Utah State men’s basketball holds first official practice of the 2026-2027 season

Utah State University Men’s Basketball had its first official practice of the 2026-2027 season on Tuesday, which they opened to members of the media. The open practice was the first time since earlier in the summer that the media could see new head coach Ben Jacobson’s squad. 

Coming off a Mountain West regular season and tournament championship that was followed up with a round of 64 win in the NCAA Tournament last season, the Aggies now enter the Pac-12 looking to build off last year’s success. 

“I think we’re capable of whatever we set our minds to. Obviously, we want to compete for a Pac-12 championship. We want to compete for a national championship,” guard Dallin Hall said. “Those are the goals. Every team has similar goals to start the year. It’s going to come down to executing every day to put ourselves in a position in March where we’re ready to accomplish those.” 

While roster continuity is getting harder to find in college athletics, particularly with the departure of a head coach, the Aggies were able to retain several key players from last year’s championship team. 

Most notably, USU is returning the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year Mason Falslev and Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year Karson Templin. The two award winners from last season bring back needed experience and leadership as they’ve both been in Logan for a couple of years now. 

“The other thing you feel is the competitive spirit. You feel that a lot from these guys, and you get that from playing games, but really, where it comes from is having success, and a number of these guys have been a part of championship teams or played in the NCAA Tournament,” Jacobson said. “You feel that competitive spirit because they have been there. What they — what that really means is they understand and know what it takes day to day in order to get to that place.” 

In addition to Falslev and Templin, the Aggies return two redshirt freshmen in Brayden Boe and Kingston Tosi. Tosi in particular is one that Jacobson and the team are very bullish on and feel he can raise their ceiling considerably.  

“I think Tosi is going to have a big year this year. 6’ 8”, super athletic, gets up and down the court super fast, there’s just a ton of guys,” Hall said. “We have a lot of depth, and that’s what you need in this day of college basketball. I’m excited about it.” 

The returning group brings needed experience and maturity as players who have won a lot of games in Logan, while still maintaining the potential for their replacements to be Aggies for future years.  

In addition to the returners, Jacobson brought in a number of experienced transfers, including the late addition of Hall from the University of Virginia. Hall led the Cavaliers in minutes a season ago and has played his previous four seasons at the Power Four level split between Brigham Young University and Virginia.  

“You talk the basketball piece, and you feel his experience, you feel his leadership. He’s a high-level player,” Jacobson said. “We’ve added a guy in Dallin that’s a very high-level player, but as I just mentioned, the leadership and the experience that he brings, the maturity he brings to our team has been — it’s going to be valuable.” 

In addition to Hall, Jacobson brought significant size in the offseason, rostering four players that are 6’11” or taller. Interior size is something the Aggies lacked during former USU Men’s Basketball head coach Jerrod Calhoun’s tenure in Logan and seems to be an issue Jacobson doesn’t want to repeat.  

“There is some size and length, but the skill level is probably the thing that has stood out the most. Their ability to handle the ball and pass the ball and make a three-point shot,” Jacobson said. “You see it in rebounding. You see it, you know, guys are guarding the basketball, the ability to get a deflection, the ability to chase down a longer rebound. So, it shows up in some different ways.” 

The Aggies will play a number of exhibition games before getting into the regular season on Nov. 2. Two of Utah State’s exhibition matchups will be at home, with the first taking place on Oct. 10 against the University of Denver.