Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell once again at U of U game, wants to go to BYU game

Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell was once again at the University of Utah football game, and has desires to attend a BYU game in the not-so-distant future.

Utah Jazz sensation Donovan Mitchell has effectively won over the hearts of an entire state. Sure, his phenomenal play throughout his rookie season and especially in the playoffs went a long way in accomplishing that. But beyond his exceptional basketball play, Mitchell has won fans over by being exceptional in the community.

The list of ways he’s done that goes on and on, but one way he’s showed local support this year is by attending university football games. He’s frequented the closest destination – University of Utah – and even made a trip up to Logan to show the Aggies of Utah State some love.

With preseason at a close and while in the calm before the storm of the 2018-19 NBA regular season getting underway, Mitchell and some of his teammates once again decided to use their free time on Friday evening to check out the University of Utah Utes, who this time around produced a stirring 42-10 victory over the Arizona Wildcats.

As you can see in the photo below, Mitchell was joined at Rice-Eccles Stadium by teammates Royce O’Neale, Raul Neto, Georges Niang and Naz Mitrou-Long. This marks the third time that Mitchell has been in attendance at a U of U football game this year, each of their home bouts.

But Mitchell’s local support doesn’t just extend to the college in Salt Lake City. As I mentioned earlier, he previously made a trip to Utah State, but also, as recently stated in a Salt Lake Tribune piece, he has the intention to make his next priority a visit to a BYU football game. The article by the Trib’s Christopher Kamrani detailed much of the outreach Mitchell has done, but made it clear that the fact that he hasn’t yet been out to support the local BYU football team is something he hopes to soon render.

Even though Mitchell has yet to grace LaVell Edwards Stadium with his presence during a game, he’s certainly shown love to the Provo squad. Last season, he sat courtside at a BYU basketball game, and earlier this year following the Cougars’ monumental win over the ranked Wisconsin Badgers, he tweeted out his support and praise–

In short, it’s awesome to see Mitchell showing his support to not just one school in the state, but to all three of the major programs. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me either if before long we see Mitchell make an appearance at others such as Weber State, Utah Valley University and Southern Utah University, to name a few. Such is his dedication and appreciation for the fans that so revere him.

I honestly can’t recall a Utah Jazz player that was this involved with any one school, let alone so many of them. Even though Mitchell has been in Salt Lake City for just a short time, he’s already achieved legend status in the eyes of the Utah faithful.

With the NBA regular season set to get underway, Donovan Mitchell will likely have to cut back big time on his attendance of local university athletics events and instead focus on the task at hand. He’s certainly aiming for big things in 2018-19 as he hopes to showcase immense individual improvement and also lead the Utah Jazz to new heights.

And after all the support he’s shown to fans across the state all offseason long, he’ll surely have that reciprocated tenfold once the new season gets underway.