The latest commitment to Alex Jensen's Utah basketball program came from the international basketball world.
Finland point guard Elmeri Abbey announced Friday on social media his commitment to the Runnin' Utes.
The 6-foot, 190-pound Abbey is a member of the 2025 recruiting class.
Abbey, a 19-year-old freshman, played for Jyväskylä Basketball Academy, which plays in one of the top leagues in Finland, during the 2024-25 season.
He averaged 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, according to Eurobasket .
Abbey has experience playing for the U18 Finnish national team each of the past two summers. Last year, he averaged 15.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket tournament .
Utah is the only school that Abbey announced on social media he had received a scholarship offer from. He did so on May 23.
This is the second year that Utah has added a guard who hails from Finland — last year, then-head coach Craig Smith had point guard Miro Little transfer from Baylor.
Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, also a Finland native, responded to Abbey's commitment with a 🤩 emoji on Instagram.
The Utes now have 12 players committed to play for Jensen during his first season as Utah's head coach. That leaves three potential scholarship spots to fill.
Abbey is the second freshman addition, along with Kendyl Sanders , who played last year in the post-grad program at IMG Academy in Florida.
In addition to returnees Keanu Dawes and Ibi Traore, the Utes have added a list of transfers that include guards Terrence Brown (Fairleigh Dickinson), Alvin Jackson III (SLCC), Elijah Moore (Syracuse) and Don McHenry (Western Kentucky), along with forwards Babacar Faye (Western Kentucky), Jahki Howard (Auburn), James Okonkwo (Akron) and Seydou Traore (Iowa).
Abbey helps address needs at the point guard position. While Brown and McHenry appear likely to be the team's primary ball handlers, Abbey can also figure into that equation.
