Utah Pump N Run Basketball

High school basketball championships might not be won in the summer, but that is often where championship dreams are born.

When Highland won the South Tahoe Shootout earlier this month — completing its most successful summer since 2005, which preceded the Rams’ 2006 state title — those dreams flourished.

“That’s obviously the only thing we’re thinking about because we want to win championships,” all-state point guard Sam Orchard said.

By the middle of his sophomore season, it was clear that Kyle Collinsworth was a special talent.

At that time, he was 6-foot-5, had led Provo High to a state basketball title and had done so with the kind of ball-handling and passing ability usually seen out of tiny point guards. No matter how dominant he was for his high school team, however, Collinsworth knew there would be doubts about his ability at the national level.

However, all of that changed after Collinsworth spent that spring playing AAU ball for the Utah Pump-N-Run team — a stretch of games against top national competition that introduced him to college coaches and scouts from coast to coast.

Team to Kick-Off Summer Season Against Nationally Recognized Indiana Elite with Duke Bound 7-Footer Marshall Plumlee at the Best Buy Classic in Minnesota.

Utah Pump-N-Run's 17U RED ELITE team, ranked No. 8 for Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) programs in the West by PremierBall.com, will begin showcasing the state’s premier prep athletes at summer basketball tournaments around the country. The team will have its first chance to play in front of college coaches, as the month of July marks the NCAA Division 1 viewing period. This week, the team will travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota (Best Buy Summer Classic), followed by trips to Las Vegas (Adidas Super 64) and Anaheim, California (Best of Summer) later this month.

Tanner LeBaron (Timpanogos) made a three-pointer with three seconds remaining to send the game into overtime and the Utah Pump-N-Run 17U White team defeated the Columbus Storm 72-66 in overtime at the Kentucky HoopFest in Louisville today.

UPNR White went 3-0 in pool play at the tourney and will open play in the Gold Bracket on Sunday at 9:45 a.m. MST against Shining Star Sports, Kentucky's AAU state champion.

For the first time this year, college basketball coaches can observe live play involving recruitable high school players this week, and many -- including coaches from BYU, Utah State and Utah -- are in Indianapolis to watch the adidas Invitational.

The Utah Pump-N-Run White team is competing this week in Indiana and will be at the Kentucky Hoops Fest in Louisville next week.