Coaching staff the success behind USU b-ball
There is an old saying that “behind every good man is a woman.”
The same can be applied to basketball – behind every good team is a good coaching staff. And that is exactly what Utah State has.
After a roller coaster regular season, the Aggies knocked off Cal Poly for the Big West Conference Tournament in Anaheim Calif., before falling to Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City.
For these accomplishments, The Utah Statesman named the USU men’s basketball team the male varsity squad of the year.
And five men in particular deserve specific praise: Utah State Head Coach Stew Morrill, assistant coaches Randy Rahe, Don Verlin and Tim Duryea, and graduate assistant Tony Brown.
Chemistry among team members is a key concept in any sport, but the Aggies carry it to another level.
“They are all really close,” said hoopster Chad Evans. “[Their chemistry] carries over to the team and how we get along.”
Part of flowing well comes from how long the coaches have been together. Rahe has worked with Morrill for 12 years, while Verlin has been part of the team for 10 years. Duryea, the newest member of the crew, has been around for two years.
Rahe said he thinks the chemistry is a huge advantage for the Aggies, and it stems from whom Morrill decides to hire. Rahe said Morrill looks for coaches with no egos, who are team players, hard workers and above everything, wants the best for the program.
“He is very careful about bringing in certain types of people,” Rahe said. “We love working for the guy. That’s why we’ve been with him so long. Hopefully we can all stay together for a long time.”
Rahe said Morrill is enjoyable to work for, because he not only knows the game, but he cares about the players. He said that Morrill has a “great offensive mind,” as well as the ability to understand the players’ talents and putting them in positions where they can be most successful.
“I really believe he is one of the most underrated coaches in the country,” Rahe said. “[He is good at] reading his team and knowing what they need at a certain time.
“Sometimes they need a kick in the rear, and sometimes they need to be patted on the back,” he said.
And that is exactly what he did down the stretch after the Aggies lost at home 52-51 to Idaho on March 1.
At the crucial turning point, instead of being down on his players, Morrill gave the team the confidence it needed going into the Big West Conference Tournament.
“He’s the total package,” Rahe said. “He just proves it time and time again.”
But everyone needs some help. Rahe works specifically on the defensive end, as well as a little with the guards, while Duryea and Verlin focus more on offense. Duryea and Verlin also are in charge of holding up the infamous play cards, which have been mentioned in Sports Illustrated, as well as on television.
Rahe said Morrill got the idea when he was at Montana as an assistant for now Stanford Head Coach Mike Montgomery.
He has used it ever since. The coaches hold up two sets of play cards from the bench, one of which is the live card (the real play) and one of which is the dead card (the dummy play).
“We try to throw off the other team,” Rahe said. “It has kind of turned into a fun thing, but it works.”
Evans said, since he has been on the team for a few years, that he is used to the play cards, but sometimes it can be distracting or difficult trying to remember which color is the actual play.
One of the greatest successes for the Aggies this year was the addition of Brown to the coaching staff. USU has been using Brown on the scout team, something Rahe said he was “terrific at” because he was hard to guard.
Evans said it was difficult at first adjusting to looking at Brown as a superior rather than a friend, but Brown is so knowledgeable about the game that things worked out. Evans said Brown also worked closely with guards Ronnie Ross and Cardell Butler, because he was most familiar with their position.
Rahe said Brown still has some schooling left and the Aggies are definitely going to try to get him to come back next season, and if not, he has a bright future ahead of him.
“We love having him around,” Rahe said. “Someday Tony is going to make an absolutely terrific coach.”
And to Rahe, that is what coaching is all about. Not only has he had the chance to see Brown be successful on the court, but off the court as well. He said the progress athletes make at Utah State will carry over to the rest of their lives.
“To me that is really gratifying,” Rahe said. “[It is also nice to] hear from them five years down the road and know they are doing well.”
-juag@cc.usu.edu