Will Caleb Lohner play both football and basketball for Utah? -Deseret News

When Utah Basketball opened preseason training camp earlier this week, one player on the Runnin' Utes roster was missing from practice – and for good reason.

Caleb Lohner, the former BYU and Baylor basketball forward, is busy trying out for Kyle Whittingham's football team.

“Obviously he's doing his thing on the football field and he's doing well,” Utah men's basketball coach Craig Smith said.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Lohner announced in May that he was heading to the University of Utah on a football scholarship, and he has played several games for No. 1 during their 4-0 start to the football season . Made 10 utes.

He caught two passes from his tight end position – both for touchdowns – with one each leading to wins over Southern Utah and Utah State.

Lohner also blocked a field goal against the Aggies.

On his 11-yard touchdown grab in a 38-21 win over Utah State, Lohner tipped the ball for the score. That gave Utah a 17-14 lead late in the first half, a lead the Utes refused to relinquish after a slow start.

On Thursday, Smith was asked if Lohner has done anything with the basketball program and when the Runnin' Utes might see him on the court (he would be a walk-on in basketball).

If he plays both sports, Lohner would compete at the collegiate level non-stop from August through March.

“Coach Whitt has been great – he and I have talked a few times, what’s that like? Because it has certainly happened before, but it is very rare. Just to be part of this conversation you know how exceptionally talented you have to be, so it was a big learning curve. We stay in touch,” Smith said, adding that Lohner’s high school coach, David Evans, is now on the Utah staff as an assistant coach.

Smith left the door open for Lohner to join the program and took a wait-and-see approach.

“We’ll just see how things develop,” he said. “I know his intention is to play, but you just never know how it all plays out over the football season and everything that goes with it, and then we’ll see where it goes.”

With football's postseason heading into the new year and the Utes, the Big 12 favorite, a contender for the College Football Playoff, Lohner would most likely appear at some point during Big 12 games – the Runnin' Utes' Open League game on December 31 at Baylor – joining the basketball team, his former team.

Lohner could be out of basketball for even longer if Utah reaches the CFP and advances. The playoff quarterfinals will take place on December 31st and January 1st, the semifinals on January 9th and January 10th and the national championship on January 20th.

“The good thing about the transition for Caleb is that I think it will be pretty seamless. He's played basketball his whole life, and basketball isn't like skiing, right? I mean, you go out there and leave,” Smith said.

“But he hasn’t done anything with our team as far as involvement on the field when we go on team outings because his commitment and priority has to be where it is right now, which is with the football team.”

The football team also hopes to be able to use him more.

“Caleb Lohner is a weapon and I think we need to find more ways to use him. I'm sure Coach (Andy) Ludwig will do that. He has a big body and when he steps on the jump ball at 6-7 he is literally 13 feet in the air? I mean, he's high up, hard to defend, and you saw him make that nice catch tonight,” Whittingham said after the game against Utah State, as the Deseret News previously reported.

While the Runnin' Utes wait to see if and when Lohner will be allowed to join them on the basketball court, they are settling for the opportunity to watch another basketball player play on football pads.

Utah senior guard Hunter Erickson played and lived with Lohner during his time at BYU and is happy to see him succeed on the football field.

“I think he was great. I was with him, we were at BYU together for two years and lived together there both years,” Erickson said. “And it was honestly always like people were talking about something because when you look at him, he's like – he literally looks like the statue of David, his face, and he's built like those statues and he is like a real 6-8.” . He's, I don't know, over 250 now.

“Every basketball player’s dream is: What could I do in football? And he did it. I think he's just getting started. He still has a long way to go. He’s an athlete and he shows it.”