Stepping into a starting role, Sean Bairstow has shined for USU
Junior guard Sean Bairstow is quickly making his impact felt for Utah State basketball in a starting role with the absence of Brock Miller over the last several weeks.
In six starts this season, Bairstow is averaging 10 points per game and shooting 48% from the floor. The 6-foot-8-inch, 190-pound guard has a unique skill set that others on the team can’t replicate. Bairstow has a big enough frame to force his way into the paint for a basket and the quickness and length to beat opposing guards off the dribble.
“Sean provides something a little bit different than Brock provides,” head coach Ryan Odom said. “He’s got size, he’s got physicality, he’s a strong driver, he’s an athlete in transition, and he’s become a much better shooter. You can’t just focus on the other guys and leave him open, he’s a good player.”
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SEAN. BAIRSTOW!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/z3QFN9Qz0R
— USU Men’s Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 9, 2022
Bairstow’s teammate and roommate, Max Shulga, thinks highly of the junior’s abilities.
“I think that a lot of people think he’s just a typical athletic kid that just lives off of that, but he sees the court well, he’s a very big guard, high IQ, and makes the right play almost every time,” Shulga said. “You can just rely on him when the ball is in his hands.”
Hailing from Brisbane, Australia, Bairstow is one of six foreign basketball players for Utah State. The list includes Bairstow, Shulga, Zee Hamoda, Norbert Thelissen, Szymon Zapala and RJ Etyle-Rock. Bairstow, Zapala and Shulga live together in the same apartment along with junior center Trevin Dorius.
Shulga, a sophomore guard from Kiev, Ukraine, and Bairstow have become quite close in their time living and playing together. “(Sean’s)funny, goofy, just a good person,” Shulga said. “He’s the only guy in our house that has a car, too, so he’ll give us a ride or give us the car to use whenever we need it. Just a positive person, a good guy.”
Bairstow is close with all his roommates and spends time doing activities with them beyond basketball. “Playing Mario Kart, FIFA, anything where you’re kinda competitive, talking a bit of crap to each other,” Bairstow said.
Video games and trash talk are a staple at the apartment. Bairstow claims to be the biggest trash talker and is the self-declared best gamer. “It’s not even a competition,” he said.
Where Bairstow excels the most, though, is on the court. He played in 32 games his freshman year and 25 games his sophomore year, averaging 3.3 points. Entering the season he was expected to play in most games coming off the bench as an important role player.
But then he had a setback. Suffering a pre-season wrist injury pushed back the start of his season by over three weeks and six games.
“He’s a good player, we’ve always known that he’s a good player, and that’s why it was so unfortunate when he got injured early in the season in that closed scrimmage,” Odom said. “It was really one of the last plays, he goes in for one of those dunks we’ve seen him make and gets tangled up and falls on his wrist.”
Fortunately, Bairstow is back to 100%.
© Joseph F Myers In Bairstow’s third game back from injury, he put up 11 points against BYU.
“I feel like I’ve done the right things to put myself in a position to get and be healthy and coach has put me in a good position as well so kind of just rolling with it,” he said.
In his first game back from the wrist injury, he scored eight points on 50% shooting in a 93-53 win over Carroll College. In his first six games of the year, he averaged just over seven points per game with a season-high 11 points in two games. In the four games since he’s been starting, he’s had double digits in five out of six contests.
No one close to Bairstow seems to be surprised by his recent success. According to Shulga, Bairstow is constantly looking for guys to go work out and get extra shots despite having team practice for several hours every day. Bairstow’s hard work along with basketball ability and IQ has easily translated to recent success on the court.
“I know I’ve put in the work and the hours to have this success and you know it started a long time ago so it’s really just coming to fruition,” Bairstow said.
Miller is anticipated to be sidelined through the rest of January with a back injury, and Bairstow is expected to continue starting in his place. When Miller does return, what does that mean for Bairstow? In 13 games and 13 starts, Miller is averaging 8.8 points per game and 2.9 rebounds per game.
During the time Bairstow has been starting both numbers are higher, but there’s one category Miller has a significant leg up on him: 3-point shooting. Bairstow is shooting just 2 of 26 from beyond the arc this year while Miller is shooting over 34% from.
But for the team, whoever starts whenever Miller returns isn’t much of a concern.
“We’re not worried about that at this point. Right now, our focus is on the team and our next opponent,” Odom said about the two. “Our main focus is let’s get Brock (Miller) healthy and get him back out there. We’re not focused on who starts, who comes off the bench, it’s all about Utah State and us doing our best to win.”