It’s that time of year again! Time to try and piece together the team for the upcoming basketball season! We’ve done just that at USUStats.com with our annual “Pictorial Roster“. Check it out by clicking below, and feel free to post questions, comments, or predictions on any of the players you see on the 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).
In case you missed it, here’s a clip from tonight’s ESPN SportsCenter. They had a section about high school basketball buzzer beaters that featured future Aggie Jalen Moore. This video was shown on ESPN2 SportsCenter directly shortly after the game.
UPDATE: Later on ESPN, Jalen made the opening highlights and leading top stories. Here’s that video:
ANOTHER UPDATE: Jalen made #2 on the SportsCenter Top 10 Plays tonight:
We had this video sent to us today, and thought we would share it with Aggie Nation. Rashard Figures is a 6’4″ 195lb shooting guard playing his high school ball at Hackensack High School in New Jersey. He’s currently a Junior (Class of 2014).
Rashad who has offers from Utah State, Rhode Island, St. Joeseph’s, and Seton hall, is known for his long range shooting ability as well as his ability to slash and take the ball to the hoop. Other teams that have shown interest are UConn, Georgetown, USC, St. John’s, Virginia, Maryland, Iona, Depaul, Boston, and Rutgers.
USUStats.com has received word that 2013 Aggie Basketball commits Jalen Moore and Carson Shanks are on an official visit this weekend and will be attending the Utah State vs. Utah football game on Friday night. Also in attendance will be Idaho prep standout Jared Stutzman on an unofficial visit. Moore and Shanks both committed to play for the Aggies last, and will each join the team for the 2013-14 season after completing their senior campaigns this year.
Jalen Moore is a 6-7 (sometimes listed at 6-8) wing player playing in Cache Valley for the Sky View Bobcats. Moore, the son of Aggie great Jimmy Moore is known for his athleticism and scoring ability. He has received high praise this summer after a very good AAU showing with the Utah Pump-N-Run.
Carson Shanks is a 7 foot, 225 lb center from Minnesota playing his high school ball at Prior Lake High School. Shanks received offers from Utah, Nebraska, Colorado State and Northern Iowa before committing to Utah State. He was also receiving interest from several other high major schools.
Jared Stutzman is a 2014 recruit that currently holds offers from Utah State, Utah, Weber State, Idaho State and Portland. He is a wing player with good size that is a very good shooter and scorer. He has been the star at Bonneville High School in Idaho since his freshman year.
Besides these three basketball recruits, there will also be two football recruits in attendance on Friday night in Justin Sweet and Ryan Smith, both out of Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas.
The Utah State vs. Utah game is already sold out and promises to be a very competitive contest. Hopefully the Aggies can give these potential recruits a good show and come out victorious in this year’s Battle of the Brothers.
Read a tweet today that 2014 Aggie recruit Jared Stutzman has received an offer from Portland. The tweet linked this article that lists the following schools that have offered Jared so far:
This year’s Utah Pump-N-Run Squad has been touring the nation participating in national-level AAU tournaments. Much like last year’s squad, Aggie fans have a special interest in tracking the progress of the team as there is an Aggie commit Jalen Moore participating. USUStats.com received word that the team recently completed a tournament in Anaheim, CA where they showed very well and ended up losing in the quarter-finals of the event to the eventual champion. Aggie commit Jalen Moore has been drawing more interest from recruiters around the nation, and much like Tony Jones reported a few weeks ago, more and more people are beginning to agree that he is one of the few players in these tournaments that has NBA potential.
USUStats.com has also received word that Jalen Moore has been identified to be included in the Top 100 Watchlist for the class of 2013. It is unclear which watchlist (whether it be ESPN, MaxPreps, or others), but keep an eye open to see him entering the ranks in the near future.
Jalen’s team, the Utah Pump-N-Run Red 17U squad is currently participating in the Las Vegas LIVE Summer Basketball Tournament and will be facing off against the Arizona Stars tonight. The game is listed at 9:30 p.m. Pacific Time (10:30 p.m. Mountain) and will be streamed live at the following address:
So, who’s excited for this upcoming basketball season? I know I am. One of the main reasons for my excitement goes by the name of “Doc”. Marcel Davis (M.D. aka “Doc”) is the point guard of the future for Utah State Basketball. Stew Morrill got on this kid early, and rightly so. He appears to be the perfect fit as a true point guard for Stew’s system. Doc, one of the highest rated point guards in the west, committed to play basketball for Utah State directly after his sophomore season at American Fork High School. Shortly thereafter, his highly athletic teammate Quincy Bair committed to play for the Aggies as well. Both of them signed their letters of intent on November 11, 2011.
For those of you who are not yet familiar with Marcel’s game, take a look at this brand new highlight video that was provided to me earlier today.
The kid can play. Marcel is a great floor general with a team-first attitude. Yes, he has moved to get to the hoop and score with ease, or knock down the open jumper, but it seems that he gets even more excited by getting his teammates involved and tallying up the assists. The kid is a winner. He is selfless both on and off the court. In a spotlight article in the Salt Lake Tribune, you can read about his life away from the court, and how he has taken his severely autistic little brother under his wing and provided care for him. Much of what Marcel does on the court is in tribute to his little brother.
Things are really looking up for the Aggies folks. We have a great floor general who will be suiting up for us this coming fall, and that’s only one part of the puzzle that makes me excited. His good friend Quincy Bair is also a highly sought after recruit who will provide a much needed athletic presence in coming years. And we haven’t even mentioned our third incoming freshman this year, Montana All-Star Riley Bradshaw. Riley played point guard in high school, but with him and Doc here for the next several years, I expect to see them both on the court at the same time quite a bit. Riley is more of a scoring guard who could probably slide over to the Shooting Guard position, but also provide an incredible point guard when needed as well. I don’t remember a time when I have ever been this excited about an incoming recruiting class. And that’s just the freshman coming in. We also have the California Junior College player of the year Spencer Butterfield joining the squad with his Power Forward teammate Sean Harris. Then there’s yet another Junior College all-american TeNale Roland, and one more J.C. standout from New York, Marvin Jean. Jean is in Vegas this week playing in a Junior College all-star event.
Oh, and in case you need them we have two near seven-footers transfers in the wings as well who should see some serious playing time this coming year. 6-foot-10 Oklahoma State transfer Jarred Shaw and 6-foot-11 La Salle transfer Matt Lopez.
Yes, the future is looking up folks. And we have one year to get everyone on the same page before we leave the crumbling WAC and enter the Mountain West Conference. I think we will be up to the challenge.
For more information on our incoming recruits, check out the Recruits Section of our sister site USUFans.com.
The off-season recruitment activity has taken a jolt forward this morning as word got out that JC transfer guard Spencer Butterfield, the co-player of the year for the state of California, gave a verbal commitment to Utah State. Butterfield played for Yuba City College, and was a teammate of Aggie commit Sean Harris this past season.
Here are some stats on Butterfield from this year at Yuba:
Points: 16.3
Rebounds: 8.3
Assists: 3.1
Turnovers: 1.6
Steals: 1.7
FG%: .543
3FG%: .482
FT%: .812
Spencer can definitely shoot the rock, and likes to slash to the hoop, although he has developed his outside shot and has concentrated more of his game on the perimeter this past year. His rebound proficiency is also quite amazing for a 6-3 guard. Brings back some memories of Jared Quayle and Jaycee Carroll. Butterfield led Yuba to their first ever state championship game where they fell shot to Fresno City.
Butterfield was a highly recruited football player coming out of Del Oro high school in California, but decided he wanted to pursue basketball instead. He spent two years at Yuba, and will have three years to play two at Utah State.
Butterfield held offers from Utah State, Utah, Hawaii, Pacific, UC Riverside, and San Jose State. Other PAC 12 schools were reportedly also showing interest.
Butterfield is reportedly an excellent student, maintaining a 3.9 GPA in high school and a 3.8 GPA at Yuba.
Here’s a highlight video of Butterfield from his high school days:
There are also several full Yuba games on youtube:
If you haven’t had a chance to see Marcel Davis and Quincy Bair in live action, you will have a chance tonight. Aggie recruits Marcel Davis and Quincy Bair will be competing for the 5A South team at the annual Utah High School Basketball Coaches Association Boys Senior All-Star event. The 5A game will tip off at 8:00 p.m. at West Jordan High School.
American Fork High School will not only be represented by Davis and Bair, but also Zac Hunter and Austin Waddoups. West Jordan High School is sending three players including Jordan Pryor, and former USU recruits Jordan Loveridge and Jaden Jackson. No other 5A school is sending more than two players to the game.
The 5A South team will be coached by Lone Peak coach Quincy Lewis, while the 5A North squad will be coached by Brighton coach Jeff Gardner.
Class 5A Rosters
North (home): Zach Wertz, Brighton; Jordan Loveridge, Jaden Jackson and Jordan Pryor, West Jordan; Isaiah Tademy, Granger; Karson Casteel, Northridge; Tyson Denney, and Jace Johnson, Davis; Brock Smith, Fremont; Haden Heath, Viewmont.
South (visitor): Cody Benson, Bingham; D McCleary, Riverton; Brody Berry, Lone Peak; Jarett Anderson and Dub Price, Alta; Colton Colledge, Lehi; Marcel Davis, Austin Waddoups, Quincy Bair and Zac Hunter, American Fork.
For more information on tonight’s other all-star games see this Daily Herald article.
Stutzman is averaging close to 22 points per game to go along with 8 rebounds per game this year. He plans to play with the heralded Utah Pump-N-Run squad this summer.
Jared was also named the athlete of the week by his local TV station. You can watch the segment on Jared at LocalNews8.com.
