A Century Later – Top 10 aggie basketball players

Wayne Estes was great – period.

He had a hook shot from the corner that couldn’t be defended and after he broke the school’s record with his 2,001st point, his teammates carried him off the court.

Later that night, Feb. 8, 1965, the 6-foot-5-inch Estes was electrocuted and died after running into a live wire hanging from a light pole. He was rushing to help on the scene of a car accident.

At the time, Estes was the nation’s leading scorer – just ahead of NBA great Rick Barry.

Posthumously, Estes was named an All-American, sharing the honors with Barry and Princeton’s Bill Bradley.

Wayne Estes was great.

Statistically, Greg Grant was great too. He was just no Estes. But, who is?

Grant eventually broke Estes’ scoring record with 2,127 points. Utah State’s all-time leader in rebounds (1,003) and steals (226), Grant led the Ags to victory in every game he played against Utah and BYU.

Marvin Roberts finished his USU career with 54 double-doubles and Tony Brown was money from behind the arc.

Eric Franson could score at will. So could Shaler Halimon, Marcus Saxon, Cornell Green and Nate Williams.

He wasn’t always the tallest guy on the floor, but Shawn Daniels rounds out our list because he was still a force in the paint.

As the Agricultural College of Utah, the Ags first took the court against Brigham Young College in 1904 and lost 35-4.

Ninenty-nine years later in 2003, Utah State managed a 76-74 victory over the Cougars in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,270.

When the Ags tip off against Puget Sound Saturday night, they will begin the 100th season of Utah State basketball.

From E.L. Romney to Stew Morrill, the Aggies of Utah State have a rich tradition of basketball excellence.

The players featured on this page were chosen with the help of local sports media. To only pick 10 players was difficult and, obviously, these selections are highly subjective.

Wayne Estes 1962-1965 (Photo courtesy of USU Special Collections)