Utah State Hoopsters Face High Expectations

It's hard to think of the 2002-03 Utah State men's basketball team without attaching high expectations.

The Aggies are returning three starters and eight letterwinners from a team that finished 23-8 last year, tying for first in Big West Conference.

USU eventually fell to the University of California Santa Barbara in the league championship but did have the opportunity to host a national invitation tournament game.

Utah State will also have four players who sat out last season and four newcomers, eager to help USU make a run toward its fourth-straight 20-win season and fourth-straight trip to postseason play.

If both feats were accomplished, it would create new school records.

"I'm apprehensive about some things regarding the 2002-03 season, but I'm also very excited about some things," said Utah State Head Coach Stew Morrill in the basketball media guide. "We have the potential to be a very athletic group and cause some problems for our opponents with our athleticism."

The Aggies will be without the services of Tony Brown, Brennan Ray, Jeremy Vague, Thomas Vincent and Kevin Williams.

Brown, Ray and Vague used up their eligibility, while Vincent and Williams opted not to return to the team.

"We've got a long way to go to be the team Coach Morrill wants us to be and to be the team that we want to be," said USU forward Desmond Penigar. "We're just going to take practice each day at a time and try to get better."

Shooting guard

Things are already a little crazy for the Aggies up front as returning starter Ronnie Ross earned himself a two-game suspension to begin the season.

Ross did not make the trip to Illinois for the Aggies' opening game and will miss Tuesday's game against Whitman College because of an undisclosed "violation of team rules."

When he is able to suit up though, Ross will see most of his time at shooting guard, a position he is more comfortable at, but he will still be used as the primary backup at the point.

Last season, he averaged 7.1 points and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 36 percent from the floor and 32 percent from behind the arc. The Aggies are not limited on their choices at the position. Sophomore Mike Stowell (0.9 ppg, 0.8 rpg) saw limited action at shooting guard and small forward last season.

Junior college transfer Greg Patton will also look to contribute up top for USU. He averaged 10.3 points, 4.2 assists and 3.0 rebounds as a sophomore at Northeastern JC in Colorado.

Transfer Mark Brown looks to be a solid contribution for the Aggies. Brown led Saddleback Junior College to a state championship his sophomore season and 66-7 record in his two-year campaign.

The 5-foot-10 Brown was named MVP of his conference both of his seasons, averaging 15 points and 4.8 assists as a sophomore.

He started his work early at Utah State, scoring 19 points in the Aggies' 68-53 win over Illinois State Saturday in his Division 1-A debut.

Brown struggled hitting his shots during exhibition, but said he was just happy things were going his way against the Redbirds.

The JC transfer has already been compared to the likes of former Aggie Bernard Rock. Rock, who called in to the KVNU postgame radio show Saturday, said he is impressed by Brown.

"He just proved that he has great potential to be an awfully good player at this level," Morrill said following the season opener.

Brown will likely be backed up by Calvin Brown (1.1 ppg, 1.7 apg) and Ross in some cases.

The Aggies find themselves in an interesting situation, returning senior Toranio Johnson and junior Chad Evans, each having entertained the starting job last season.

Evans (4.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg) started the first 17 games of the season while Johnson (4.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg) closed out the year.

Each player will likely receive a good amount of playing time, but JC transfer Cardell Bulter could mix things up a bit.

Butler, who averaged 10.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore at the College of Southern Idaho, recorded nine points Saturday in Illinois.

The 6-foot-4 junior also adds a little pizzazz to the game and he has an assortment of dunks stored away.

"He's explosive," Morrill said. "He's learning. Cardell is fun to coach because he's just trying to take it all in."

Another junior college transfer, John Neil, will redshirt this season after serving a mission in Venezuela for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Possibly the most talented player in the Big West Conference, Penigar looks to be the big man on the team now that Tony Brown has used up his eligibility.

The senior earned first-team all-league honors as a junior in his first season as an Aggie and finished the year leading the team in scoring and rebounding.

Joining Penigar will be redshirts from last season freshman Nate Harris and sophomore Spencer Nelson.

Harris, a former Sky View High School star, began his career on a rocky note Saturday, as he saw only two minutes of action. He sprained his ankle toward the end of practice Friday and Morrill said he didn't want to stress it too much because he needs Harris in Hawaii.

Nelson, the comic relief of the team, hasn't played basketball at USU since the 1998-99 season (serving a mission and redshirting in between). He looks to be a positive attribute to the team, especially picking up the rebounds.

Even though the Aggies lost starting center Vague, the position still looks to be a solid one.

Senior Mike Puzey will get most of the playing time. He sat out last season after transferring from the University of Utah.

Junior college transfer Ian McVey, who averaged 17.5 points. 11.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game as a sophomore at Fergus Falls Junior College in Minnesota, will redshirt this season.

Senior Mike Ahmad (3.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg) will likely redshirt this season as well. He did not play in Saturday's game against Illinois State.

"I'll just be glad when that decision is done so [the media] can quit asking about it and I can quit worrying about it," Morrill said. "When it's done, it's done."

Morrill said if Ahmad were in the lineup right now he would only receive about eight minutes of action per game, something the coach views as "a waste."

He said although he has always been the tallest player on his teams, except at USU, this is the first time he will be playing the position.

"Hopefully, I can out-hustle most other guys," he said. "That is how I will get an advantage there."

The only chance Aggie fans will have to see their team before the Dec. 17 game against Utah comes Tuesday as Whitman College comes to the Spectrum.

Morrill said he hopes to see all of the seats in the Sepectrum filled with blue, even if it is a university break.

After the game against the Missionaries, Utah State will head to Hawaii to participate in the Hilo Shootout with Drake (Friday), Vermont (Saturday) and Hilo (Sunday) over Thanksgiving weekend.

The Aggies will also be on the road at Jackson State (Dec. 7) and BYU (Dec. 14).

"We have a lot more road games than I would like, but those types of challenges will hopefully help us grow as we head into the league season," Morrill said.

Morrill said Utah State's schedule is ranked higher than any other team in the Big West Conference.

By Julie Ann Grosshans; juag@cc.usu.edu
Photo by John Zsiray