USU overcame expectations to win Big West
On Feb. 24, the USU basketball team lost two straight games.
Fans in Cache Valley were distraught. How could this team be just 22-5?
That’s how high the fans’ expectations of head coach Stew Morrill’s team were at the start of the season.
“[Losing a game] happens to most teams,” said assistant coach Randy Rahe.
But in the end, the Aggies won the Big West title for the second-straight year and won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 1970 with a 28-6 record – exactly the same record as last year. And they were also the unanimous winner of the Statesman Men’s Team of the Year award.
“When its all said and done,” Rahe said. “We exceeded expectations.”
However, for Rahe and the coaching staff, the accomplishments will not stick in his mind as much as the team’s players.
“We look at the great kids we had,” Rahe said. And the same should go for the Aggie fans.
Seniors like Curtis Bobb, Dion Bailey, Shawn Daniels, Bernard Rock and Dimitri Jorssen are considered by some to be the best USU players on and off the court.
Rahe praised the team’s coachability, unselfishness and strong character. The ability to get along and work as a team (no one averaged more than 12 points a game).
“I think that was a huge part of it,” Rahe said. “They bought into the defense; they all sacrificed.”
Rahe said the coaching staff recruits “good kids,” but you never really get to know the players until they start practices.
“That’s what you always want,” he said. “But that’s not only what you get.”
The core of the team proved itself in the 1999-2000 year, and the Aggies got off to a solid start in this season.
The Aggies only lost two games in the pre-season – both tight losses to Austin Peay University, 80-76 in overtime, and Brigham Young University, 69-67. They then won their first seven Big West Conference games before the University of California at Irvine upended USU 56-51 in Irvine on Jan. 31.
USU went into the Big West Tournament as the No. 2 seed flexing its defensive muscles. They held California State University at Fullerton, Boise State University and the University of the Pacific all under 43 points – all were season-bests for USU. The Aggies shut out the Broncos for the final 12 minutes in the semifinal game.
“It’s so hard to win a championship,” Rahe said. “The losses made us stronger.”
So once again, USU found itself back East as the 12th seed in the NCAA Tournament – this time against Ohio State. The Aggies won that game in overtime, 77-68 (the game also won the Statesman award for Event of the Year).
UCLA turned out to be too much for the Aggies in the second round; overwhelmed 75-50, the Aggies were forced to break out of their zone defense. But that loss was soon forgotten because of the season’s successes.
The win over Ohio State will help with recruiting and program recognition, Rahe said.
Now the five seniors will be gone, but five new signees (the final one was signed this week) will replace them. And Rahe is confident that next year’s will overcome its growing pains.
“There’s a lot of pride in the program,” Rahe said.