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LEAPIN' FOR LOCALS — In case you don’t log in to the internet on Sundays, there’s this thing called "the NFL." And every week, we try to round up the best former local high school and college football players whose career is continuing on Sundays.
You can see the latest here.
But not all locals make it to the league. Some are simply dominating at a college beyond the Beehive State’s borders.
That’s where we’ll begin today, in Corvallis, Oregon.
Noah-way that hurdle is legit
The turnaround at Oregon State under head coach Jonathan Smith is real.
The Beavers held on for a 35-34 win Saturday night over Arizona State, improving to 5-5 in Smith’s second season.
Former Hunter High star Noah Togiai was in the middle of it, too.
The fifth-year senior from West Valley City caught eight passes for 76 yards in the win, including a 12-yard touchdown from quarterback Jake Luton that put Oregon State up 35-21 in the third quarter.
The former two-sports star also showed off why he was an all-state basketball player for the Wolverines with a hurdle into the end zone.
NEED A TOUCHDOWN? WE NOAH GUY 🤣🐰#BuildTheDampic.twitter.com/1RfwZvBhGy
— Oregon State Football (@BeaverFootball) November 17, 2019
Oregon State has not been to a bowl game since the 2013 Hawaii Bowl under former coach Mike Riley, and won nine total games in the last four years. The Beavers can clinch a bowl-eligible season with a win at Washington State next week, or with a Civil War victory over rival Oregon in the season finale.
KC can still dunk
Former Provo High star Kyle Collinsworth’s NBA career took him across the country, and even north of the border to the Toronto Raptors. Now he’s playing back home, with the Utah Jazz’s G-League affiliate Salt Lake City Stars.
Collinsworth, who also had a pretty decent career at BYU that you may have heard about it, can still ball, too.
The 28-year-old Provo native recorded his first double-double of the season with 11 points and a team-high 13 rebounds in the Stars’ 102-77 win Sunday over Santa Cruz. Collinsworth, the current Mr. Trouble Double and NCAA’s career record holder in that category, also dished out a team-high four assists.
But more importantly, he proved that old men can still throw it down.
Sorry, Jazz fans, but Jaaaaaa
Before he lived in Salt Lake City, Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley was a longtime Memphian and resident star of the Memphis Grizzlies. On Friday night, Grizzlies fans gave him a hero’s welcome home — but also sent the Jazz packing with a 107-106 loss.
It turns out, Conley’s replacement in Memphis — rookie point guard Ja Morant — is pretty good, too. The former Murray State star had 25 points and eight assists in Memphis’ win, and even threw down a dunk over his own teammate in the process.
The Jazz are back home Monday night against Minnesota. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MST.
