Stew Morrill’s career immortalized in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum as an Aggie
With all the excitement around the success of the Utah State University basketball team, it seems like the perfect time to also remember the program’s biggest figure. It was announced Dec. 13, 2023 that the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum will be permanently honoring former head coach Stew Morrill by naming the court after him.
The presentation took place on Saturday, Feb. 10, during the game against Boise State University.
“Thanks to Utah State University and all the donors who made this happen,” Morrill wrote in response to the announcement. “When I received the call, I was a little bit overwhelmed and emotional. Whenever your efforts are recognized in a manner like this, it is special. Of course, none of the success we had would have been possible without all the players and assistant coaches.”
Boasting a 402-156 overall record at Utah State over 17 seasons made Morrill the all-time most victorious coach in the history of the basketball program. Through Morrill’s leadership, Utah State won the regular season championship seven times, the conference championship six times and competed in the NCAA tournament eight times.
“He’s not just the best coach at Utah State,” current Utah State head coach Danny Sprinkle said in a post-game interview. “He’s one of the best coaches in Division I history.”
For Utah State, the record books have already been rewritten this season as the Aggies had their best start to a season under a first-year Aggie head coach in program history. It continues to be history in the making as Sprinkle just earned his one hundredth career win after the Aggies beat the San Jose State University Spartans 82-61.
And while one hundred wins is an incredible achievement. Sprinkle understands the legacy he is part of here at Utah State and that the goal is much higher.
“Every day I walk into that office, and I see it — Stew Morrill,” Sprinkle said. “Suddenly 100 wins is not very much. I have a lot of work to do.”
Sprinkle continued his praise of Morrill as he likened Morrill’s impact on college basketball to the same level as storied coaches such as Mike Krzyzewski at Duke University or Jim Boeheim at Syracuse.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be coaching here knowing that he coached before me,” Sprinkle added.
Morrill was humble and flattered by the kind words spoken by Sprinkle.
“I appreciate the kindness,” Morrill said. “Danny is a nice guy.”
Utah State wasn’t the former coach’s only stop. In fact, Morrill began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach for Gonzaga University under Adrian Buoncristiani.
“That led me to my first coaching job as an assistant coach where I helped out for four seasons before they fired all of us,” Morrill said, laughing.
Opportunity kept presenting itself to Morrill. He applied for the job to be Gonzaga’s new head coach but was not hired. He instead took another assistant position at the University of Montana where he learned from head coach Mike Montgomery.
“That was the best move I probably ever made,” Morrill said. “Mike was my mentor — I owe a lot to that time as an assistant, I learned a lot.”
It was not enough to be the assistant coach, though; Morrill believed he was capable of more. He wanted his own team. The former coach added that coaching is a great profession filled with high stress. And he wanted to make his mark.
“Being a good assistant only makes you a good assistant,” Morrill said. “If you survive the rigors of the profession, you will be successful.”
Morrill finally got his chance, becoming the head coach of the Grizzlies after Montgomery took a head coach job at Stanford University.
Morrill was with the Grizzlies as head coach for five seasons and had a record of 97 wins and 52 losses. In the 1990-91 season, Morrill led Montana to a Big Sky Conference championship, which gave them their second ever berth into the NCAA tournament.
Morrill said he enjoyed his time and loved his team, and his time at Montana was worth it as it led him to meet his wife, Vicki.
His next stop was at Colorado State University where he coached for seven seasons and held a record of 121-86. Though the Buffaloes did not win any silverware while Morrill was there, it is now the place he calls home.
But it was at Utah State where Morrill became a household name among the Aggie nation, and where he would cement his legacy.
Morrill is synonymous with many amazing moments in Utah State basketball’s history. Moments like 2007’s “Spectrum Magic” shot, when Stephen DuCharme hit a crucial 3-pointer deep in overtime to help lift the Aggies to victory over the Nevada Wolfpack, who were ranked ninth in the nation at the time. Or the famous comeback against Boise State where the Aggies scored nine points with just barely over one minute left to play to steal the win from the Broncos.
Morrill’s most successful run however was between the 2007-08 season and the 2010-11 season, where Morrill led his team to four straight WAC regular season titles and the chance to compete in the NCAA tournament each of those seasons. And to put an exclamation point on it, Morrill also received the WAC coach of the year award in 2009, 10 and 11.
But for Morrill, the legacy of success was not the highlight of his career. It was just the results of hard work and consistency day in and day out on the court.
“Winning was nice, but it was not the most important part of my job,” Morrill said. “The relationships I built with all of the players and staff is what I enjoyed the most. It will be nice to reconnect with players and coaches that I worked with.”
Morrill said he is excited to come back and take the court one more time. He still feels overwhelmed by the naming of the court in his honor and does not feel that he is deserving of such an honor. But with the Spectrum packed with fans chanting his name, and the lights reflecting off the court, he may just change his tune.