Salt City Hoops launched in 2009 as the Utah Jazz affiliate in the ESPN TrueHoop Network. Spencer Hall, who covered the NBA, Team USA and NBA’s developmental league, founded the site as part of the TrueHoop Network’s inaugural launch. While serving as the site’s editor, Spencer contributed regularly to the NBA coverage on ESPN.com, hosted post-game chats for the Salt Lake Tribune and anchored a weekly radio show on the Jazz’s flagship station, 97.5 FM / 1280 AM The Zone. Spencer posts on Twitter and Instagram using the @saltcityhoops handle and as @spencerhall.
Dan Clayton has been writing and editing for Salt City Hoops since 2013, and took over as Managing Editor in 2018 when his predecessor, the talented and ever-hustling Andy Larsen, joined the sports writing staff at the Salt Lake Tribune. Andy has been elemental in building the site, staff and brand of Salt City Hoops, and we’re excited to see what he’ll do in this next stage of his career.
Dan spent more than 10 years covering the Jazz for a variety of Spanish-language media outlets, including four years providing on-air commentary for the team’s Spanish radio broadcasts. Dan has since relocated to New York City, but enjoys sharing his cap knowledge, X-and-O insights and big picture takes, both at Salt City Hoops and on Twitter at @danclayt0n (that’s a zero in there).
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Jimbo Rudding, by virtue of having been featured in the Deseret News, is now the world’s most famous Utah-based basketball mailbag artist. Jimbo provides the regular dose of humor and fun with his hilarious mailbags, which will appear regularly throughout the season. Interested in submitting a question to Jimbo’s mailbag? Email it to Jimbo at mailbag@saltcityhoops.com or tweet @JimboRudding to appear.
Clint Johnson has become a familiar and trusted voice at Salt City Hoops, where he has played a major role in bringing games to life, analyzing players and more. Clint is a professional author, writing educator, and editor. In addition to his writing center work at Salt Lake Community College, he designed, coordinates, and teaches in an experimental author residency program for a West Valley City public charter school. He is also a frequent presenter at both writing and educational conferences.
Tyler Crandall joins Salt City Hoops for the 2018-19 season, having previously written at The J-Notes. Tyler grew up in Utah watching the Stockton-to-Malone Jazz. He now lives in Brooklyn, NY, where he and Dan do their best to bring up the Jazz-writers-per-capita figure in the borough. Tyler is an active tweeter at @tjcranman.
Steve Godfrey studied journalism and English, and now teaches high school in Northern Utah. He started his own blog, The Tortured Fan, and then joined the Salt City Hoops team at the start of the 2017-18 season to connect with more Jazz fans and to continue to apply his passion for writing and for basketball. You can connect with Steve at @stgodfrey12.
Ken Clayton has made regular appearances on Salt City Hoops podcasts, and will be expanding his writing duties during the upcoming season. Ken’s connection to the Jazz started in the mid 1980s in the old Salt Palace and hasn’t really missed a beat since. He and his family live in the Phoenix area, where he and his wife operate their own business. Ken tweets at @k_clayt.
Dane Coles debuts this season, bringing his passion for basketball and writing to SCH. He discovered a love of writing while attending Utah Valley University. Dane is the founder and CEO of his own company, and an avid outdoorsman who loves the beautiful Beehive State. He grew up idolizing John Stockton and playing on the plastic hoop he’d hang on the pantry door. Dane tweets at @_danecoles.
Clark Schmutz is a Jazz fan living in North Carolina who has been blogging about the Jazz for nearly a decade at various sites. Just like with religion, politics and good deals on the internet, Clark likes to talk NBA basketball to find more truth and learning. Find him on twitter @clarkpojo.
David J. Smith is a longtime contributor to Salt City Hoops, and his work has also been seen at the Deseret News, WeAreUtahJazz.com, UtahJazz360.com and Hoopsworld.com. He graduated from BYU and works for LDS Philanthropies. His wife, Elizabeth, is the most patient person in the world and they have four amazing children; Kadence, Tayah, Stockton (yes, really), and Cambria. You can find him on Twitter at @DavidJSmith1232.
Laura Thompson is a long-time Jazz fan writing from California. She graduated from BYU in 2008 and has worked in marketing, writing, and proofreading positions ever since. She’s been a radio guest on sports radio and tweets her thoughts at @hoopslaureate. She’ll be posting on Tuesdays.
Riley Gisseman is a talented artist, an analytical thinker, and a moderator in the Jazz Reddit community. He’s been part of the Jazz online community since he was posting at the age of 12 on UtahJazz360.com. He tweets a combination of graphic art, analytical insights and smart takes at @rgiss11.
In addition to these regular writers, we’ll still hear from an extended roster of SCH alumni who will be involved in group posts and will post when other commitments allow. This includes Allen Reihmann, Allen Schowengerdt, Andrew John, Denim Millwardand Thatcher Olson. Taylor Bentley will continue to provide editing support.
Contact the editors at: saltcityhoops@gmail.com.
