<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>USU basketball recruiting Archives - The Utah Statesman</title> <atom:link href="https://usustatesman.com/tag/usu-basketball-recruiting/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://usustatesman.com/tag/usu-basketball-recruiting/</link> <description>USU's Student Newspaper</description> <lastBuildDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2020 16:46:30 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2</generator> <image> <url>https://usustatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/cropped-screen-shot-2017-10-19-at-4.33.29-pm-32x32.png</url> <title>USU basketball recruiting Archives - The Utah Statesman</title> <link>https://usustatesman.com/tag/usu-basketball-recruiting/</link> <width>32</width> <height>32</height> </image> <item> <title>Ranking Utah State’s MBB 2020-21 newcomers</title> <link>https://usustatesman.com/ranking-utah-states-mbb-2020-21-newcomers/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason Walker]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2020 16:46:30 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[All]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Basketball]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Men's Basketball]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Karson Stastny]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Liam McChesney]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Marco Anthony]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Mathew Wickizer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Max Shulga]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Rollie Worster]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Steven Ashworth]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Szymon Zapala]]></category> <category><![CDATA[USU basketball]]></category> <category><![CDATA[USU basketball recruiting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Utah State Basketball]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Utah State recruiting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Zahar Vedishchev]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://usustatesman.com/?p=22111522</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Last year the immediate ancestor of this article was published, ranking each of the seven incoming players for the Utah…</p> <p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/ranking-utah-states-mbb-2020-21-newcomers/">Ranking Utah State’s MBB 2020-21 newcomers</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Last year the <a href="https://usustatesman.com/ranking-utah-state-basketball-recruits-sean-bairstow-liam-mcchesney/">immediate ancestor</a> of this article was published, ranking each of the seven incoming players for the Utah State men’s basketball 2019-20 campaign. With another season approaching and another recruiting class it’s only fitting that the exercise be repeated, especially since the number of newcomers has jumped from seven to nine.</p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">As was done a year ago, this won’t technically be ranking just the recruiting class itself, as two players who were on the team last year will be included, one of which was featured on last year’s list. The reason being that both sat the entire season for differing reasons, so they’ll be new to the rotation. Also (and again, similar to last year), this isn’t meant to rank the potential of each newcomer, rather it’s based on how much of an impact they can make this year.</span></p> <h3 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>9. Mathew Wickizer</b></span></h3> <h4 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Forward | 6’ 9” | 210 lbs.</b></span></h4> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Prep Senior Season Stats (per game) — 8.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 45.5 FG%, 40.2 3PT%, 66.7 FT%</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">This isn’t a dig on Wickizer, someone just has to be last on this list. The former Kearns High School forward will walk on and will probably only see time if he shows the ability to play small forward at the NCAA level. If he’s a power forward like he was for most of his prep days, a red-colored shirt will be in his near future. The current depth chart is stacked to the brim with power forwards at the moment from Justin Bean to Alphonso Anderson and another man we’ll get to in a bit.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">There’s definitely hope for Wickizer to develop a role on the floor and not as a glorified towel boy. He grew about two inches while on his LDS mission, taking him from 6-foot-7 to a very versatile 6-foot-9. Given that he’s a capable shooter, the young forward can easily mold himself into a stretch big at the least (maybe even a small-ball center) or a solid combo forward if everything goes well.</span></p> <h3 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>8. Karson Stastny</b></span></h3> <h4 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Guard | 6’ 4” | 175 lbs.</b></span></h4> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Prep Senior Season Stats — 21 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 64.2 FG%, 45.0 3PT%, 82.7 FT%</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Stastny is one of six guards who will look to fill the gaping chasm in the backcourt rotation left by the departure of Sam Merrill, Diogo Brito and Abel Porter. For those looking eagerly for the next Porter — a walk-on who plays his way to a starting role — this Texas guard could be it, as his five assists per game in high school show he could develop into a fine passing point guard in the future and he’s got a capable catch-and-shoot game to compliment his playmaking abilities.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Being a walk-on, it seems unlikely Stastny will be one of the guards to win out for playing time. But if recent history of the Aggies under Smith has anything to say, it’s that anyone can make it into the rotation if they take advantage of opportunities, and Stastny has an opportunity even if it’s a longshot.</span></p> <h3 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>7. Zahar Vedishchev</b></span></h3> <h4 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Guard | 6’ 6” | 180 lbs.</b></span></h4> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">2019 FIBA U19 World Cup Stats — 16.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 41.5 FG% / 40.4 3PT% / 83.3 FT%</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">While listed as a guard, Vedishchev’s role on Utah State may be more of a small forward. Essentially, he’s a younger Brock Miller — a volume wing shooter who lacks the traditional guard skills. The Russian wing has a Lovecraftian shooting motion, but it’s produced decent results. In six games at the U18 FIBA European Championship in 2019, Vedishchev made 40.4 percent of his 3-point attempts while taking 8.7 per game. That percentage on that volume is quite the outlier, but Vedishchev’s 35.3 percent (on 6.6 attempts per game) from his high school years is still an encouraging number.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">The potential is there on offense and his 6-foot-6 frame could fare well on defense, but there may not be enough room for the freshman in the rotation in the small forward spot of the depth chart. Miller is likely to fill most of the small forward minutes as a starter and there are other more viable candidates for the remaining minutes. He may very well redshirt his first season in Logan.</span></p> <p><iframe title="Szymon ZAPALA 2019/2020 highlights" width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_CEJSwRr8lU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <h3 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>6. Szymon Zapala</b></span></h3> <h4 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Center | 6’ 11” | 240 lbs.</b></span></h4> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">2019 FIBA U18 European Championship Stats — 7.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 0.9 blocks, 61.0 FG%, 0.0 3PT%, 55.6 FT%</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Ranking Zapala this low feels awful given his potential, but when his immediate competitors in the depth chart are a senior in Kuba Karwowski and Trevin Dorius, a guy who played his way onto the floor as a freshman walk-on (not to mention the star center in the starting spot), you’ll see why it is this way. The thing that gives Zapala a chance is that last year neither of USU’s backup 7-footers were able to nail down the backup center spot. Both were given the golden chance to prove themselves with Neemias Queta missing the opening third of the season but Smith wound up favoring a Justin Bean/Alphonso Anderson small-ball frontcourt to either of his backup bigs.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Zapala will get his chance if he can avoid the pitfalls that caught Karwowski and Dorius and kept them off the court, the main ones being inconsistent rebounding, lackluster paint defense, and an almost negative offensive impact. Film from his 2019 FIBA games shows that while Zapala isn’t a great rim protector, he’s a smart, physical defender in the paint and a solid rebounder, especially on the offensive glass.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">It would be great to see another freshman center walk in and dominate the way Queta did, and while Zapala shows great potential as a paint beast, he’s fighting a little too much to be a major impact. There are two returning backups at his position and he has to fight off Smith’s tendency to go small with Bean/Anderson. Unless he truly dominates, minutes will be few and far between.</span></p> <h3 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>5. Max Shulga</b></span></h3> <h4 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Guard | 6’ 3” | 197 lbs.</b></span></h4> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">2019 FIBA U18 European Championship Stats — 13.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.0 steals, 61.9 FG%, 52.9 3PT%, 67.9 FT% </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Shulga is a bit of an enigma given a lack of a suitable sample size of the Ukrainian’s pre-college statistics. But what is there is encouraging. At the 2019 U18 FIBA Euro Championships, Shulga showed out as a quality off-guard capable of shooting from deep, slashing to the hoop and occasionally handling the ball. His stats from FIBA shouldn’t be read into too much since it is a small sample size, but it’s hard to not be impressed by someone who shoots north of 60 percent for any stretch of games in fairly high volume.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">While definitely a contender for a rotation spot, Shulga could wind up being placed at the end of the rotation and perhaps even get a redshirt. Should he play, expect a small role, largely off-ball, sharing the court with a more experienced guard to handle playmaking duties. A lot like Sean Bairstow last season.</span></p> <p><iframe title="Max Shulga FIBA U18 European Championship 2019 Highlights" width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I686sIv--bg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <h3 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>4. Steven Ashworth</b></span></h3> <h4 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Guard | 6’ 1” | 170 lbs.</b></span></h4> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Prep Senior Season Stats — 16.4 points, 7.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Of all the incoming players, Ashworth looks the most impressive on film despite having the fewest physical gifts among said incoming guys. Though just over six feet tall and a bit lightweight, Ashworth exudes the GATA (Get After Their *Butts*) mentality Smith preaches over and over. On both ends of the court Ashworth plays smart and with a level of hustle that makes the audience feel tired just watching.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">It’s not just about hustle for Ashworth, he also brings plenty of skill. He brings quality ball handling and great passing vision, which allowed him to average north of seven assists his senior season. There aren’t any solid shooting numbers available, but on film Ashworth looks solid in catch-and-shoot scenarios.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Of the incoming freshman, Ashworth is one of a couple who have a chance to play their way into a starting spot at some point in the season. His ability to play point guard is unique on a team filled with combo guards who can pass but it’s not among their primary strengths. It’s unlikely he’ll start, barring injury, but solid minutes should be coming Ashworth’s way as a key piece of the backcourt.</span></p> <h3 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>3. Liam McChesney</b></span></h3> <h4 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Forward | 6’ 10” | 185 lbs.</b></span></h4> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Prep Senior Season Stats* — 21.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals, 2.0 blocks, 52.5 FG%, 25.0 3PT%, 83.3 FT%</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Few on the current Aggies roster can match the potential versatility McChesney could bring to the table. He’s rumored to be an elite-level shooter (though all we have are rumors since there is almost nothing available from McChesney’s high school days) with the length of a Division I center and nearly the quickness and game of a small forward. This is a kid who could one day dominate at all three levels of the court.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">If Craig Smith has one problem this year, it’s finding a way to get McChesney onto the floor. Ideally, McChesney could slide right in at power forward, but Bean and Anderson have those minutes almost entirely claimed. There is the possibility of playing him more at small forward, but it’s a little questionable if he can play there right now as his primary position. Still, it’s the most open position in the depth chart and letting a talent like McChesney sit on the bench another year isn’t something Smith or the Aggies want to do.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">*Based off four games from 2018 provincial playoffs. Full season stats for McChesney are not available</span></p> <h3 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>2. Rollie Worster</b></span></h3> <h4 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Guard | 6’ 3” | 200 lbs.</b></span></h4> <p class="p1">Prep Senior Season Stats — 21.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.2 steals, 49.4 FG%, 33.0 3PT%, 75.4 FT%</p> <p class="p1">Shooting and scoring are two things Utah State is going to need quite a bit of from its incoming players on the wing. Some 44 percent of USU’s points last season came via Merrill/Brito/Porter and outside of these three the Aggies made just 30.9 percent of their 3-point shots. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/7977794/Rollie-Worster">Worster appears to be the best candidate</a> among the first-years to fill both of these holes.</p> <p class="p1">The 2018-19 Gatorade Player of the Year for Montana is a crafty scorer and adept shooter who essentially held a 20 PPG average for three straight seasons in high school (it was 19.8 his sophomore year). He also shot the ball effectively throughout his entire tenure, shooting 49.2 overall, 36.7 from three and 73.8 at the free throw line.</p> <p class="p1">Worster doesn’t hold a significant advantage over the other freshman guards in terms of potential, but he is the most developed, both in his game and his body (weighing in at 200 pounds when most of the other freshman struggle to top 180 is no small thing). The combination of a fairly developed offensive game and frame could go a long way to being the top contributor among the freshman.</p> <p><iframe title="Marco Anthony | Guard | #44" width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bvb8TJTveNs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <h3 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>1. Marco Anthony</b></span></h3> <h4 class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Guard/Forward | 6’ 5” | 225 lbs.</b></span></h4> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">At Virginia, Anthony never got a chance to shine thanks to a dearth of NBA talent around him on the wing. With this move to Logan, the stage is set for Anthony to take over as the Aggies’ leading scorer. He’s a physically imposing specimen who can play 1-4 at any given moment. More importantly, Anthony is a natural scorer who did it all every level in high school with senior season scoring average of 25.5 points. He was also incredibly efficient shooting-wise in his prep years with a 66.61 true shooting percentage in three years.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">At the very least, look for Anthony to be among the go-to options for Smith and at best, we could be talking about Anthony as a potential Mountain West Player of the Year candidate.</span></p> <p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/ranking-utah-states-mbb-2020-21-newcomers/">Ranking Utah State’s MBB 2020-21 newcomers</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>USU men’s hoops adds Russian commit Zakhar Vedischev</title> <link>https://usustatesman.com/usu-mens-hoops-adds-russian-commit-zakhar-vedischev/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason Walker]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jun 2020 01:24:57 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[All]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Basketball]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Men's Basketball]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category> <category><![CDATA[USU basketball]]></category> <category><![CDATA[USU basketball recruiting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Utah State Basketball]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Utah State basketball recruiting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Zahar Vedishchev]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Zakhar Vedishchev]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://usustatesman.com/?p=22109962</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>After officially announcing two walk-ons, Matthew Wickizer and Karson Stastny, to the 2020 roster and seemingly wrapping up this year’s…</p> <p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/usu-mens-hoops-adds-russian-commit-zakhar-vedischev/">USU men’s hoops adds Russian commit Zakhar Vedischev</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After <a href="https://usustatesman.com/statsny-fills-out-usu-mens-hoops-roster/">officially announcing two walk-ons</a>, Matthew Wickizer and Karson Stastny, to the 2020 roster and seemingly wrapping up this year’s recruiting class, Craig Smith and his staff have reportedly added Russian guard/forward Zakhar Vedishchev (also spelled “Zahar”) to its 2020 team.</p> <p>ESPN’s Jonathan Givony posted on Twitter that sources had told ESPN the 6-foot-5 wing had committed to play in Logan.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Zakhar Vedischev has committed to Utah State, a source told ESPN. The 6'5 class of 2020 Russian guard had an excellent showing at last summer's FIBA U19 World Cup in Crete, including a 24 outburst against USA. Was a starter in the VTB league this season with Lokomotiv Kuban.</p> <p>— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) <a href="https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/1274810497636937729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2020</a></p></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p> <p> </p> <p>A day later, Utah State officially confirmed the news with a press release announcing the addition.</p> <p>Vedishchev broke out during 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup in Greece — his first-ever appearance in an international competition — leading his native Russia in scoring with 16.5 points per game. Much of that scoring came from beyond the arc as he sank a tournament-best 21 triples in his six games played. Percentage-wise, Vedishchev made 40.4 percent of his 8.7 downtown attempts per game.</p> <p>His best games during the World Cup came after the group stage. After sitting out the Round of 16 matchup against China, Vedishchev scored 20-plus points in three consecutive contests — 24 against the United States, 22 versus Serbia and another 22 against Puerto Rico. Across those three games, Vedishchev’s averages rose to 22.7 points on 45.1 percent shooting (42.4 percent from three) along with 4.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds per contest, as opposed to 10.3 points, 1.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds in his first three games.</p> <p>FIBA’s website named featured Vedishchev in an article about “<a href="http://www.fiba.basketball/world/u19/2019/news/five-players-who-blossomed-at-u19-world-cup">Five players who blossomed</a>” at the World Cup.</p> <p>Prior to his debut on the international stage, Vedishchev spent a year at famed basketball prep high school, Montverde Academy, playing with fellow sophomore and future NBA lottery pick, R.J. Barrett. Following his 2016-17 sophomore campaign, Vedishchev played two seasons with the youth squad of Lokomotiv Kuban, a Russian team owned by his father, Andrey.</p> <p>It was to Lokomotiv Kuban that the young wing returned to play for in the fall and winter of 2019-20 following the World Cup. He played in 11 games for the senior team, making six starts. Vedishchev also made seven appearances with one start for Kedainiai Nevezis of the Lithuanian pro league.</p> <p>While playing with these two squads, Vedishchev’s numbers were not nearly as good as with the U19 national team. He averaged just 12.6 minutes per game with 5.2 points on 33.3 percent shooting overall and 25.4 percent from 3-point range.</p> <p>Vedishchev did have multiple breakout performances, going for 21 points with Nevisis in a loss to <a href="https://www.proballers.com/basketball/game/423440/siauliai-nevezis-2019-11-20">Siauliai on Nov. 20</a> and later 16 points with Lokomotiv Kuban in a win over <a href="https://www.proballers.com/basketball/game/421671/lokomotiv-kuban-enisey-2020-01-25">Enisey on Jan. 25</a>. Those games accounted for two of the four times Vedishchev scored in double figures in league play.</p> <hr /> <p>@thejwalk67</p> <p>— jasonswalker94@gmail.com</p> <p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/usu-mens-hoops-adds-russian-commit-zakhar-vedischev/">USU men’s hoops adds Russian commit Zakhar Vedischev</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Two walk-ons fill out USU men’s hoops roster</title> <link>https://usustatesman.com/statsny-fills-out-usu-mens-hoops-roster/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason Walker]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2020 03:18:38 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[All]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Basketball]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Men's Basketball]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Karson Stastny]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Matthew Wickizer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[USU basketball]]></category> <category><![CDATA[USU basketball recruiting]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Utah State Basketball]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Utah State basketball recruiting]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://usustatesman.com/?p=22109884</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Utah State men’s basketball head coach Craig Smith has capped a flurry of recruiting in recent weeks with the addition…</p> <p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/statsny-fills-out-usu-mens-hoops-roster/">Two walk-ons fill out USU men’s hoops roster</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://usustatesman.com/category/sports/bball/">Utah State men’s basketball</a> head coach Craig Smith has capped a flurry of recruiting in recent weeks with the addition a pair of walk-ons: Matthew Wickizer and Karson Stastny, the latter being announced Friday in the early moments of the afternoon. The two additions are likely the final of the 2020-21 recruiting class.</p> <p>Wickizer, who’s addition to the 2020-21 Aggie roster was officially announced on June 8, comes out of Kearns High School in Salt Lake County, Utah. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 8.7 points and 4.8 rebounds his senior season in which Kearns went 20-4 and won the Region 2 title. In the final six games of the season, Wickizer averaged 14.7 points per game, making 3.3 triples per game.</p> <p>“[Wickizer] has great size, skill, and can really shoot the ball. He grew up an Aggie fan and has tremendous passion for the Aggies,” Smith said in a press release. “He fits the culture of our program as he will do whatever it takes for our team to be successful.”</p> <p>Stastny, a 6-foot-4 guard, will travel a bit farther to reach Logan. He played his high school ball at Celina High School in northeastern Texas. Stastny had a highly distinguished career at Celina, earning district MVP four times, a three-time Texas Area Basketball Coaches (TABC) All-Region choice, a two-time all-area selection and TABC All-State as a senior. In his four years, Stastny accumulated more than 2,000 points and 500 assists.</p> <p>“Karson has a great feel for the game,” USU head coach Craig Smith <a href="https://utahstateaggies.com/news/2020/6/12/utah-state-mens-basketball-announces-the-addition-of-karson-stastny.aspx">said in a press release</a>. “He is skilled and can really shoot the ball. Karson is a fantastic young man that will thrive in Cache Valley.”</p> <p>Over the course of his senior season, Stastny shot 64.2 percent from the field, 45.0 percent on 3-pointers and 82.7 percent on free throws.</p> <p>Along with basketball, Stastny competed in track and field. He won a district championship in the 200-meters and high jump while competing in the triple jump as well.</p> <p>Stastny will join three other freshman guards already signed to the team in recent months including former Lone Peak guard Steven Ashworth, former Hellgate (MT) standout Rollie Worster and Ukrainian international, Max Shulga.</p> <p>Utah State lost the core of its guard rotation this offseason with the graduation of Sam Merrill and Diogo Brito, along with Abel Porter who transferred to Ohio State.</p> <p>Those three accounted for 88 percent of minutes played by guards this past season. The remaining percentage belongs solely to the Australian sophomore, Sean Bairstow, who played 11.7 minutes per game in 32 appearances while averaging 2.8 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.0 assisted per outing. Bairstow won’t be the only returning guard. Virginia transfer Marco Anthony will be eligible to play this fall.</p> <p>Wickizer likewise joins a crowded depth chart in the frontcourt, one which features All-Mountain West standouts Neemias Queta and Justin Bean. The depth at forward is already well-established with Brock Miller and Alphonso Anderson filling in alongside Bean and Queta. Redshirt freshman and three-star recruit, Liam McChesney, will also see his first action this fall after sitting out last year’s action.</p> <hr /> <p>@thejwalk67</p> <p>— jasonswalker94@gmail.com</p> <p>The post <a href="https://usustatesman.com/statsny-fills-out-usu-mens-hoops-roster/">Two walk-ons fill out USU men’s hoops roster</a> appeared first on <a href="https://usustatesman.com">The Utah Statesman</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss>