Ags satisfied with roller coaster season
Although the Utah State 2002-03 basketball season may be over, Desmond Penigar is just getting started.
Instead of team workouts and Saturday night games, the forward is spending his time bulking up in the gym and practicing on the court.
“[I’m] just trying to get better,” Penigar said after working out in the Spectrum. “[I plan to] play basketball somewhere, I just don’t know where.
And if anything, his final collegiate game against Kansas proved that Penigar had the desire to continue playing.
The forward closed out his career at Utah State averaging 15.7 points per game, while pulling down 6.6 boards per contest.
Penigar isn’t the only graduating Aggie who has his sights set on basketball, though. Toraino Johnson said he has been working out and trying to get into some camps.
“I’m trying to get into those camps to get some more looks by some NBA teams,” he said. “I’m just trying to keep focused and keep in shape to play in the next level somewhere else.”
And because of the way Johnson ended his career at USU, things are certainly looking up. The forward said he was satisfied with his play this year due in part to the two prior seasons.
During his sophomore campaign, Johnson saw limited action. Last year, he missed 10 of the first 11 games of the season with a stress fracture in his foot.
“I came back in the second half of last season, but I was still favoring my foot,” Johnson said. “This year, I felt like I was a lot more effective playing with the guys we have here. I think I helped out a lot.”
Johnson finished the season averaging 7.6 points a game, while grabbing 3.6 boards a game.
And his play did not go unnoticed by the USU coaching staff.
Aggie assistant coach Randy Rahe said he thought Johnson was the “unsung hero” of the season.
“He turned out to probably be our best defender,” Rahe said. “He was kind of our tough guy, he did it all year long. He really stepped up and had a great senior season. He was solid as a rock all year – very consistent.”
Johnson played at the same pace all year, while the team struggled to find itself between the ups and downs.
The Aggies (who finished the season with a 24-9 record overall, 12-6 in league action) started the season with a bang, winning five straight games, before hitting a roadblock at Jackson State and BYU.
But then came Big West Conference play. The Aggies dropped six league games – including somewhat surprising losses to UC Riverside on the road and Idaho at home – but came out strong when it mattered: The BWC Tournament.
“As the season went on we weren’t sure we were capable of winning the tournament,” Rahe said. “We played well enough at times when we thought we could, but we also had some performances where we weren’t sure. This year’s team really showed a lot of toughness [and] grit. When we won the tournament, it was a great feeling.”
Penigar said, “We did more than a lot of people expected us to. When I think of this team, I think of togetherness, how we came together through the tough times.”
And then came the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies earned a No. 15 seed and the opportunity to take on No. 2 seed Kansas.
Johnson said he looked at the meeting as a positive, because it gave the team a chance to see where it stood against a perennial powerhouse. He said it was neat to see the talent level and how it was basically even.
“They play basketball just like we do, they just go to a higher-caliber school,” Johnson said.
Utah State fell 64-61 to the Jayhawks in Oklahoma City.
As nice as winning would have been, simply getting to the Big Dance meant a lot to the Aggies.
“Getting to the tournament was my major goal coming up here,” Penigar said. “It was a childhood dream come true. I still can’t believe it.”
Although college basketball is coming to an end for Penigar, Johnson, Ronnie Ross and Mike Puzey, a group of players Rahe said have “won a lot of basketball games in their careers here,” the Aggies are upbeat for next season.
Utah State will return Mark Brown, Spencer Nelson, Cardell Butler, Nate Harris and Chad Evans, as well as redshirts Ian McVey, John Neil and Mike Ahmad. The Aggies will also welcome a group of newcomers who will add a bit of spice to the team.
“You never know until you get all of the new guys here, but we have a nice foundation coming back,” Rahe said of next season. “We feel real positive.”
The biggest concern Utah State has is the fact that there is not a first-team all-Big West player returning like it has had in the past. The solution: Rahe said the team will need to be more balanced next year and not depend so much on one player.
-juag@cc.usu.edu