Porter, Bean granted basketball scholarships
Two Utah State University basketball players earned scholarships this past week, which will be applied toward the rest of the spring semester.
Sophomore guard Abel Porter and redshirt-freshman forward Justin Bean were both walk-ons to the Utah State basketball team. Prior to Jan. 24, both players had been paying their own way for school. For the rest of this season, that will no longer be the case.
It was the Thursday before Utah State’s road matchup with New Mexico the two players found out they had been put on scholarship. This came as a surprise to both.
“It was just random,” Porter said. “I don’t even think I had a reaction because I was just confused what was even happening.”
It’s a normal occurrence for head coach Craig Smith and his staff to gather the players together for announcements after practice.
“We thought it was a birthday or something,” Bean said. “All of a sudden he reaches in his back pocket, or wherever he pulled it from, and just pulled out these two slips of paper and said ‘we’ve got scholarships for Bean and Abel’.”
Bean has been a player the Aggies’ coaching staff has brought off the bench frequently to provide a spark to the team, especially on defense. Out of all thirteen Aggie players, only freshman center Neemias Queta has a higher defensive rating. Bean also leads the team in rebounding average per 40 minutes.
Photo by Megan Nielsen
“Abel and Justin have earned this scholarship,” Smith said. “They’re everything we want an Aggie basketball player to be. They’re dependable people, they’re great teammates, they do a great job in the classroom and they show up every day ready to get better and make the team better.”
Porter has transitioned from being a bench player to a regular starter over the past two weeks. His first start came against Colorado State, and he has started every game since. Porter has not only increased his contributions statistically, he also delivered a game-winning shot for the Aggies against New Mexico this past weekend.
The journey from walk-on to where he is now has been one filled with many challenges, Porter said.
“After my first year I think I got a little down on myself,” he said. “I broke my foot my first year, I didn’t really see the court, it was kind of like, ‘do I really want to do this’?”
Smith and his staff have played an instrumental role in helping his maturity, Porter said.
“When coach Smith came in, he kind of sat down and talk with us individually,” he said. “He told me basically, ‘I don’t really know anything about you, or about your game, but you’ll be given a fair shot.’ I guess that kind of sparked my motivation again.”
Both players will receive scholarships until the end of this academic period, meaning their scholarship status will have to be re-evaluated next year. Based on the NCAA guidelines, “Many athletics scholarships, like most merit-based scholarships, are granted for one academic year.”
The uncertainty of future scholarships isn’t something Bean is worried about now.
“I really haven’t thought too much what next season is going to be like,” he said. “I’ve just been kind of taken back by the amount of love and trust the coaches have shown in me thus far. But, I’m just ready and willing to keep making an impact moving forward.”
Porter is of a similar mindset.
“I think it just gives me even more motivation,” he said. “All scholarships for basketball are year-to-year, once you get a taste of what you’re working for, you want it even more.”