COLUMN: Why are the Aggies so good this year?

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Though the Aggie men lost a close road game to San Diego State over the weekend, the past 10 days were still a success for the team after a blowout home win over UNLV and and a nail-biting road victory against Fresno State.

The 2-1 stretch kept Utah State second in the Mountain West standings with an 18-6 record, and all but assured the team a bye in the first round of the conference tournament.

But the Aggies weren’t supposed to be this good. The conference preseason rankings had them ninth out of the Mountain West’s 11 teams.

So why are they this good?

More confidence in star-player Sam Merrill maybe? A big recruit in Portuguese big man Neemias Queta? A change of style? Spectrum Magic?

The answer is all of the above, and there’s one common thread through all of those: new head coach Craig Smith.

The men’s basketball program at Utah State changed its course this season after hiring Smith. The team seems to be playing much different under Smith than the past few years; not just style-wise, but enthusiasm-wise as well.

But what makes Smith different from other head coaches?

Smith exhibits a love for coaching that is special — he genuinely loves leading the team and wants to get the most out of his players.

He also happens to coach a style of basketball that is very fun to play in, which makes the on-court product more enjoyable for the players and the fans.

Smith’s system is run-and-gun with a lot of layups and 3-pointers, without much of the low-quality in-between shots. The game has evolved, and Smith’s style fits it perfectly.

He fits this team perfectly.

Merrill was unleashed this year, instilled with confidence from his new coach. Merrill scored a career-high 37 points in the Aggies first game of the season. He is putting up just more than 20 points per game, a four-point increase from last season.

The Aggies are also pulling in seven more rebounds per game than last year’s team, while its opponents are getting two less, turning a negative rebounding margin last year to a dominant 9.3 margin this year. Impact freshman Queta — who was recruited to Utah State by Smith — has played a big part in that performance, pulling in more than nine boards per game by himself. For context, last season’s leading rebounder was Koby McEwen with five and a half rebounds per contest.

While overall attendance is down slightly this season — likely due to not playing BYU at home — student attendance appears to be up compared to the past few years and the fanbase is clearly excited.

Smith has been the primary cause of that excitement. He often tweets for students to come to games, encouraging them to bring the Spectrum Magic back, and it’s working.

Previous seasons saw some fan support after the team had won some games, but the fans have been excited for this team right from the beginning of the year, and the players have said how it’s helped them play better. The only home loss for the Aggies this year was the heartbreaker against Fresno State, one of the best teams in the conference.

With seven games left in the season Utah State still has a lot of work left to do to remain at the top of the Mountain West, but two things seem clear: these Aggies are much better than expected, and coach Smith is making sure the excitement is here to stay.

Adam Larson is a junior studying broadcast journalism at Utah State. He enjoys watching and writing about anything basketball related.