What the Runnin’ Utes said after the team’s first official practice

That’s one of several roster issues impacting the Utes before the season even begins.

Utah signed international guard Noam Yaacov — and he was considered the gem of the Utes’ recruiting class — but the NCAA ruled the 21-year-old with several years of pro experience ineligible.

The Utes also leaned into their international ties and signed center Fynn Schott, a promising Austrian big, but he underwent surgery last week on his right leg and will miss the start of the season.

With the NCAA ruling and its subsequent drama, there have been a lot of things to keep track of for Jensen and his staff in terms of eligibility.

“Since I took the job, (it) seems like a week doesn’t go by about some type of legislation or rule that’s going to go through,” Jensen said. “You know, I’ve got a great staff and I leave that to others to worry about because I’m not going to try to guess what the future holds as far as rules.”

For now, the task is focusing on what Utah can control and on the players who are available.

One of those is forward Alec Anigbata, who hails from Germany and is used to a different sort of practice schedule from his time overseas.

“We compete a lot. I think you can see it today. And I feel like it’s easier to build a good chemistry over here because in Europe, you only have like one or 1.5 months to prepare for your first game,” he said. “And now we’ve been together for three months, so we’ve really come along very well and it’s easy to build good chemistry.”

Developing team chemistry and a team identity — one anchored in defense — is a process, including for the few holdovers like guard Lucas Langarita, a midyear transfer addition last season who only ended up playing five games due to injury.