Sky View’s Jalen Moore to be an Aggie

Jalen MooreSky View High School’s Jalen Moore has committed to join the Utah State Aggie Basketball Program. The 6’7″ shooting guard completed his sophomore year of high school this year and is scheduled to join the Aggies for the 2013-14 season. Jalen is a current teammate of 2012 Aggie commit Casey Oliverson.

Moore recently attended the Stew Morrill basketball camp at Utah State and impressed the coaches enough for them to give him an offer. Jalen has also been turning some heads in AAU play putting up impressive numbers at a recent tournament in Reno, NV.

Jalen also competed in the high jump for Sky View and took second place in state behind only his fellow Bobcat, and good friend, Anthony Israelsen.

Jalen has Aggie blood in him as his father is former Aggie great Jimmy Moore. Jimmy, who was also known for his athleticism and leaping ability, can be found scattered throughout the Utah State record books. He is currently #25 All-Time in Scoring with 1164 points, #16 All-Time in Rebounding with 652 rebounds, #11 All-Time in Rebounds Per Game at 8.3/game, and #8 in Double-Doubles with 29. The Herald Journal’s Shawn Harrison wrote a nice piece on Jimmy in April of last year.

Jalen’s older brother Grayson Moore recently graduated from Sky View High and signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Sheridan College in Wyoming.

Teammate of Davis and Bair also gets D1 offer

American Fork High School LogoThe American Fork basketball team is producing some serious D1 talent. And all of it in the backcourt. After Marcel Davis and Quincy Bair both verbally committed to play at Utah State, their backcourt teammate Austin Waddoups received his first D1 offer to play for Cornell University. The news was broken by Quincy Bair’s Twitter Feed. Bill Oram at the Salt Lake Tribune has the scoop.

If anyone wants to follow Bair or Davis on Twitter they can be found here:

@QuincyBair
@Marcel Davis

Utah State makes Thoseby addition official

Adam ThosebyThe Utah State Athletics Site has officially announced the signing of Adam Thoseby today. Here are some quotes included in the article.

Utah State Coach Stew Morrill:

“Adam is a player who possesses excellent athletic ability along with solid basketball skills,” said Morrill. “He is a hard worker with very good potential and his international experience will certainly help his development as a player. We are excited to have Adam join our program.”

Maine Central Institute Coach Dave Campbell:

“Adam is a very exciting player because of his athletic ability and I believe his best basketball is still ahead of him,” said MCI head coach Dave Campbell. “Adam is a very good jump shooter and he will fit in well with Utah State’s system. He is also a very good kid and an excellent student.”

Aggieville’s Tony Jones also chimed in on Thoseby’s official announcement.

Adam Thoseby to play for Great Britain

British Basketball Logo
Adam Thoseby has a lot of travel planned this summer.

After flying across the country (from Maine to Utah) to visit Utah State campus, Adam flew back home to his native Great Britain, and will be spending the summer playing for the Great Britain Under-20 basketball team. Final cuts were made this past week, and Thoseby made the 12-man squad. The team is scheduled to travel to Sarajevo for the European Championships in July.

Before departing, the team plays four more warm-up games. They face off twice against Denmark on July 3-4, and and then play back-to-back games against Belgium on July 6-7.

For the full roster and a brief writeup check out this MVP247.com article.

Another Adam Thoseby Highlight Clip

This blog is turning into Adam Thoseby central, but I thought I should share this most recent highlight clip of Thoseby. He appears to be much more athletic than I originally thought.

Aggie Wing Danny Berger

Danny BergerDanny Berger, a 6’7″, 180 pound wing will be joining the Aggie basketball team this year after returning from a 2-year LDS religious mission.

Danny committed to play for Utah State over two years ago, and many Aggie fans may have all but forgotten about him. As such, I decided to put together a quick write-up on the Aggie wing.

Danny played high school ball for North Medford High School in Medford, Oregon and played one year at Chemeketa Community College before leaving on his mission.  He averaged 16 points and 5 rebounds per game as a freshman at Chemeketa CC. Danny is known for his shooting prowess and athleticism.  He drew the attention of the Utah State coaching staff as he grew 9 inches over a 2 1/2 year span before his mission.

Upon committing, Danny had a lot of good things to say about the Aggie Basketball program in this article from his hometown paper:

“I’m really excited. Obviously they have a rich history of basketball, and when I went out for a campus visit I just liked everything about it.”

“Utah State was one of my No. 1 choices. They have a lot of returning missionaries and people coming and going with that so they’re used to it and they know my situation. It’s going to be really good for me because they’re really considerate of my situation.”

The Aggie coaching staff initially hoped to redshirt Berger, but with Norvell Arnold no longer coming to Logan they may have to reconsider their approach. Most likely either Berger or Adam Thoseby will see playing time this coming year.

Here’s a highlight clip from Berger’s senior year in high school:

Adam Thoseby Update

Adam ThosebyGetReading.co.uk posted a nice article on Adam Thoseby’s commitment to Utah State.  Here are a few quotes from Adam on his decision:

“I couldn’t be happier with my decision to go to Utah State – it is an
opportunity of a lifetime.”

“I am really excited to play under coach Stew Morrill, his career at Utah State speaks for itself.”

“I just want to do what is required of me.”

“I know there is a lot to learn, but I’ll be in the perfect environment to do it – Utah State is perfect for any student athlete.”

Welcome to the team Adam!

Runnin’ Utes are Runnin’ Scared

Big Blue Chasing Runnin' Ute

The University of Utah basketball program has given a new meaning to the nickname “Runnin’ Utes”.  After seeing their program fall into the depths of despair under the watch of Jim Boylen the Utes are now “Runnin’ Scared” from 100+ years of basketball tradition by putting a sudden stop to their series with the Utah State Aggies.

This decision comes as no surprise to many Utah State fans.  They’ve seen this before.  In 2006, Utah State’s other in-state rival, the BYU Cougars successfully weaseled their way out of playing Utah State, and successfully avoided the Spectrum for four consecutive years.  They finally returned to Logan after Utah State legend and all-time scorer Jaycee Carroll had graduated and moved on.  Unfortunately for them it didn’t matter.  The Aggies once again made quick work of the Cougars defeating them (Jimmer and all) 71-61 in 2009.

First the Cougars, and now the Utes… What gives?  Here are a few things to consider:

Spectrum Dominance

The Spectrum is a death sentence to virtually every opponent who dares enter.  Since Stew Morrill took the helm at Utah State, the Aggies have amassed a ridiculous home record of 193-13.  Yes.  One hundred and ninety-three wins and a paltry thirteen losses.  In fact, over the last four seasons the Aggies are 68-1 at home including three undefeated seasons.  Their one loss came at the hands of the St. Mary’s Gaels due to some late game heroics.

The Spectrum atmosphere is widely considered as one of the best college basketball atmospheres in the country.  The loudest thing I have ever heard in my life was when Chaz Spicer hit the game winning 3-point shot against Utah on Dec, 6, 2006.  The noise level apparently got to the point where my ears could no longer register the sounds and it all meshed into a surreal eerie silence.  A few years ago against Nevada, former Aggie Stavon Williams said that the Spectrum noise level made him dizzy and forget where he was momentarily after scoring these 8 straight points against the Wolfpack.  Jared Eborn put it best in this article when he called it “ear-splitting thunder” causing press row to literally hold their hands over their ears for minutes at a time to avoid permanent hearing loss.

Records Against In-State Foes

Over the last ten years the Aggies have not lost a single game to an in-state foe in Logan, Utah.  They are a combined 21-0 against BYU, Utah, Weber State, Utah Valley, and Southern Utah.  That includes six straight victories over Weber State, five straight over both BYU and Utah, three straight over Utah Valley, and two straight over Southern Utah.

Recruiting

In recent years the Aggies have not only been competing with, but beating BYU and Utah for in-state recruits.  A great example occurred earlier this year.  After firing Jim Boylen (a great move by the Utes after his repeated failed attempts at being anything more than a steaming hot-head sideshow attempting to lead a crumbling basketball program) the Utes hired Larry Krystkowiak. Larry had a good relationship with Stew Morrill after playing under him at the University of Montana. Upon landing the head coaching job for the Utes Krystkowiak called up Stew for some advice on the lay of the land in the State of Utah Basketball scene. Within one week of this friendly phone call “Coach K” went out and attempted to steal Quicy Bair who had verbally committed to the Aggies nearly a year prior. Bair promptly gave the Utes a “Thanks, but no thanks” and stayed committed to the Aggies. Other examples of players who have been wooed by BYU and Utah but eventually became Aggies are Gary Wilkinson, Tai Wesley, Tyler Newbold, and Brady Jardine. The Utes and Cougars still win a fair share of recruiting battles (mostly the Cougars due to their LDS-based school advantages – see Steven Rogers and Brandon Davies), but the gap has definitely tightened in recent years.

In-state games in the Spectrum against BYU and Utah are recruiting gold-mines for Stew and co. These oft televised games guarantee a rabid, sold out environment, and nearly always end with an Aggie victory.  It’s no secret that Morrill has done all he can to pack the house with his recruits for these games. Nothing like taking your in-state rivals out to the woodshed for an annual beating in front of your prized recruits.

The PAC 12 Dillema

The Utes will be officially entering PAC 12 play this year. This affects the Utah vs. Utah State rivalry for a few reasons.

First, Utah now has two fewer out of conference games to deal with. However, this didn’t stop them from scheduling the likes of San Diego Christian College, Cal State Fullerton, Idaho State, Montana State, and Portland. All at home I might add. That’s REALLY going to help your RPI. At least they will have a shot at amassing some wins. Then again… nothing is guaranteed with the Utes anymore. Remember Southwest Baptist anyone?

Moving to a BCS conference has also affected Utah’s scheduling philosophies. What do most BCS schools do? Play cupcakes at home during OOC play, amass impressive win-loss records, and then start conference play against conference-mates who have done the same. There are few exceptions to this rule. How often have you seen BCS teams come to play in Logan? It’s incredibly hard to talk them into it. They have nothing to win and everything to lose. You would think that Utah would respect the rivalry and have the guts to play the Aggies in Logan. But you would be wrong.

There is only one word that can be used to describe the current “Runnin’ Utes”…

Cowards.

 

(Image created by Jason Wright.)

2014 Recruit Jared Stutzman

Jared StutzmanCoach Stew Morrill and crew got a good look at several recruits last weekend in a huge high school basketball tournament held on the campus of Utah State University. They even looked down the road a few years at a possible future Aggie named Jared Stutzman from Idaho Falls, Idaho.

There were reports in July of last year that Utah State was showing interest even before Jared entered high school. Another report indicated that Jared has made visits to Utah State, BYU, and Boise state. Jared is in the class of 2014 and is considered by some to be at the top of his class in the state of Idaho. He has family ties to both Utah State and BYU, and reportedly wants to play Division 1 ball in the state of Utah.

Jared started as a Freshman this past year for Bonneville High School and playing mainly as a wing. It will be interesting to see the recruiting heat up over the next year or two.  Jared plans to serve an LDS mission, so may actually not play at the next level until the 2016-17 season.  Will Jared follow in the footsteps of fellow Idaho standouts Spencer Nelson (Pocatello) and Brady Jardine (Twin Falls) and suit up in Aggie Blue and Fighting White?

Here are some video clips and local news specials on Stutzman:

Local News Special (Pre-High School)

Local News Highlights (Freshman)

Freshman Year Highlight Video