Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Four-star Finnish forward commits to Utah

Utah v Arizona

TUCSON, AZ - JANUARY 05: Head coach Larry Krystkowiak of Utah Utes reacts during the first half of the college basketball game against the Arizona Wildcats at McKale Center on January 5, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Utah is adding an international prospect to its 2019 recruiting class.

Mikael Jantunen, a top-150 recruit from Finland, committed to the Utes on Monday, according to 247Sports.

The 6-foot-8 forward picks Larry Krystkowiak’s program over offers from LMU and Oregon State along with other high-major interest. The famous Finnish connection to Utah is Hanno Mottola, who starred for the Utes from 1996-2000 and had a two-year stint in the NBA. He’s also Jantunen’s prep coach.

“Mikael has tremendous overall feel for the game,” Mottola, who is an assistant at the Helsinki Basketball Academy, told 247Sports. “His defensive and rebounding skills are already at a very high level.”

Jantunen averaged 17 points, 10 rebounds and 3.6 assists while playing for Finland in the U18 European Championships. He led Finland in both scoring and rebounding while shooting 72.3 percent from the field.

He becomes the third member of Krystkowiak’s 2019 class, joining four-star guard Rylan Jones and three-star center Matthew Van Komen, both of whom are from Utah.

The Utes have missed the NCAA tournament the last two years after reaching the Sweet 16 in 2015 and the second round in 2016.