Utah's Core Four

Some Thoughts About "The Good Old Days" Before Senior Night

You know that old quote—“I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them.” One of those sentimental, nostalgic lines people throw around when looking back on something special. Normally, I buy into it. Sports are cruel that way—you don’t always realize how good you had it until all you have left are banners, stats, and stories.

But here’s the thing: sometimes you do know.

If you’ve been a Utah fan these past four years, you knew. You knew we were in the middle of something special every time Gianna Kneepkens nailed a gut-punch three, every time Kennady McQueen sliced up a defense off the dribble, every time Inês Vieira locked up a highly-touted backcourt on defense, and every time Jenna Johnson took a crucial charge in the paint. This wasn’t a case of realizing too late. We appreciated every second in real time.

Look at the numbers: three straight NCAA tournament appearances, a 92-35 record over these past seasons, a program that went from an afterthought to a force in major conferences. A far cry from the 19-33 stretch over the two seasons before they fully assembled.

And it wasn’t just the wins. It was the stability. They weren’t just great players; they were the foundation of something bigger. A program that didn’t just compete but belonged on the biggest stage.

And now we’re staring at the end of the ride, or at least the end of it for three of them. Kennady, Inês, and Jenna will graduate this year. Gianna still has a decision to make, but I always viewed this group as a package deal, so I wanted to talk about them that way. Regardless of what Gianna chooses, this era of Utah basketball—the Core Four Era—has been one of the best we’ve ever had. So as we prepare for the senior night we’ve been dreading for years, let’s talk about the group of players who have played their whole college careers here and made this era so special.

Inês Vieira

Unlimited energy personified. That’s Inês Vieira. Or, The Mosquito, if we’re keeping with tradition.

I hadn’t heard of her when she committed - in fact I still can’t find a recruit page for her from her time pre-Utah. Lynne Roberts hyped her up at the time, but I wonder if even she expected her to become everything she’s become. The flashes were there freshman year, but fast-forward four years, and Neshy is one of the most indispensable players in the country.

I once said she defends like she has 100 hands—everything an offense is trying to do gets ruined by her. Want to set up a pick-and-roll? Nope, Vieira already teleported around the screen. Want to run a dribble handoff? Good luck, she just blew it up. Trying to track down a long rebound? Yeah, let me know how that goes. She often plays the full 40 minutes like she’s running on solar power in July, never slows down, and never stops making life miserable for opposing guards.

In these four years, we watched her turn into a defensive savant, a floor general, and a relentless competitor all in real time. Her impact is beyond stats; it’s her stats, and then all the stats her opponents don’t get.

Go back and watch what she did against Notre Dame this year. That was a loaded backcourt of future WNBA talent, and Vieira out-dueled them in a game that Utah really wanted. She became the only player to rack up five or more assists against Hannah Hidalgo without a single turnover. And this wasn’t just any game—it was new head coach Gavin Petersen’s fourth game against the number three team in the nation. A defining moment, and Vieira was a steady hand that helped carry Utah through it.

That’s who she is. A player nobody talked about, who turned into a player nobody can ignore.

Jenna Johnson

Jenna Johnson came to Utah and formed a highly-touted Minnesota duo with Gianna Kneepkens, and expectations were through the roof. At 6’2”, she was a perfect modern forward—strong enough to handle business in the post, skilled enough to stretch the floor. And for a year, that was her role. The go-to post presence.

And then? Alissa Pili arrived.

Man, talk about one of the biggest moves in Utah basketball history. Pili instantly became one of the best players in the country. Suddenly, someone had to make some changes - and who did that fall on? Jenna, of course. And you never heard a word about it. No complaints, no drama, no passive-aggressive comments. She just adjusted, focused on winning, and helped Pili go to work.

Fast-forward to this season, and with Pili gone and Mayè Tourè in her place, Jenna still doesn’t exclusively play that role from her freshman season, but when she does, it still looks so natural.

They often refer to her as “The Anchor,” and this year’s Arizona game was a perfect example of why. Arizona storms all the way back, the crowd is getting tense, every Utah fan is bracing for disaster—and with 54 seconds left, who buries the three to put the game away? Jenna. Didn’t matter that she was 1-for-4 from deep before that shot. Didn’t matter that the weight of the moment was enormous. This is a player who has seen the absolute depths of defeat and came out ready to prove herself.

A grinder. A winner. A shapeshifter who takes every role, adjusts without complaint, and keeps the whole thing together. She’s spent four years doing the dirty work, drawing a million charges, and battling in the post against much taller players - getting the better of them far more often than not.

Gianna Kneepkens

Some players walk into a program and you immediately know. The energy shifts. The ceiling gets higher. You don’t even need to check the stats—you can just feel it. That’s Gianna Kneepkens.

And here’s the crazy part: we knew it before the breakout games, before the record-setting performances, before she took over entire seasons like it was her birthright.

Before she caught fire late against TCU earlier this season and never cooled off.
Before she dropped 28 on #3 Stanford in 2023 to help clinch a Pac-12 title.
Before she lit up BYU for 28 points in her freshman year.

Before all of that, the signs were there. The way she carried herself. The way she played. Cold. Unshakable. The exact same look, no matter what was happening.

Miss three shots in a row? Same stare.
Drain a dagger three to rip the hearts out of a rival crowd? Same stare.
Make a game-winning steal? Hit a momentum-killing jumper on the road? Quiet an entire arena with a flurry of buckets?

Same. Damn. Stare.

I’ve seen literal blank walls show more fear than Gianna.

She celebrates with her teammates, sure. She’s not a robot. But to the opposition? To the crowd that thought they were watching their team pull off an upset? This is just another day at the office.

And now? This is Mega Gianna.

Not just the same ruthless player, but a leader. The newly-turned volume shooter who somehow kept her absurd efficiency. The player who wants the ball when it matters most.

If there’s one word to describe her game, it’s scary.
Scary for defenders.
Scary for opposing coaches.
Scary for anyone who thought they could rattle her.

And if she does decide to return for one more run? Good luck to the rest of the country.

Kennady McQueen

Every great team has that one player. The one you never worry about, because you know she’ll show up when it matters the most.

For Utah, that’s Kennady McQueen.

She comes from Henefer, Utah, a town so small you could fit the entire population into any two sections of the Huntsman Center and still have room for the band. She was a three-time All-State selection, Utah Gatorade Player of the Year, Deseret News Ms. Basketball—a decorated high school star. And yet, when she arrived, she wasn’t here to chase stats or headlines. She was here to win.

And she’s been here for everything.

This program went 5-16 in her first season. Five wins. Sixteen losses. And yet you still knew things were about to get better - and fast.

Maybe that’s because whenever things go sideways for Utah, that’s when you can expect Kennady to change them. When the momentum starts to slip - those are her moments. She popped in fresh off an ankle injury to ruin BYU’s momentum in this year’s road rivalry game. A 3, a couple rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a changed game later, she sat back down.

Think back to the 2022 Pac-12 tournament—Utah had to win a couple of games to feel good about getting into March Madness. Oregon had 6’5” Nyara Sabally and 6’7” Sedona Prince dominating the paint. And who finished second in the game in rebounds? Kennady McQueen.

She’s 5’10”. Her season-high in rebounds before that game? Seven.
How many did she grab against Oregon? Eleven.

For one game, Kennady decided she was 6’5” and nobody could tell her otherwise.

She’s the ultimate do-it-all player. One of only 10 players since 2009 to put up 350+ points, 30+ steals, 95+ assists, 130+ rebounds, and fewer than 50 turnovers in a season.

It’s the aura with Kennady. She’s a steadying presence, a ceiling raiser, and the most likely to turn your family and friends into superfans after 1 minute of conversation.

I would always have told you Andre Miller was my all-time favorite Utah athlete. But now? Like a lot of you, I have a new favorite.

This wasn’t just a good group of recruits. It wasn’t just the natural benefit of playing in a major conference. This was a full-scale program transformation—a total success story for the staff, the University, the fans, and, most of all, the players.

Jenna, Gianna, and Inês could have looked at that 5-16 season and thought, “anybody else want us?”. They could have flipped their commitments, taken an easier path, and found a program on the upswing. And Kennady? She could have wrapped up that brutal season, fired off the standard Instagram post we’ve all come to know so well—something about “forever grateful for my time here, but with that being said…”—and transferred somewhere ready-made for success.

But she didn’t, and they didn’t.

They stayed. They trusted this amazing staff. They built this thing from the ground up. They picked us. And because of them, Utah didn’t just get better—it has enjoyed one of the better four year runs in the country.

This world of college sports doesn’t get runs like this anymore. It doesn’t get a group of four players who sticks together for a full four plus years, embeds themselves in a community, and alters the trajectory of a program the way this group did. Watch them spend time with the fans after a game and you’ll get it - just like the rest of the team and the staff, they’re kind, engaging, and generous with their time. Their amazing families have ingrained themselves into Utah fanhood and have helped build the social media base where we celebrate the team together. This group is the perfect example of everything that can go right at the University of Utah - everything that makes it special.

And it may even be happening again. Reese Ross, Grace Foster, Brooke Walker, and Kylie Ray have all played their entire careers at Utah, and even though it’s still early in Grace, Brooke, and Kylie’s careers, Reese has been here for two.

Soon, we’ll welcome a new core of freshmen who also made the decision to stick by us - this time after a coaching change. LA Sneed, Avery Hjelmstad, and Ella Todd will join the existing roster and its new young core, and if we’re lucky, a cycle that most of college sports forgot about a long time ago will begin all over again in one of the few places it still happens as we watch them grow into dominant players and community mainstays. Maybe we’ll be talking about Avery and how she blossomed into one of the best shooters in the country or LA and how she became an unlimited scorer and facilitator, or Ella and how she turned into the ultimate do-it-all wing. Maybe we’ll say they remind us a bit of some players we watched before.

But for now, when it comes to this group of seniors— even if just for a little longer—we’re still in the good times. And we get one more chance to say thank you in person.

Thank you for taking Utah from a rebuild to a power conference contender.
Thank you for every clutch shot, every defensive stand, every hard-fought win.
Thank you for the countless charity events, for building a real connection with the fans and community, for showing young kids and the community that women’s basketball at Utah matters.
Thank you for making every game an event, every season a thrill ride, and every moment one we won’t forget.

Thank you for all of it.

Gianna (even with a decision on her future still pending), Kennady, Inês, Jenna, Mayè, and Néné deserve a proper, loud thank you. Let’s pack the Huntsman Center on Senior Night and make sure they get one.