1 / 4

A player attempts a free throw during the Utah JUCO Top 100 Showcase at Norton Training Center in Highland on Tuesday, June 24, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

2 / 4

Players compete for a rebound during the Utah JUCO Top 100 Showcase at Norton Training Center in Highland on June 23 and 24, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

3 / 4

Former Timpview standout James Rust goes up for a dunk during the Utah JUCO Top 100 Showcase at Norton Training Center in Highland on Tuesday, June 24, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

4 / 4

Former Timpview standout James Rust goes up for a shot during the Utah JUCO Top 100 Showcase at Norton Training Center in Highland on Tuesday, June 24, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

❮ ❯

As the landscape of college sports continues to evolve, there is a trickle-down effect from all the NIL and transfer portal madness in power conferences.

The pathway for high school and junior college athletes to higher levels is fraught with obstacles.

Snow College men’s basketball coach Andrew May saw this coming and three years ago organized the Utah JUCO Top 100 Showcase, an opportunity for unsigned high school seniors, returned missionaries and transfers with junior college eligibility to play in front of coaches and increase their chances of finding a landing spot.

Around 80 prospects crowded into Norton Training Center in Highland on Monday and Tuesday, paying $100 for a T-shirt and two guaranteed games in front of scouts and coaches.

Nothing else was guaranteed.

Just an opportunity.

One of those hopefuls is former Timpview High School standout James Rust, the Daily Herald’s Valley Player of the Year in 2023. After graduation he served a church mission in Brisbane, Australia, and returned just over a week ago.

The 6-foot-5 swingman put on a good show in his first real post-mission basketball gig, earning a spot in the Showcase All-Star Game on the final day.

“The mission was great,” Rust said. “Changed my life. It was one of those things where it’s hard to put basketball on pause for a bit, but my faith grew exponentially and it was a good experience for me. I think it helped me develop a lot as a person and on the court. I feel like my maturity is definitely a lot better. I feel my body’s right. I had an injury a couple of years back, and I’ve had time to recover but I’m still getting my lungs back. It’s good to be back on the court playing with some good guys.”

Rust said he played a little basketball in Australia on P-Day (one day off a week for missionaries) and in his last area transferred to an island where he played “island ball.”

“It’s a little bit different than something organized like this,” he said.

Rust showed he still had some hops with a breakaway dunk but joked, “I might have to ice my knees some after that.”

Rust said his next step would be to look at some junior college spots as well as walk-on opportunities at the Division I level.

“I think one of my biggest assets is leadership,” he said. “As well as on the defensive end. I feel like I’m a facilitator and good at cutting to the basket. That’s kind of the way I like to play, just to be able to get to the right spot at the right time, hit open shots and play defense.

“I’ll talk to some coaches here and see what they have to offer. Then I hope to take some visits and see what’s out there. I’ve had some good conversations with coaches I hadn’t talked to before. I’ve loved the past couple of days. It’s good to be playing again, getting up and down. I came to this event two years ago and I can see how the talent has grown a ton. The players are a lot better. Kids are flying in or driving long hours to be here. It was good competition and a good way for me to ease back into it.”

May said when he took the Snow College job three years ago, he realized that every high school kid in the world thinks they can play there.

“I’d get 1,000 e-mails from kids and I talked to other JC coaches,” he said. “They all felt the same way, especially our league with Salt Lake, CSU, CSU-Eastern. Every kid thinks they can play for a junior college. So No. 1, we wanted to give an opportunity to all these kids. They all deserve a chance.”

May and his coaching staff put together the Showcase for that purpose.

How effective has the event been? May said two players who participated in the past two Showcases ended up with Division I scholarships: Chance Trujillo, who played at Snow and will play at Utah Tech and former Lone Peak standout Ethan Copeland, who accepted a scholarship to Stetson after playing at USU-Eastern.

“Ethan went on a mission and had no offers when he came home,” May said.

Around 30 players from the first two Showcase events found junior college homes to keep the dream alive of playing college ball.

The level of play during the two days was as would be expected: Moments of individual brilliance but a bit ragged at times considering most of the players had never met before. The teams sub every five minutes during play to allow each athlete a chance to shine.

May said about a dozen junior college coaches showed up to watch the two-day event.

“We hold it later in June to allow the missionaries to get home and work out for a few weeks if they can,” May said. “Plenty of kids go undervalued and overlooked. This thing is a target for them. There’s so many moving pieces in college and this is a great catch-all.”