The six-year Jazz tenure of sixth-man scorer Jordan Clarkson is over after Utah bought out the final year of his contract and waived him, the team announced Monday.

Clarkson was due $14.2 million in the upcoming season, according to Spotrac. Once Clarkson clears waivers, expectation around the NBA is that he’ll reach a deal with the New York Knicks, according to multiple reports.

The best seasons of Clarkson’s 11-year NBA career happened in Utah, both personally and for his teams. In 2020-21, his first full season with the Jazz, Clarkson won the NBA’s sixth man of the year award, averaging 18.4 points per game.

That year, Clarkson helped Utah to a 52-20 record and scored 17.5 points per game in the playoffs. He averaged 17.5 points per game over 342 games in Utah.

Utah’s plan is still developing, but the Jazz seem intent on clearing out playing time for young guards Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier after also trading Collin Sexton to Charlotte for aging big man Jusuf Nurkic. The Jazz also brought in NCAA Tournament phenom guard Walter Clayton Jr. in the draft last week.

Elsewhere for the Jazz, No. 5 pick Ace Bailey arrived in Utah without incident after rumors flew during draft week of alleged attempts by his agent to steer him to either Washington or Brooklyn. Bailey arrived in Salt Lake City over the weekend and hit the gym for a shootaround.

Bailey said Jazz owner Ryan Smith told him to “play basketball, do what I do best,” in a report on the team’s website. “Enjoy the game, love every moment, love my teammates, and treat everybody the same.”

The Jazz also waived guard Johnny Juzang while guaranteeing forward Svi Mykhailiuk and his $3.6 million contract next season.

Texas State to join the Pac-12

An oft-rumored move came to fruition over the weekend when Texas State University announced it has accepted an invitation to join the Pac-12 Conference in 2026 when the reborn league takes new flight with a slew of new members, including Utah State.

Texas State gives the Pac-12 its needed eight football-playing members, along with Utah State, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Oregon State, San Diego State and Washington State. Gonzaga will also join the Pac-12 in 2026 as a non-football member.

Texas State was an FCS football program until it moved to FBS in 2012. After one season in the WAC, TSU has been in the Sun Belt since. Utah State has played TSU in football just once, during that 2012 WAC season; a 38-7 USU home win was part of the Aggies’ heralded 2012 season in which it finished ranked No. 16.

The Bobcats had just one winning season in FBS until 2023 when it hired GJ Kinne away from Incarnate Word. Kinne, the former Tulsa gunslinger, has led TSU to an 8-5 record in each of his first two seasons with his high-yardage passing attack.

In San Marcos, Texas (about midway between San Antonio and Austin), the Bocats will be a geographical outlier in the new league, nearly 1,000 miles away from its closest compadre in Colorado State, and about 2,000 miles away from each of Oregon State, Washington State and Gonzaga.

Big Sky boss named national vice president

Tom Wistrcill, eight-year commissioner of the Big Sky Conference, was named vice president of the Collegiate Commissioners Association, the league announced.

Wistrcill will be in that role for two years, then succeed ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips as president, according to a news release.

“It’s an honor to serve as Vice President of the CCA and support the important work that is being done by our Commissioners’ group across the country,” Wistrcill said in a statement. “This is a pivotal time for college athletics, and the collaboration amongst conferences has never been more essential. I look forward to working alongside my colleagues to help shape meaningful progress for the future of our student-athletes and institutions.”