Grim gets last laugh against Utes
Utah State’s win over the University of Utah on the eve of Thanksgiving looks to be the last laugh for either team given the uncertainty surrounding the future of the in-state rivalry. That game also served as a last laugh for USU junior forward Morgan Grim, who has found himself on both sides of that rivalry over the past four years.
Considering the road that led Grim to Utah State, the Aggies’ 79-62 win was especially sweet.
“I loved it,” Grim said of the chance to play against his former team and coach. “I was waiting for that game every day since I first moved.”
The reasons for that move occurring in the first place are what had Grim circling that date on his calendar.
Coming out of high school, Grim’s commitment to the University of Utah was immediately put to the test. He was fresh off being named Mr. Basketball in the state of Utah, and the 5A Most Valuable Player had just led his Riverton High School team to a second straight appearance in Utah’s 5A state championship game. Grim’s stock heading into college couldn’t have been higher, but his mind was made up going into his senior year. Grim was going to play for head coach Ray Giacoletti and the Utah Utes.
“Out of high school, I liked my coach at Utah,” Grim said. “I wanted to stay in Utah and close to my house.”
With those factors in mind, playing for the Utes was almost an obvious choice for Grim.
Then things got complicated.
Giacoletti, the coach that Grim had committed to at Utah, resigned after two sub par seasons. Utah hired Jim Boylen to replace Giacoletti as head coach. Remaining on staff, however, was one of Utah’s assistants who played a key role in recruiting Grim. That was none other than former Utah and current USU assistant coach Chris Jones.
Despite entertaining the idea of reopening his recruitment in light of the coaching change, Grim remained committed to Utah and to play for Boylen.
“When coach Boylen came on, Morgan stayed with us and committed to us and we were committed to him,” Jones said.
For the next two years though, Grim was buried on the bench, never earning favor from Boylen. He appeared in 26 games during his freshman season at Utah, playing just more than five minutes per contest and averaging just 0.9 points per game.
The next season didn’t see much more opportunity for Grim either, as he checked into only 16 games and played fewer minutes as a sophomore than he did as a freshman.
Grim’s search for a better fit for him began after that.
“The system just didn’t fit Morgan and Morgan didn’t fit their system or their need and so it was just kind of a mutual decision that he move on,” Jones said.
Jones, who had departed Utah after Grim’s freshman season to join head coach Stew Morrill’s staff at Utah State, kept in contact with Grim when he was granted his release from Utah, and made for an easy choice for Grim’s next destination to play college basketball.
“After you get released, your name goes out and the whole recruiting process starts over again,” Grim said. “But I pretty much knew I was coming here.”
Jones is sure Grim’s choice to come to Utah State was a good one, even if it was a bit belated.
“Morgan was made for the Utah State system,” Jones said. “He should have come here out of high school. It would have been a better system for him basketball-wise.”
Better late then never, though. Grim started his Utah State career with a bang, scoring nine points, pulling down seven rebounds and blocking two shots – all career highs – in his first game as an Aggie. A start that is especially impressive considering how little basketball he’s played since high school.
“What’s hard for Morgan is basically he didn’t play basketball for three years, because his first two years at Utah he played minimal minutes and then he had to sit out all of last year,” Jones said. “So for three years, he didn’t really play a lot and that’s hard. Now he’s coming in and without Nate (Bendall) here he’s playing 15 to 20 minutes a game.”
All of this looks like a tremendous upgrade for Grim when comparing the two programs he has been a part of. Even though he was not allowed to play due to NCAA transfer rules, Grim was part of last season’s Western Athletic Conference champion Aggies while his former team struggled to a 14-17 record.
A losing record was not the only problem for the Utes, though, as Grim suddenly looked like a trendsetter for his team. A year after Grim’s departure, five more players from Utah’s team, including two starters and the team’s two leading scorers, also transferred away from the program. It’s a mass exodus that Grim says he saw coming.
“Coaching styles and different kinds of players don’t mix,” Grim said of his and the other five players’ departures. “I was the first one to be brave enough to leave and then once the new guys got a second year of the same thing then they probably just decided to leave too, but I can’t speak for them.”
As it stands though, Grim is pleased with where he has landed in his career, and is making the most of the opportunity to contribute to a team with as high of expectations as this year’s Utah State team. Even with his productive start to the season, Jones, the coach who has been with Grim the longest of any member of the staff believes that Grim’s production thus far is just the tip of the iceberg.
“We need him to be good for us,” Jones said. “I think he’s going to keep getting better and better for us.”
– matt.sonnenberg@aggiemail.usu.edu