Monday, April 23, 2012

Utah State -- a mix of change and continuity

Utah State hoops equals change in 2012.

Actually, make that more change.

But the more matters change, the more they stay the same. 

Brady Jardine, Brockeith Pane and Morgan Grim are done.

EJ Farris, Adam Thoseby, Mitch Bruneel and Igor Premasunac were not tendered return invites.

Such an amount of goings is usually the change that takes place when a new coach takes over, brings out the chainsaw and does some clear cutting. 

But remember that last season it was four starters in Tyler Newbold, Pooh Williams, Tai Wesley, Nate Bendall, plus Brian Green, all completing their respective eligibility. So did Matt Formisano while James Walker transferred.

So half a new roster, for various reasons, seems to be the norm -- at least the past couple of seasons for USU.

With the dust apparently cleared, who will don the Aggie uniform come the new season?

Freshman forward David Collette is heading out on his LDS mission.

The Candidates (as of today)
 
* Quincy Bair, freshman, 6-foot-5, 180

* Danny Berger, junior, 6-foot-6, 175

* Riley Bradshaw, freshman, 6-foot-2, 180

* Spencer Butterfield, junior, 6-foot-3, 205

* Ben Clifford, sophomore, 6-foot-7, 215 (apparently not on a schollie)

* Marcel Davis, freshman, 6-foot-2, 180

* Sean Harris, junior, 6-foot-7, 220

* Marvin Jean, junior, 6-foot-5, 190

* Matt Lopez, sophomore, 6-foot-11,24

* Preston Medlin, junior, 6-foot-4, 175

* Sam Orchard, freshman, 6-foot-1, 175 (a walk-on)

* Kyisean Reed, senior, 6-foot-6, 215

* TeNale Roland, sophomore, 6-foot-1, 165

* Jarred Shaw, junior, 6-foot-10, 235

* Jordan Stone, sophomore, 6-foot-10, 270 

What makes all this movement even more fascinating is that Stew Morrill's system isn't the easiest to quickly pick up, typically meaning a degree of continuity is usually needed in order to be continue on with the success.

Not so in Logan.

Yes, this most recent season wasn't typical for the Aggies but it was successful and such was also accomplished minus Brady Jardine, the top USU frontcourter.

The Aggie roster changes mightily but the W-L record stays very positive.

How does Stew Morrill do it?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sam Orchard is leaving on a mission and most likely won't be on the team when he gets back