Former walk-ons now starring on Utah State’s golden team
It was a story told a thousand times by a thousand different people last season. Walk-ons Justin Bean and Abel Porter went from bench fodder and practice bodies to playing big minutes in the Mountain West Conference Tournament and even in the greatest show in college basketball: March Madness.
That was just chapter one.
While last year’s introductory features, the “Meet Utah State’s walk-on sensation” pieces, collect metaphorical dust in the forgotten archives of the internet, these two warriors press on as not just one-hit wonders or feel-good stories, but key cogs in the rebuilt machine of Aggie basketball.
Already, three games into the season, these once nobodies are showing that, far from just being role players, will play a dominant role in the fate of Utah State’s most hyped basketball team in decades. Both are showing drastic improvements early in the season from already impressive form at the end of 2018-19.
“(Porter has) just blasted before our eyes and all of you have seen it,” USU head coach Craig Smith said. “From last year at this point to where he is now, it’s almost unheard of. Him and Justin Bean, quite frankly.”
Porter needed just two outings to set a new career-high and has raised his season averages through three games.
Last year, narrowing the focus to games where Porter started, the junior point-man scored 8.1 points per outing with 3.8 assists. So far, those numbers are up to 9.0 points and 6.3 assists. All the while, Porter has decreased his turnover output, going from 1.6 per game last year to just 1.3 this year.
Were Porter to hold his current assists average and play 35 games, the same number of games Utah State played last season, he’d finish with around 221 dimes. The single-season record for assists at USU is Kris Clark’s 224 in 2007-08.
After being the second fiddle of sorts to Sam Merrill’s team-leading 147 assists last year, Porter has taken over playmaking duties in a big way. He’s certainly not the only one making great passes, Merrill is posting a career-high 4.7 assists himself, but Porter has taken on the mantle of a passing guard. After the Weber State game, he said ball movement “starts with me” and that he made it his goal to be the instigator on a top passing team.
Not to be left behind in the improvements department, Bean has made impressive jumps of his own. Last season, Bean became a fan-favorite while stymying opponents with his endless energy and workhorse mentality. It didn’t net him much in the way of stats, though. Bean averaged just 7.1 points and 5.7 rebounds during his most prolific stretch last season (Feb. 20 to March 22) in 20.9 minutes per game.
However, since ascending to the starting lineup in the absence of the graduated forward Quinn Taylor, Bean is averaging 13.0 points, third among the Aggies, and a team-leading 11.3 rebounds (no Aggie has averaged 10-plus rebounds since the 1970s). His involvement, especially on offense, has increased exponentially. From 3.0 field goal attempts per game to 9.7 this year and a jump from 1.3 free throw attempts to 5.7.
“This summer I worked a lot on ball handling, attacking the rim and my jump shot,” Bean said regarding his increased offensive presence. “It’s something the coaches have helped me and given me a lot of confidence in practice, so I’ve been trying to take that into the game and I have all the trust from my players and they do a great job of helping me with that. Definitely looking forward to building on that this season.”
Fueling the need for Bean and Porter to step up in major ways is the onset wave of incoming players. Seven players joined the Aggie fold this offseason, nine if you count Klay Stall and Roche Grootfamm, both of whom missed all of last season with injuries. Plus, with Neemias Queta still out and his return up in the air, even more of a burden falls upon these returning, former walk-ons who have just 26 Division I starts between them.
Yet despite lacking experience in numerical terms, Smith has shown unwavering trust in a pair of players who, a couple of seasons ago may not have expected to ever see meaningful minutes at a collegiate level. But let it be said again. These guys aren’t just short-lived success stories. They’re budding stars on what might be Utah State’s best team ever.
Twitter: @thejwalk67