The state of the WAC on Saturday

 When can we get back to focusing on current players, recruiting prospects and the like?

Yikes. Ferd Lewis has a long memory and brings together two disparate moments -- one current and the other from 2002 -- in UH and Fresno State athletics. Go here.

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 Thank you to PackBlue at the Silver and Blue Sports Sports Forum for discovering this -- a Twitter account featuring a faux Karl Benson. Go here and have some laughs, which we need now more than ever.

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Getting serious, it appears (who knows what passes for reality at this point) Utah State is seriously exploring joining the Mountain West Conference.

Here are some 14, 15 hour old tweets from Jared Eborn/Deseret News:

A source close to the USU administration tells the Deseret News Utah State is actively negotiating a berth in MWC with WAC falling apart

and

That source at USU says the MWC will expand, again, to 12 teams if BYU can be persuaded to stay in MWC for non-football sports

and

Any conference move for USU depends on BYU's decision on FB indy status. Nothing will happen before Monday at earliest 

and

To be clear, that source says nothing impending, but that is the goal of current negotiations for USU.

Plus, Tony Jones has an Aggieville article here on this subject and more.

Utah State scouting on the East Coast

Utah State received a mention in Scout's Evan Daniels report on the National Prep School Invitational currently taking place in Kingston, Rhode Island.

The Aggies had an assistant (unidentified) checking out the talent. No other WAC schools were mentioned.

Go here to read the full post and a Scout sub is required.

A Nevada and Utah State mention with a Chicago prospect

Is Utah State, with Brockeith Payne set to sign a letter-of-intent, really interested in a second junior college transfer at the point? As for Nevada, he could be in the plans if Armon Johnson decides to try the NBA after this season. However, both seemingly will have really select company for this young man's services. Brian Stinnette -- aka Mr. Chicago Basketball -- has the details.

Former Chicago Simeon Star Lazeric Jones Of Juco Powerhouse John A. Logan College Continuing To See His Recruiting Stock Fly High
Brian Stinnette
October 27, 2009

Former Chicago Simeon star Lazeric Jones of John A. Logan College is seeing his recruiting stock flying high on the heels of a strong summer, and a very strong jamboree run this fall. Jones has now established himself as one of the top junior college prospects in the country.

Jones, a 6'2", 200-pound point guard, is a superb floor leader who excels both with his ability to score, and also with his ball-distribution skills...

...Wisconsin has already been in to see Jones. Oklahoma made inquiries after watching him put on a show at a juco jamboree. Baylor and UCLA have also made active inquiries, with UCLA expected in to see him this week. Nevada, UIC and Utah State are all also among a long line of programs that have let it be known that they are serious about the former Simeon star...

Go here for the remainder.

Utah State doesn't look good on this one

Credit Victoria Sun for uncovering this -- it's an article at West Coast Hoops Report (registration required but it's free to access content) on Utah State's recruitment of southern California backcourter Vaughn Autry.

Here's a snippet -- after USU offered and the plan was for Autry to visit the campus the weekend of an Aggie football game, the relationship went south:

"I kind of realized before it happened because they stopped e-mailing me and I called just to check periodically, like once a week and they didn't answer my phone calls or call me back," said Vaughn, who was named to the all-C.I.F. and the Daily Breeze's all-area team as a junior. "From there, my dad handled it."

After numerous attempts, Steve said he finally reached one of the assistant coaches, who infuriated him further by saying he never offered Vaughn a scholarship.

"I said, you're a liar," Steve recalled. "Just tell me you had other plans...

Go the the site, register and then click on Latest News to access the Autry article headline and click on it.

A new Utah State sports blog

We were just notified of a new Utah State sports blog -- True Blue Aggie

It's operated by Scott Ficklin and will soon be morphing into a new address and we'll update you when that happens.

We all say the more the merrier and the better for the WAC.

CORRECTION: Walker visiting USU

My bad: Los Alamitos backcourter James Walker is tripping to Utah State. Sorry for the gun jumping.

Gut level sense: he will end up in Logan.

Let's see.

Utah State gets a commit

We're not sure if anything has been posted as yet on the 'net but we understand that Los Alamitos backcourter James Walker has given a verbal to Utah State.

Here is an ESPN August, 2009 evaluation of the 6-foot-1 Walker.

SCOUT describes him as "bouncy athlete with good length and upside. Decent shooter, overall ball skills are solid. Likely mid major prospect with a chance to go higher."

Here is a very short YouTube spoof video featuring Walker.

He was named the most valuable player in the Sunset league last season. It appears he is more of a scorer than a point -- or at least that's what he has accomplished in high school to date.

Here are a series of 26 photos of Walker at the Maxpreps site.

Bryce Webster resurfaces

Here's a 'Land of Ten Thousand Lakes' kid who played a year at Minnesota then left for a season at Irvine Valley JC in southern California and eventually signed with Utah State.

But something came up and he departed from college basketball before ever playing a game in Logan. It seems he remained at Irvine Valley.

Now, he appears to have popped up again, this time committed to Cal State Fullerton of the Big West Conference.

Ex-Gopher Bryce Webster to Ink with Fullerton
Chris Monter
October 30, 2008

Bryce Webster, a 6-9, 240-pound big man who attended St. Thomas Academy before signing with Minnesota, will sign with Cal Fullerton in the early signing period, according to sources close to the program. Webster was granted his request to be released from his scholarship last August by head coach Tubby Smith. Webster played last year at Irvine Valley CC and signed with Utah State in the fall...

Go here for the remainder and it doesn't appear any subscription is required.
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Brandon Davies chooses BYU -- Logan, Utah still standing

If this surprises anyone then such individuals must have either been living in a cave or just emerged from a coma.

This being the announcement that Brandon Davies has selected BYU as his school of choice. As usual, Jay Drew has all the details.

Provo's Davies commits to BYU
Jay Drew
Salt Lake City Tribune
Ocotber 12, 2008

Provo High's Brandon Davies, the top big man in the state, is headed to BYU.

Davies, the 6-foot-8 power forward/center who helped lead Provo to the 4A state championship last spring, orally committed to BYU coach Dave Rose on Sunday morning.

Davies gave me the news via telephone a few minutes ago, and said he committed in Rose's office at the Marriott Center after making his official campus visit this weekend...

Go here for the remainder.

A silly and unproductive USU dustup

Conflict is inevitable when we lead with our egos and that's exactly what is happening between the Utah State sports administration and an unofficial Aggie sports fan site.

There are multiple accounts of this battle all over the 'net but here's one.

USU Aggies blog
Come watch the Aggies, but leave your camera at home
Jared Eborn
DeseretNews.com blogger
September 19, 2008

Strange things are happening at Utah State.

In what looks like an effort to chase off the few remaining fans of the football team, USU is telling people they can not take high-quality pictures of the football team. The fear, apparently, is those pictures will eventually be posted on personal blogs, websites or message boards.

Aggie administrators have decided cameras with detachable lenses are against the rules unless the person using them has a media credential. That means the parents and friends of Aggie athletes are forbidden from bringing much more than a point-and-shoot camera into USU athletic facilities.

The new policy is this:

Utah State University is dedicated to providing an exciting and memorable guest experience, while ensuring their safety and security. The following policy sets forth certain photography rules for attending any USU event and applies to all guests....

Go here for the remainder.

Here's another link with all the history behind the squabble. Scroll down the KVNU site for numerous articles all about this and bookmark this one is you're looking for thorough Aggie coverage.

Here's another link to a Logan Herald Journal article worth reading.

May saner minds prevail.

Utah State to get a visit from Brandon Davies

IN an AW Prince/Rivals article on-line today, it's mentioned that Utah prepster Brandon Davies just completed a weekend recruiting visit to Cal. Plus, straight from the 6-9 Davies is that he will be tripping to Gonzaga next weekend, followed by visits to Utah State and hometown BYU.

We obviously have no insight into what Davies and his family are thinking so, with that proviso, it's going to be hard to top the hometown school (he is of the LDS faith), a PAC-10 program with a major need for bigs (and his game is very similar to a number of the post players Mike Montgomery had at Stanford) and the 'owner' of the West Coast Conference.

Supposedly, Utah and Santa Clara have also offered but there was no mention of them in today's article. Davis does need to up his ACT score but not by much.

Davies has previously set the end of October as the time to make his choice and he wants to sign in November. The talk has been that he would play two seasons before fulfilling his LDS mission duty.

Bryce Webster commits to Utah State

Stew Morrill is definitely serious about never having to play with an undersized center in the paint.

Along with JC transfer Gary Wilkinson and Ohio State transfer Brayden Bell and with Modu Niang, an African kid by way of Japan in reserve, Morrill has landed another big boy.

6-9 240 Bryce Webster, formerly at Minnesota and playing this year in California at Irvine Valley Junior College, has agreed to come to Logan next season.

Webster was a much gloried player as a Minnesota prepster but failed to make much of a dent last season and asked for his release from incoming Coach Tubby Smith.

Here's a link to an article about this from Martin Renzhofer of the Salt Lake City Tribune.

A preview of Utah State men's basketball 2007-2008

Hasn't shooting guard Jaycee Carroll been attached at the hip to Stew Morrill for about a decade now? Seriously, Carroll is 24 but will be entering his final Western Athletic Conference (WAC) go-around in the 2007-2008 season. Look for him to also finally receive the conference most valuable player award.

Carroll was first in the WAC and 10th in the nation scoring with 21.3 ppg., and first in the WAC and 12th in the nation in free throw shooting at 88.8%. He also led the league in three-point shooting at 43%, was fifth in overall shooting at 52%, and was 12th in the league in rebounding with 6.3 boards per game.

But it won't be Carroll and a decent group of role players representing the Aggies in the upcoming season--as it was in 2006-2007. Under-sized Stephen DuCharme, at maybe 6-7, was the man patrolling the middle for Utah State last year and he'll be moving to power forward.

Morrill now will have three large, strong 'bigs' at his disposal in Gary Wilkinson, Brayden Bell and Modu Niang.

Wilkinson is a 6-8 240 stud down low and may very well find himself a first-team All-WAC selection at season's end. He's strong and relentless in the paint and will be at the free throw line 10-12 times a game.The Utah native Bell is a bounceback transfer from Ohio State. At 6-9 240, he's still raw but will be another banger in the paint. Bell also surprisngly displays nice touch and range on his shot but don't expect Morrill to be calling his number for 20-foot jumpers.

Niang is a Senegal native who somehow ended up in Japan for high school. He'll probably be redshirted unless a frontcourt injury bug hits the Aggies.

Granted, the underrated and steady graduated duo of small forward Chaz Spicer and wing Durrall Peterson will be missed but an offense refocused on frontcourt scoring, combined with Carroll's offensive firepower, just needs other role players to step up.

Here's Utah State's roster for next season as returnees and what they offer:

Nick Hammer 6-6 205 guard senior. An effective spot up, catch-and-shoot marksmen.

Kris Clark 6-2 180 guard senior.146 assists last season --- best in the WAC --- versus 66 turnovers, he stumbled a bit at the point early in the season but his scoring and passing picked up as the year progressed.

Jaycee Carroll 6-2 175 guard senior. What more can be said about Carroll?

Brayden Bell 6-9 240 center sophomore. Initially, Bell will probably be Wilkinson's backup.

Stephen DuCharme 6-7 230 forward senior. 10.2 ppg. 5.1 rpg. 54% from the floor last season, he actually has decent range on his shot and should find himself playing out of the paint more than in it.

Here are two signees who just completed their LDS missions and are returning to the team. Both will need to first get their basketball 'legs' back:

Tai Wesley 6-6 230 forward freshman. Back from LDS mission, was Mr. Basketball in Utah two years ago, initially a role player, is smart, tough and tenacious.

Tyler Newbold 6-4 190 shooting guard freshman. Back from LDS mission, he's a very good leaper and outside shooter.

Here's the new Utah State signees:

Gary Wilkinson -- 6-9, 240 center/power forward Salt Lake Community College junior college A well-deserved junior college All-American last season, Wilkinson averaged 18.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, shooting 60% from the field and 74% from the foul line. He ranked third in the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) and 38th in the nation in scoring, and was first in the conference in rebounding

Deundrae Spraggins -- 6-3, 180 guard/forward Paris Junior College. Possibly a Durrall Peterson look and play-alike, Spraggins averaged 11.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists a contest, shooting 52.8% from the field, 44.4% from three-point range, and 84% from the free throw line -- look for Morrill to turn to Spraggins early on.

Desmond Stephens -- 5-9, 150 guard Southeastern Illinois Junior College. Stephens is an extremely quick, good-shooting backcourter. He averaged 17.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.2 steals per game, while shooting 50.5% from the field, 51.6% from three-point range, and 75% from the free throw line Stephens will help when starting point Kris Clark is matched up against a smaller, quicker opponent.

Modu Niang -- 6-9 235 center high school, Japan. Apparently, very few people have actually seen Niang play but he's described as athletic despite his size and bulk.

Pooh Williams -- 6-5 190 wing/shooting guard freshman high school Washington. An excellent shooter, he shot 41% on 3's in high school, 58% overall (but is probably a redshirt candidate.

Jaxon Myaer ---5-9 170 high school, Utah. A tough little guy who will walk-on and probably redshirt his first season.

Morrill has led the Aggies to eight straight 23-win seasons (23-12 last year) and eight straight postseason appearances (5 NCAA, 3 NIT). Don't expect this to change now. Granted, a number of new players need to be worked into the rotation but the backcourt is pretty much set and the frontcourt has very solid candidates who should be able to step in and help out immediately.

As for a starting five, it will be Jaycee Carroll and Kris Clark in the backcourt, Gary Wilkinson in the middle, and probably Stephen DuCharme and newcomer Deundrae Spraggins.

We have to go with the Utah State Aggies as the team to beat in 2007-2008. Morrill played NMSU very close last season and the Logan-ites have amply added talent.