OGDEN — Pickleball may be one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.S., but the activity’s rise to prominence in Utah is equally notable.

An October 2023 update from the Apple Heart & Movement Study noted that the state had the highest participation in the sport per capita nationwide (among study subjects). Utah also tops the nation in online searches for pickleball, per Google Trends.

However, it’s entirely possible that Utah’s evolution as a pickleball hotbed may not have played out the way it did without the efforts of Ogden’s John Gullo. In recognition of those efforts — as well as contributions regionally and to the professional game — the 80-year-old was announced Tuesday as a member of the National Pickleball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024.

“It’s very, very rewarding,” Gullo told the Standard-Examiner of his HOF induction, slated for Nov. 14 in Mesa, Arizona.

As much as he has given to the game over the years, though, Gullo credits his discovery of it as a man in his mid-60s for significantly altering the course his life would take.

“I almost died in ’08. I had five bypasses, I weighed 310 pounds and I was doing the rehab thing with treadmills and all that boring stuff,” Gullo said. “Then I saw this sign: ‘Pickleball.'”

Gullo would lose approximately 100 pounds — or, as he describes it, “six bowling balls” — in a year. It was during this time that he took up the cause of growing the game in the Beehive State and nationally.

“I ended up going out and starting to play pickleball and I got really into it,” Gullo said. “That’s when I met with (Ogden’s then-mayor Matthew Godfrey), and I said, ‘Matt, I want to put some courts up in Ogden.'”

He went on to personally pay for the first eight pickleball courts in Ogden and helped to establish the sport in several other cities. Flash forward to now and there are more than 360 pickleball courts in Northern Utah alone.

Gullo also founded a tournament that was one of the highest-paying competitions of its day, as well as the first to pay and house referees and the first to be livestreamed.

“I invited 18 of the best players to come in for an $18,000 prize pool, which I privately funded to see if it would go,” Gullo said. “That’s when I created the Tournament of Champions. And the next year, we had 100 players. My last year, when I sold to Brigham City, we had 200 senior and senior pro and regular pros, and with a prize pool of $100,000.

“Today, there’s two major professional tournaments going on nationally. I believe there’s over 100 players now making six figures. And it all started with Ogden.”

His contributions to the sport of pickleball go well beyond what is printed here. And yet, Gullo continues to be surprised by its incredible growth.

“I stand all amazed,” he said.

Joining Gullo in the 2024 class are Simone Jardim and Kyle Yates.

“The Pickleball Hall of Fame is honored to welcome these pickleball legends and salute these individuals for their outstanding contributions to the game,” Stu Upson, Pickleball HOF president, said in a release. “Simone and Kyle have had tremendous success at the professional level while John has been a pioneer in the development (of) our professional game.”