Portland Pair Come Home In Utah Suits Utes Test Their Perfect Record; WSU Plays, Too, In Ford Classic

College basketball fans in Portland will get a close look at a couple of big ones who got away when seventh-ranked Utah plays Oregon State in the Rose Garden Saturday night.

The game, part of a doubleheader billed as the Ford Holiday Classic, helps fill the void left by the demise of the Far West Classic tournament. Portland State plays Washington State in the opener.

Michael Doleac and David Jackson, two players who grew up in Portland but were lured to Salt Lake City by Utes’ coach Rick Majerus, will make their first hometown collegiate appearance.

“For Michael Doleac and David Jackson to get home is something special,” Majerus said.

The entire early season has been special for the Utes (9-0), off to their best start in 30 years. The 1967-68 Utah team went 9-0 before losing 86-84 at Oregon. If the Utes get past Oregon State (6-1), they will have to beat only Wisconsin-Milwaukee to enter the Western Athletic Conference season with an unbeaten record.

Doleac, a 6-foot-11 senior, was an early discovery who committed to Utah out of Portland’s Central Catholic High School before he began to blossom into a top prospect. He is averaging 15 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and leads the WAC in freethrow percentage at .917 (33 of 36).

Doleac had 30 points in last week’s 71-55 victory over Utah State.

Jackson, a sophomore guard from Portland’s Wilson High, has played in all nine games this season, all but one off the bench, averaging 4.9 points. He is second on the team in assists at three per game.

Utah’s fast start is impressive because it lost several key players from last year’s team that made it to the NCAA regional finals, most notably All-America Keith Van Horn.

“Utah is as formidable opponent as we have faced since I have been at Oregon State,” OSU coach Eddie Payne said. “Utah is not only a top-10 team, it is a top-10 program.”