Judge Profile: Utah Jazz and Judge Alumni

By Oliver Laughlin ‘24 and Damarco Soutor ‘24

The Utah Jazz has been Salt Lake City’s own NBA team since 1974. Throughout that time, several members of the Judge community have helped support them. Currently, they are third in the Western Conference and we are proud to share that the following three Judge alumni are assisting with their success.

Dr. Travis Maak ‘97 Orthopedic Surgeon and Utah Jazz Team Physician

Dr. Travis Maak received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and completed his medical degree from Yale’s School of Medicine. He was surprised by how different the two schools were from each other but he liked them both. “Totally different perspectives, Yale was a bit of a big city and Stanford was more of a small town. I enjoyed the east coast, I liked the different people and the different perspectives, so I decided to stay there.”

After completing his residency, Travis decided to specialize in sports medicine, and for a short time worked for the New York Knicks and the New York Giants. “Working for the New York Giants was a pretty cool experience because that was the year they won the Super Bowl, and I was on the sidelines for all of the Super Bowl. That was pretty awesome.” While in Manhattan, Dr. Maak met a woman who was also a Judge alumnus from his same class (Dr. Michelle Kennedy Maak ‘97) although he didn’t know her very well when they were at Judge. They fell in love and decided to move back to Utah together where Travis could pursue a career with the Utah Jazz. He has been working with the Jazz ever since.

Dr. Travis Maak loved his experience at Judge Memorial, and says it really impacted his life. “I think the biggest thing that Judge offers, is a diverse experience and a student body that is motivated. Interestingly, I think in life it’s not so much what you learn as the opportunities that you have, and you either take advantage of them, or you don’t. “I commuted from Heber City, I believe my parents sent me to Judge because of the academic opportunities and the diverse backgrounds of the student body. It was a long commute but worth it.” Travis believes Judge instills a lot of different perspectives, thought processes and provides a great education.

Dr. Maak ‘97 focuses on sports medicine and arthroscopic treatment of the hip and knee.

Derek Garduño ‘00 Utah Jazz Senior Vice President of Basketball Communications

After graduating from Judge Memorial, Derek went to the University of Utah and worked at the Salt Lake Tribune as a sports assistant. He also interned with the Jazz in their public relations department during this time. After college, Derek “ended up working at a PR agency, around the time when the Millers bought the Salt Lake Bees, and they had an opening for a PR person.” In the summers, Derek worked PR for the Salt Lake Bees, and in the winter worked PR for the Utah Jazz. He did that for about three years, or three seasons. And then he eventually moved over to focus only on the Jazz. This will be Derek’s 17th season with the Jazz.

Derek was on the Bulldog Press when he attended Judge, and felt it helped him in his career. “The Bulldog Press, had a big influence on me because writing is such a huge part of my career. The education at Judge Memorial was unbelievable, and I felt over prepared going to college after graduating from Judge, which is a pretty nice feeling to have. I have nothing but positive things to say about Judge.” Derek still keeps in touch with many of his friends from Judge, even after all of his adventures of his post-high school career.

Derek’s favorite part of going to Judge was “the diversity of people that come from all over the valley, which is pretty unique, as opposed to just going to a regular high school where it’s generally people from one area. To have people from all over the Salt Lake Valley made for a better experience and where the students got to know people from all different backgrounds.”

Derek felt his experience at Judge was great and he was very fortunate to be able to have attended Judge. “I think we’re all pretty lucky to have gone to Judge, and I realize not everybody has those opportunities. I think you leave Judge with a real appreciation for what you have.” He loved the community aspect of Judge and his teachers, especially Dr. Sloan, and felt Judge prepared him for his life in many countless ways.

Derek Garduño ‘00 was promoted to the Senior Vice President of Basketball Communications for the Utah Jazz in September 2021.

Danny Franks ‘09 Utah Jazz Communications Manager

After graduating from Santa Clara University, Danny interned at the San Francisco Giants in Client Relations before moving back to Salt Lake where he went to work for “1280 the Zone,” a sports broadcasting radio station. That is where he met Derek Garduño ’00, and the rest is history as the next season Danny was working full-time for the Utah Jazz.

“Derek and I are in a pretty rare position in that there’s only so many of these PR positions in sports. We get to cheer for our hometown team and it’s been fun being home and working for the team you grew up rooting for.” Danny enjoyed his time at Judge and had many great memories with friends and teachers

“I have a lot of friends from Judge. It’s all those little moments that you spend with your friends, like on the “beach” and working in Mr. Sloan’s little room with my buddy Bruce, just having the best time editing videos and trying to come up with interviews. I also played basketball for two years at Judge, and when we won the state title in basketball in 2006, it was a pretty big highlight for me and it was a really fun team. I still have many good friends who played on that team.” Judge also prepared Danny with the skills he needed to suc- ceed and felt very prepared for college as well as feeling like Judge taught him core beliefs.

“I felt really confident about my writing skills coming out of Judge. I think that that’s one of the biggest assets of being a Judge graduate is the solid foundation of education. Judge does a good job of bringing the community together and teaching you to take care of other people and the right values. Whatever situation you run into, you have these core principles that Judge helped instill – respect, treating other people the way you want to be treated, working hard, and teamwork.”

Danny Franks '09 became the Communications Manager for the Utah Jazz in 2017.