl game prognosticators, and used Bill Barnwell's favorite NFL predictors to determine how in-state college football teams might fare this fall.
On deck: Season over.
Skiing • The U. announced plans to build a $750,000 building on-campus to house the U.'s men's and women's ski teams, a project Hill called "long overdue" for the program that has brought Utah 11 national championships.
On deck: Season over.
Softball • Utah freshman second baseman Hannah Flippen became the first Ute to earn All-American honors since Jackie Wong in 2006.
On deck: Season over.
Men's basketball • South Summit High School small forward Beau Rydalch son of former Utah captain Craig and nephew of former Utah captain Mark declared his commitment to walk on with the Utes when he returns in 2016 from an LDS mission to Ecuador.
On deck: Season over.
Matthew Piper
mpiper@sltrib.com
Twitter: @matthew_piper