Gavin Baxter Announces He Is Medically Retiring From Basketball
Dec 8, 2022, 7:43 PM
Running Ute senior forward, Gavin Baxter Summer Workouts. (Photo courtesy of Utah Athletics.)
(Photo courtesy of Utah Athletics.)
SALT LAKE CITY- Sports are filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Any smart athlete knows they are always one play away from their last. Unfortunately, for Utah’s Gavin Baxter that day has come with him officially announcing his medical retirement from basketball.
Head coach Craig Smith took a flyer on Baxter who transferred earlier in the year from BYU looking for a fresh start. Baxter was a highly touted four-star small forward out of high school with a very high ceiling. However, Baxter’s body had other ideas and he spent much of his college career hampered by injury.
📰 | Utah Forward Gavin Baxter Announces Medical Retirement.⁰
MORE ➡️ https://t.co/BwNI2zgDxJ⁰#GoUtes | @gbax51— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) December 9, 2022
A source told KSL Sports Baxter broke the news Tuesday to the team- a heartbreaking end to a promising career.
“I’m very grateful for the chance Utah gave me but due to my injury history, I can’t compete the way I want to,” Baxter said in the Utah press release. “I want to thank my teammates and coaches for believing in me and I’m grateful for all the time and energy they invested in me. Basketball has been my life for a long time but it’s time to move on to the next chapter.”
A Quick Look At Baxter’s Basketball Career
The Timpview High product came to the Utes as a graduate transfer walk-on using his Covid year to try and have one final good season. Utah needed some size and maturity on an otherwise young roster and Baxter certainly brought that to Smith’s second year squad.
Unfortunately, Baxter was limited in his short time with the Runnin’ Utes, coming off of an ACL injury that Smith and his staff were being careful to try and work him back into basketball shape through.
In five years, Baxter has only played in 54 total games, seven of which came with the Utes. Baxter’s most successful season came in 2018 during his freshman year playing in 30 games, but from there the injuries piled on.
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for KSLsports.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports
