USU Athletics HOF Class of 2021 headlined by Jaycee Carroll and Bobby Wagner
Utah State’s Athletics Hall of Fame has four new members after Saturday night’s 2021 class induction. The class features former Aggies from four different sports who excelled in the Western Athletic Conference.
During the event, each athlete was introduced with a video celebrating their accomplishments, then-athletic director John Hartwell asked them to come to the podium and address the audience. Here is a summary of what each athlete from the 2021 class had to share.
Mark Greenwood Kathy Beasley-Houchen, Softball Catcher, 1993-1996
Beasley-Houchen was a Second-Team All-American, first-team All-WAC and first-team West Region in 1993. She was a key player in the Aggies’ 1993 NCAA Tournament berth, one of the program’s four total appearances.
Beasley-Houchen shared a story from her freshman year when she was asked to be the team’s designated hitter instead of her usual spot as catcher. She was angry about the decision and wanted to play catcher. She said she called her high school coach, Val Santiago, who told her “this doesn’t sound like the team player I raised you to be.” He then gave her a pep talk explaining how she should work hard to be the best she can be for her team.
“I was furious,” Beasley-Houchen said. “But, I reflected on the advice he gave me and I did just that. At the next practice, and there on, I focused on being the best teammate and setting my goals around whatever role I was given. It was that advice and kick in the butt that made me a better team player, person and definitely a defining moment of why I’m here tonight.”
Beasley-Houchen also thanked her mom for all that she has done for her.
“My mom is the living definition of sacrifice,” Beasley-Houchen said.
She explained that her mom was a single mother who supported her and her brother through their pursuits even if it meant working extra shifts and sacrificing her needs and wants.
Jaycee Carroll, Basketball Shooting Guard, 2005-2008
Carroll has gone down as one of the best Aggies to play for Stew Morrill. His mark of 46.5% ranks second all-time in three-point field goal percentage in NCAA history. Carroll was also a two-time All-American, two-time first-team All-WAC and the 2008 WAC Player of the Year. Carroll still holds Utah State records in points scored, three-pointers made, minutes played and games started among other categories.
Carroll went on to play 13 years of professional basketball in Europe. As a member of Real Madrid, he won 20 championships including the 2015 FIBA International Cup Championship over 11 years. Carroll hit his stride in 2011 when he was the top scorer in both the Spanish League and EuroCup.
Carroll shared that he earned an offer to Utah State by playing in a pick-up game in Logan while he was searching for a scholarship.
Carroll mentioned he ran into his former teammate Kris Clark in New York. Clark set the Utah State single-season assist record, largely by passing to Carroll. Carroll shared how Clark described that experience in his speech.
“I learned pretty quick that when I got to Utah State, that there was a goofy white kid that rolled in on roller blades, and if I got him the ball, good things were going to happen,” Carroll said. “Loved playing with Kris Clark, a great teammate.”
Carroll also shared how he lost a basketball tournament in Evanston, Wyoming where he grew up. He said his father “can’t believe (he) got a kid that doesn’t know how to score a basketball.” Carroll proved he could do that and more in an Aggie uniform.
“As the school’s all-time leading scorer, I learned how to score a basketball,” Carroll said.
USU senior guard Jaycee Carroll is carried around the court the game he beat the Aggie scoring record.
Bobby Wagner, Football Linebacker, 2008-2011
Superbowl champion Bobby Wagner is one of the most accomplished Aggies on the professional level in program history. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Since then, he has been named First-Team All-Pro six times, made the NFL 2010-2020 All-Decade Team and has led the NFL in tackles twice.
Wagner shared his recruiting story from his high school coach’s perspective. He said he woke up one morning to texts and missed calls from his coach saying that Stanford was there to recruit him. He later learned that during that time, his coach had approached Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh, trying to convince Harbaugh to offer a scholarship to Wagner. Harbaugh said no, but Wagner’s coach went up to Utah State’s recruiters right after and said Stanford will offer Wagner the next day, so if they want him they have to do it now.
“Utah State offered me because they thought Stanford was going to offer me,” Wagner said.
Wagner also talked about how he and fellow USU Hall-of-Famer Robert Turbin wanted to change the way people viewed Utah State. When he was in school and when he first started in Seattle, Wagner said people would not recognize Utah State and would confuse it with Utah or Brigham Young. He said it was rewarding when that changed.
“It was a fulfilling moment, you know, some years back when I had somebody come up to me and ask me what school I went to and I said ‘Utah State’ and he said, ‘oh the Aggies,” Wagner said. “That let me know that we’re moving in the right direction.”
On his recruiting trip to Logan, Wagner saw snow for the first time. Being inexperienced with it, he turned back to what he saw in cartoons. He remembers characters being able to walk on snow so he decided to try it himself. He sunk into a snowbank “knee-deep.”
“That’s when I asked myself am I really coming here?” Wagner said. “But it was one of the best decisions that I could make, coming here.”
On that same visit, Wagner watched Carroll break the Utah State men’s basketball scoring record. Wagner said he made a record-breaking career his goal when he saw that.
“If I come here, I want to break a record too,” Wagner said.
Wagner also addressed the audience with gratitude for their support over the years.
“I’m extremely thankful for my teammates and thankful for you guys as fans,” Wagner said. “I always hear your support.”
Lance White, Track and Field Pole Vaulter, 1992-1995
White was not always an Aggie. In his video, he shared how he started his collegiate career at Brigham Young. After serving a mission, White decided to transfer to Utah State because of a visit with the coaching staff in Logan during his mission.
White was a two-time All-American in the pole vault during his time as an Aggie. At the 1994 NCAA Indoor Championship, he placed ninth with a height of 5.28 meters. As a senior in 1995, White finished fourth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a height of 5.40 meters.
“It was just exciting to be All-American,” White said.
In 1996, White competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials but was not selected for Team USA. His responsibilities as a husband and father took precedent over another run for the Olympics.
“It still was a great experience and I wouldn’t change a thing about it,” White said.
White rounds out a class of four accomplished Aggies in the 2021 Athletics Hall of Fame class.
“It’s something that I didn’t think ever would happen, but I’m grateful to be here,” he said.
After his video played, White talked about his gratitude for the experience of being an Aggie athlete.
“Utah State opened a lot of doors for me,” White said. “It was really an adventure and a great learning experience.”
White added he never understood why people did not like practice. He “loved” it.
“I was with my friends, right, and we were hanging out,” White said. “It was hard. It was hard but it was fun. I really, really enjoyed it.”
That is all the Aggies that joined the Athletics Hall of Fame in the 2021 class, but on the same night, Utah State honored four more athletes as part of the 2022 class. You can read more about those individuals at the link below.