Basketball set to begin 103rd season Wednesday at approximately 7 p.m.
Utah State will begin its 103rd season of basketball against EA Sports today at 7:05 p.m. in the Spectrum.
The game is first of two exhibition games the Aggies will play this week. The second game will be Saturday against Laval University.
Although the actual players are different, Utah State is familiar with EA Sports. This will be the third straight year the two teams will face off. EA Sports not only won the game last year 67-60, they also prevailed two years ago in the 2005-06 exhibition season opener.
Utah State returns three starters from last years 23-12 team: seniors Jaycee Carroll, Kris Clark and Stephen DuCharme.
In addition to the returning starters, letterwinner Nick Hammer, a senior, returns to the team as well. The new players consist of three returning redshirts, five freshmen and three junior college transfers.
EA Sports is a traveling team compiled of ex-college players, most of whom were all-conference players when they played. Some even have experience playing pro ball in Europe. The talent and experience of this team could be one of the reasons for their success against the Aggies. With that skill, EA Sports certainly gets the attention of USU Head Coach Stew Morrill.
“They should get your attention,” Morrill said. “You know, we’ve lost 12 games in nine years here. Yet these guys have come in here and beat us three times I think, in exhibition.”
Carroll has lost to EA Sports twice and said he does not want it to happen a third time.
“I don’t want to lose to them again, ” Carroll said. “Just for personal, not wanting to get beat by the same team three times in a row.”
Senior point guard Kris Clark said he knows EA Sports will be tough and the game will by no means be easy just because it is an exhibition game. He said he knows their team is made up of past college stars.
“It kind of makes it difficult, because they do have guys coming in of that caliber, but that can only be good for you,” Clark said.
One thing the players are looking forward to is getting to stop beating up on each other and putting forth some aggression against another team.
“We’re ready to get going, we’re ready to stop playing against ourselves,” Carroll said.
Morrill said he knows the players are ready to get out and play, but he wishes they had more time to prepare. They have only been officially practicing since Oct. 11, 20 days ago.
“If you ask the kids, it’s time,” Morrill said. “If you ask me, I’d say I’d like three more weeks of practice. You play more games, you have less time as a coach, but that’s how it is these days.”
The starting lineup for the Aggies is not set yet, and Carroll said the team will know just before the game when Morrill posts the lineups on the team board.
One thing for certain is that many players are sure to see playing time, Morrill said, since it is an exhibition game.
“We’ll play 10, 11, 12 guys and try and get those guys minutes,” Morrill said. “That’s what we’ve done the last few times we’ve played these guys. You lose a little bit of your flow and continuity, but that’s why they call it an exhibition game. You need to get some guys some time.”
Although a lot of the team will see action on the court, not everyone will play.
“We’ll try and play the guys that are available for play,” Morrill said. “Were looking at some guys that we’re quite sure they’ll redshirt. Obviously there is no point in getting them ready, if they’re going to redshirt.”
-samuel.hislop@aggiemail.usu.edu