Seeing the team to Victory
Aggie fans, it’s time for you to meet your 2000-2001 USU men’s basketball coaching staff.
Hailing from Provo and in his 26th year of coaching – Head coach Stew Morrill.
An assistant coach from Algona, Iowa, in his 16th season – Randy Rahe.
In his 12th year of coaching, hailing from Roseville, Calif., – assistant coach Don Verlin.
And entering his 17th year of coaching, from Long Beach, Calif., – Mark Arce.
Morrill, Rahe and Verlin have a solid history of coaching together. Rahe and Verlin worked under Morrill at Colorado State University for 10 and eight years, respectively. All three coaches made their way to USU three years ago.
Morrill chose to come to USU for many reasons. Being a Utah native, he said it was a good opportunity to be near his siblings and his mother, who currently resides in West Valley City.
“I’d been gone for a long time,” Morrill said. “It was a ‘coming home’ of sorts for me.”
Morrill also said he had been at CSU for seven years and felt it was time for a change.
“The timing of it all just fit together,” he said.
Morrill said it was very important to him that he keep his coaching staff in tact.
“They understand how I want to run a program,” Morrill said. “They are hard workers … good coaches and good people. It would have been a daunting task to try to train a new coaching staff.”
Arce certainly didn’t come to USU two years ago as a new kid on the block. Arce said his relationship with the other coaches goes way back.
“I’ve known these guys for a long time. I’m good friends with them.”
Together, the four coaches have formed a staff that Morrill says creates a positive environment for both himself and the team.
“They’ve been with me for so long that they know me better than I know me. They know my quirks, my moods and all that goes into coaching,” Morrill said. “The kids are real comfortable with the assistant coaches. They like them and trust them and know they can go to them.”
A lot of work goes into preparing for game day. Each coach has a specific area of responsibility in order to ensure the team is ready for the competition. Verlin heads the offense, Rahe is in charge of defense and Arce takes care of on-campus recruiting.
“Coach Morrill is very into preparing our team well,” Rahe said. “We want our team, when they step out on the court, to know what they need to do and not be surprised by anything.”
Preparation begins with one of the assistant coaches watching three or four game films of the opposing team. Then they all meet as a staff.
“We try to figure out what [the opposing team is] doing offensively and defensively,” Rahe said. “We decide how we want to guard and how we want to attack them.”
Next, Verlin coaches the scout team. The scout team runs the opposing team’s offense in practice in order to give the other members of the Aggie team the opportunity to get a feel for the opponent.
“Once we have our game plan, and the scout team’s prepared, and our highlight tape is done, then we prepare our team,” Rahe said. “All that takes place two or three days in advance.”
The coaches and the team put in long hours on game day, especially away games.
“Game day is like a 13 hour day for us,” Arce said.
Rahe said a good chemistry exists among the staff and the coaches have a common goal in winning.
“Coach Morrill is a very down-to-earth person. He’s won a lot of basketball games, but you wouldn’t know it. He is very into the staff not having any egos,” Rahe said. “When we win, we win as a staff. When we lose, we lose as a staff.”
Morrill is just as complimentary toward his assistants as they are toward him.
“These guys are like gold,” Morrill said.
The camaraderie among the coaches, in addition to talented players, has allowed the Aggie basketball team to achieve several school records in the past three years. There is no doubt in many fans’ minds that this coaching staff will leave a legacy of coaching some of the most successful basketball teams in USU history.