The season is almost upon us, and one of my favorite yearly publications has hit the press! The Utah Statesman has released their annual Basketball Preview Edition, an entire newspaper dedicated to Aggie Basketball. And this year we have an electronic PDF copy! What could be better?

Check it out by clicking the image to the left.

The 2011-12 Utah State Men’s Basketball Team is ready to roll. The Official Utah State Athletics Site was recently updated with current photos and stats on each player. If you’d like to see a pleasing-to-the eye, one page overview of all the players and their pictures without having to click 17 different links, we’ve also updated our “Pictorial Roster” here at USUStats.com!

Here’s a quick breakdown of what has changed:

Danny Berger – Lost 1 inch and 5 lbs
Mitch Bruneel – No change
Antonio Bumpus – No change
Ben Clifford – Lost 1 inch
David Collette – No change
E.J. Farris – Lost 5 lbs
Morgan Grim – Lost 1 inch, gained 10 lbs
Brady Jardine – No change
Preston Medlin – Gained 5 lbs
Sam Orchard – No change
Brockeith Pane – Lost 1 inch
Igor Premasunac – Lost 1 inch
Kyisean Reed – Lost 1 inch
Jarred Shaw – No change
Jordan Stone – Lost 1 inch
Steven Thornton – Lost 1 inch
Adam Thoseby – No change

Shrinkage
Anyone noticing a trend? The shrinkage continues up in Logan. In years past, new recruits would see a drop in their listed height upon arriving on Logan. Many have attributed this to a strict measuring system. However, this year it’s even wreaking havoc on players who were Aggies last year! Is the water in Logan to blame?

Overall this year’s team shrunk a total of 8 inches, and gained a net of 5 pounds.

Check out the updated roster by clicking below, and feel free to post questions, comments, or predictions on any of the players you see on the roster.

2011-12 Utah State Basketball Pictorial Roster

Also feel free to reminisce and check out the rosters from past seasons by changing the season in the drop down box at the top of the page (once you click the link above).

As the weather gets colder, the leaves begin falling from the trees, and college football is in full swing, that can only mean one thing for Aggie Basketball fans… The season is arriving!!

The Summer Prospectus has been out for a couple of months now, but I decided to break it down a little bit and give my opinion on each position and player for this upcoming year. Here goes:

Point Guards

Brockeith Pane
E.J. Farris
Sam Orchard

This one is easy… Pane will start and Farris will back him up. Barring injury to either of them, walk-on Sam Orchard will redshirt.

Shooting Guards

Antonio Bumpus
Preston Medlin
Danny Berger (will redshirt)

Bumpus (if healthy) and Medlin will play. Barring injuries to other players, Berger will redshirt.

Small Forwards

Mitch Bruneel
Steven Thornton
Adam Thoseby (possible redshirt)

Bruneel will play (likely start). Don’t know what to expect out of Thornton or Thoseby. Wouldn’t be surprised to see a Bumpus/Medlin/Bruneel 3-man rotation on the wing similar to what we had last year with Williams/Newbold/Green. Would be nice to be able to utilize Thornton or Thoseby at times for a little depth .

Power Forwards


Brady Jardine
Kyisean Reed
Igor Premasunac
Morgan Grim
Ben Clifford
David Collette (will redshirt)

Centers

Jordan Stone (possible redshirt)
Jarred Shaw (required redshirt)

Jarred Shaw will be required to sit out this year (and will redshirt) after transferring from Oklahoma State University. So, the only way we play a true center is if Stone plays this year. I’m not sure if he will play, but even if he does, I doubt he will be starting from day one, so we will likely play two PFs as we have done so often in the past. Likely it will be Jardine and Reed. After those two, I really don’t know who will be third in line. We know what to expect from Grim, but I have no idea about Premasunac or Clifford. Of those three, I’m most excited for Clifford. David Collette will redshirt this season.

The lineup possibilities are nearly endless here, especially if Stone plays this year. Here are a couple intriguing ones:

Likely Starting Lineup:
PG – Pane
SG – Medlin
SF – Bruneel
PF – Jardine
PF – Reed

I Bumpus is healthy, it will be a toss-up on who starts at the wing between Medlin/Bruneel/Bumpus. If not, it will be Medlin and Bruneel.

Go Big:
PG – Pane
SG – Medlin
SF – Reed (if Stew lets him see minutes as a wing)
PF – Jardine
C – Stone

Go Small:
PG – Pane
SG – Bumpus
SF – Bruneel
PF – Jardine
PF – Reed

At this time in the summer it is common to be yearning for some more information regarding Aggie hoops. The Official Utah State Athletics site has us covered. They have released the 2011 Men’s Basketball Summer Prospectus. Check it out!

While the official announcement is scheduled for tomorrow, Shawn Harrison of the Herald Journal leaked the majority of the 2011-12 Utah State Basketball Schedule today. The article contains quotes from head coach Stew Morrill, and lists all the games on the schedule.
The details are below:

After seeing team after team abandon ship, the Western Athletic Conference appears to be scrambling to stay afloat. By the end of next season the WAC will have lost Boise State, Nevada, Fresno State, and Hawaii to the Mountain West Conference. In an attempt to counter these losses the WAC has announced the additions of Texas State, University of Texas-San Antonio, Denver, and Seattle. It appears that the WAC isn’t done adding teams either, as there are now rumblings that University of Texas-Arlington has also accepted an invite to the WAC.

What does this mean for Utah State Basketball? Well, their future in the WAC does not look good. Especially considering the affects that this will have on Utah State’s RPI.

The RPI is a tool used to measure a team’s relative strength in comparison to the rest of the teams in the nation. It is instrumental in gaining admission to the NCAA Tournament at the end of each year.  The Aggies have consistently been in the RPI top-100 over the past several years, most of the time falling in the top-50. In fact, they have an average RPI of 38 over the past five years, far and away the best rating in the WAC:

Utah State:

While the past couple of years have seen a down-tick in WAC strength, overall the WAC has been able to produce multiple RPI top-100 teams each season. This has usually provided the Aggies with multiple top-100 opponents and chances at top-100 victories come NCAA Tournament time.

Now, let’s take a closer look at what will happen over the next two years as current WAC members leave and new WAC members arrive. I’ve taken the 5-year RPI average of departing teams versus the announced arrivals. (Source: StatSheet.com)

WAC Departures:

WAC Additions:

The departing squads have averaged an RPI of 152 over the past five years.  Each team has also been in the RPI top-100 at least once over the same time period.

The arriving squads have averaged an RPI of 239 over the past 5 years (Seattle has only been D1 for 2 years).  None of them entered into the top 100, with UT-Arlington coming the closest in 2007-08 at RPI 147.

This turns into a lose-lose situation for the Aggies.  They will now be looking at up to 10 games per season against sub-200 RPI teams.  If you win those games your RPI drops and you pick up a “bad win” in the eyes of the NCAA Committee.  If you lose those games your RPI drops even more and you pick up a dreaded “bad loss”, a serious threat to at-large berth chances.

Will these new WAC members be able to step up their game and provide a meaningful addition to the WAC?  If history is any indication, the answer is no. It’s a good thing that Stew has successfully scheduled some BCS teams over the next few years. His team’s NCAA Tournament Resume will surely need the boost.

Welcome to the brand new USUStats Blog!  Here you will find exclusive blog entries from yours truly.  I will be posting Utah State Basketball related entries in here from time to time and would appreciate your comments.  Thanks for visiting!