Utah State football player Andre Seldon Jr. died in an apparent cliff-diving accident, the school announced Saturday night.

According to the university, Seldon’s body was located at 9:05 p.m. MT by the Utah Department of Public Safety’s dive team after a search began earlier in the day for a man who was seen diving off cliffs at the Porcupine Reservoir and didn’t return to the surface of the water.

“Our Utah State University Athletics family is devastated over the sudden death of Andre Seldon Jr.,” athletic director Diana Sabau said in a statement. “We extend our deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, teammates, and all who loved Andre.”

Seldon was set to play his fifth season of college football and first at Utah State in 2024. The Michigan native spent his first two college seasons at the University of Michigan before spending the last two seasons at New Mexico State.

“Our football program is heartbroken to have to endure the loss of one of our own,” Utah State interim coach Nate Dreiling said in a statement. “Having had a previous relationship with Andre during our time together at New Mexico State, I can tell you he was an incredible person and teammate. Our condolences and prayers go out to Andre’s family as we grieve with them over this tremendous loss.”

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz officially waived Russell Westbrook on Saturday, clearing the way for the veteran guard to join his next team via free agency.

After the Jazz and Clippers finalized the trade earlier this week, it seemed like only a matter of time until Utah and Westbrook reached a buyout.

We have waived guard Russell Westbrook.#TakeNote https://t.co/k0GaKFCSM8

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) July 20, 2024

Even before the trade, there were reports floating around that Westbrook was eyeing the Denver Nuggets as his next team.

These same reports suggested that both Deandre Jordan and Nikola Jokic had been advocating for Denver to take a chance on the 35-year-old.

At this stage of his career, Westbrook’s biggest impact comes in the locker room. He is a leader with a strong voice that has played on multiple successful teams over his 16-year NBA career.

BREAKING: Clippers are sending Russell Westbrook, second-round pick swap and cash to the Jazz in a sign and trade for Kris Dunn, per @wojespn

Westbrook is “expected to agree” on a contract buyout with the Jazz, clearing the way for him to join the Nuggets pic.twitter.com/H6MnljgYeZ

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 18, 2024

Westbrook was briefly a member of the Jazz in 2023 when the team acquired him at the trade deadline in the blockbuster transaction that sent Mike Conley to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and a future Los Angeles Lakers first-round pick to Utah.

The Jazz waived Westbrook before ever suiting up for the team, clearing a path for him to sign with the Clippers.

Less than two years later, history repeats itself.

Chandler Holt is a co-host of the Jazz Notes podcast, a Locals In The NFL Insider, and Digital Sports Producer for KSLSports.com. Follow Chandler on Twitter @CHoltSports or on Threads @chandlerho1t.

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Utah officials said Saturday that they are scrapping plans to use an untested lethal drug combination in next month’s planned execution of a man in a 1998 murder case. They will instead seek out a drug that’s been used previously in executions in numerous states.

Defense attorneys for Taberon Dave Honie, 49, had sued in state court to stop the use of the drug combination, saying it could cause the defendant “excruciating suffering.”

The execution scheduled for Aug. 8 would be Utah’s first since the 2010 execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner, by firing squad.

Honie was convicted of aggravated murder in the stabbing of his girlfriend’s mother, Claudia Benn, 49.

After decades of failed appeals, Honie’s execution warrant was signed last month despite defense objections to the planned lethal drug combination.

They said the first two drugs he was to have been given —- the sedative ketamine and the anesthetic fentanyl — would not adequately prevent Honie from feeling pain when potassium chloride was administered to stop his heart.

In response, the Utah Department of Corrections has decided to instead use a single drug — pentobarbital. Agency spokesperson Glen Mills said attorneys for the state filed court documents overnight Friday asking that the lawsuit be dismissed.

“We will obtain and use pentobarbital for the execution,” Mills said. He said agency officials still believe the three-drug combination was effective and humane.

State officials previously acknowledged that they knew of no other cases of the three-drug combination being used in an execution.

At least 14 states have used pentobarbital in executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C.

However, there’s been evidence that pentobarbital also can cause extreme pain, including in federal executions carried out in the last months of Donald Trump’s presidency.

Honie’s attorney in the lawsuit, federal defender Eric Zuckerman, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Meanwhile, a hearing is scheduled for Monday on Honie’s request to the state parole board to commute his death sentence to life in prison.

Honie’s lawyers said in a petition last month that a traumatic and violent childhood coupled with his long-time drug abuse, a previous brain injury and extreme intoxication fueled Honie’s behavior when he broke into his Benn’s house and killed her.

They blamed poor legal advice for allowing Honie — a native of the Hopi Indian Reservation in Arizona — to be sentenced by a judge instead of a jury that might have been more sympathetic and spared him the death penalty.