I met a Ute young man a few years ago and we talked about the Clovis people. He insisted that the Utes basically ARE the Clovis people. They didn’t die out or were overtaken by other tribes. They just changed a bit with the circumstances and kept on living.
As far as I know (which isn't really much about Clovis), their projectile points are really all we have left to identify them. Did your friend have any insight into why they might have changed that aspect of their culture?