Basketball Preview: Meet the new meat
This year’s Utah State men’s basketball roster has four players getting their first taste of basketball on the collegiate level in Deremy Geiger, Skyler Halford, Dominique Cooks and Brady Jardine. While all four players enter the program with impressive resumes from their high-school playing days, each of them are now facing their fair share of challenges in adjusting to the rigors of college basketball, not to mention the pressure of high expectations from coach carrying the type of accolades that head coach Stew Morrill can boast.
“It’s a lot different than any other high school practice I’ve ever been, that’s for sure,” Halford said. “It’s a lot more mentally draining than I’ve ever noticed in my life in any type of basketball situation. Your mental part is almost more than the physical part focusing on it.”
Jardine said, “It’s a whole new atmosphere. It’s something I’m not used to, but I love it.”
As is the case with most freshman early-on, their roles are not yet defined on the team. Halford said that for the time-being he’s trying to do whatever he can to improve and make sure he’s helping the team in any way he can.
“It’s just a whole new level of toughness and you’ve got to step up to it and learn that you’re going to take some shots, you’re going to get beat up a little bit, you’re going to get tired, but you’ve got to keep going,” he said.
This year’s freshman are ready to face the similar challenges those that every player has faced in trying to make their impact at USU.
Deremy Geiger
Geiger is a 5-foot-10-inch point guard who coaches say is a very bright kid and picks things up really well.
Assistant coach Tim Duryea said, “Deremy is gifted with his speed and he does a really good job of naturally leading his team.”
Geiger was named Most Valuable Player of his region during his senior year at Canyon Springs High School in Las Vegas where he led his team to a 22-7 record. He averaged 25 points, 6.1 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game in his senior season while making just under 50 percent of his field goals on the year. He was also named the Most Valuable Player of Nevada’s Senior All-Star game.
“He wants to make other people better,” Duryea said. “He’s not running around looking for his own shot all the time. Although he can shoot the ball, he’s looking to make other people better and to put other people in position to score.”
Brady Jardine
Jardine begins his first year at USU after returning home from a two-year church mission in San Antonio.
“Brady is a guy that’s blessed with tremendous athleticism,” Duryea said. “He’s very vertical as far as how he gets off the floor. He’s got some strength and athleticism beyond his years.”
Jardine, a 6-foot-7-inch forward, was named as the 2006 Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Idaho in senior year at Twin Falls High School. He averaged 17 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.8 blocks per game during that season in which he helped lead his team to a 5A state championship.
Having played primarily the small forward position in the past, Jardine is in the process of learning the power forward position at USU.
“He’s kind of learning the finer points of post play,” Duryea said. “He’s mostly been an outside guy, whereas we’re trying to make him a little more inside-out.”
Duryea said that the coaches see Jardine as a player that could be effective both inside and out, much like former Aggie and USU All-Century team member Spencer Nelson. Jardine knows that transition won’t come easily for him, but is willing to do what the coaches ask of him to help the team.
“It’s tough. I feel lost a lot of times,” Jardine said of making the transition to post play. “It’s been tough especially playing against a guy like Tai Wesley or Gary Wilkinson who know how to bang and are strong, but it’s been good. Every day I can see myself getting a little bit better.”
Dominique Cooks
“He’s a basketball junkie,” Duryea said of Cooks. “He’s got a high basketball IQ.”
At 6-feet-3-inches, Cooks will look to contend for minutes at both shooting guard and small forward for USU.
Duryea attributes a good part of Cooks’ basketball IQ to his father who spent several years playing professional basketball overseas and many more years as a professional basketball coach.
Second to his IQ, Duryea praised Cooks’ ability to pass the ball as another attribute that stands out.
“He’s a very good passer,” Duryea said. “He understands basketball and so usually guys who really understand the game are good passers.”
Cooks, originally from Australia, comes to USU after averaging approximately 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game for the Illawarra Seahawks club team. He was named the Illawarra Basketball Association Player of the Year in 2008
Duryea said that the two things the coaches are looking for Cooks to improve on most in practice are his perimeter shooting and his strength.
“If he comes and works hard every day then he will improve,” Duryea said.
Beyond basketball IQ and passing, Duryea said that Cooks stands out as a great teammate.
Skyler Halford
Halford comes to USU as a walk-on who Duryea said will redshirt this coming season before he departs on a two-year church mission. A graduate of Timpanogos High School in Orem, Utah, Halford was one of the ten best scorers in Utah 5A during his sophomore, junior and senior years of high school basketball. Halford finished his senior season in 2008 ranked second in 5A in the state of Utah scoring 23.6 points per game.
Halford is a 6-foot-1-inch guard who will spend this season as a member of the scout team.
“Skyler is a really good little player,” Duryea said. “He’s a very good shooter and has got a scorer’s mentality. One of the traits we see in him already that other scorers we’ve had is that he believes he should score. He’s not intimidated by the situation where he’s deferring to a lot of other people. When he has an open shot, he jumps up and shoots it like he should knock it down.”
Duryea said Halford’s role this season will be someone who the coaching staff will be counting on to put the team before himself to prepare opposing teams’ offensive and defensive sets each week to run in the scout team.