Red-shirt year key
Aggie fans in the Spectrum this year may have wondered why Coach Morrill doesn’t put 6-feet-11-inch Lithuanian center Arvydas Vaitiekus in the game. It’s certainly not because Vaikietus doesn’t want to play.
“It’s tough to sit on the bench and watch our games,” he said.
The NCAA defines the term “red shirt” as follows: “A student-athlete who does not participate in competition in a sport for an entire academic year.” The definition goes on to provide an example. “If you are a qualifier, and you attend a four-year college your freshman year, and you practice but do not compete against outside competition, you would still have the next four years to play four seasons of competition,” according to the NCAA.
Basically, the red shirt rule allows coaches to save a year of eligibility for a player who needs another year to get ready, or for a player who is ready to go, but plays a position where the team already has enough contributors.
Cass Matheus, who starts at center this year and averages 9.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, said, “The year I came in, we had four post guys ready to play and I was just coming into the program.”
Rather than usurp minutes from veterans like Mike Ahmad or Spencer Nelson, Coach Morrill made the decision to red shirt Matheus that year, which the Brazilian said paid off.
“No doubt it helped me to learn. If I just came in and played right away after practice for three months, I wouldn’t be ready. It’s a good thing to do,” Matheus said.
Matheus said he didn’t mind riding the pine while that team (led by Ahmad, Nelson, point guard Mark Brown, shooting guard Cardell Butler and a young sophomore forward, Nate Harris) enjoyed great success.
“I was just like a player who sat on the bench,” Matheus said. “I did everything, I went to every road trip and I went to every practice. I went to everything with everybody, I just didn’t play. I was holding off for next year. It was great, it was wonderful.”
Vaitiekis said he’s enjoying his opportunity to learn Morrill’s complex system and taking advantage of the opportunity to “lift more weights and get stronger.”
“I’m not playing in any games, so like we go in hotel, if there is weight room, I go in hotel and lift weights. I try and get stronger every day,” Vaitiekus said.
For now, Vaitiekus said he’s having fun running opponents’ plays in practice, but he’s got big expectations for himself next year.
“Coaches want me to start next year,” he said. “I hope I’m going to be starting.”
Matheus said the redshirt year was “the best thing I did. I got my classes caught up and I’m on pace to graduate, so everything is cool and I get to play one more year.”
Vaitiekus was having a hard time learning Morrill’s program, Matheus said.
“It’s good to sit out just like Arvydas is doing right now; it’s a chance for him to learn,” he said.
The single biggest advantage to taking a redshirt year, Matheus said, is “just to learn the program.”
-graham@cc.usu.edu