Seniors bid farewell
For seniors Cardell Butler, Mark Brown, Mike Ahmad and Chad Evans, Saturday night’s victory over Cal State Fullerton marked the final home game of their careers.
“It was a great way to send the seniors out,” Utah State Head Coach Stew Morrill said. “The crowd was awesome. It was just a good night for the Aggies.”
Butler, in particular, made good on his final opportunity to wow the home crowd, scoring a career-high 31 points, including 8-of-10 shooting from three-point territory.
“When I was at Montana and Colorado State, our seniors would get real foggy on senior night,” Morrill said. “It turned into kind of a funeral. Here we’ve always said it was a good thing. It needs to be celebrated. They were excited to finish and I think the whole team was excited to play well for the seniors.”
As he was called to the bench for the final time, Butler bent over and kissed the floor at midcourt.
“I’ve been here for three years,” Butler said, “and I’ve done so much -not just basketball, but growing up, period.
In two years playing at USU, Butler has scored 626 points and has recorded 38 steals. Over his two-year career as an Aggie, Brown has led the team on the floor with 270 assists and 508 points.
Ahmad, a transfer from Irvine Valley Junior College has pulled down 175 rebounds in two years at Utah State. Evans, an Ogden product, has scored 242 points and grabbed 209 rebounds in his four years in Logan.
Prior to the game’s start all four sneior athletes were honored for their accomplishments during their time at USU.
“These guys are unbelieveable – great teammates, great people,” junior Spencer Nelson said of the seniors. “You couldn’t ask for better leadership. They went out the right way tonight.”
-acf@cc.usu.edu