Wilkinson deserves to be honored
I get the feeling that I’m always looking for the silver lining in things every time USU basketball does in fact lose a game. At the same time, I haven’t had to look for much silver lining this season since there really haven’t been any losses that could be labeled as “bad losses” for USU.
Saturday’s loss at Nevada falls into that same category. While no loss would ever be preferred over a win, this one could pay off as quite the learning experience later on for Utah State. With Nevada hosting next week’s Western Athletic Conference tournament, USU will get the rare chance to avenge a previous loss to a team on the same floor as before. The Aggies have only had that chance one time since joining the WAC when they were a missed buzzer-beater shy of beating New Mexico State in the championship game of the 2007 WAC Tournament on New Mexico State’s home floor. Don’t go thinking that there wasn’t anything learned from that first time around in Reno, which was no doubt a rough one.
Another thing to take notice of is the fact that since USU has been in the WAC, none of the conference tournament champions have won three out of three games against the team they faced in the championship game.
The last piece of silver lining is to keep in mind that ever since the Aggies cracked the national rankings a month ago they have had a target painted on them. Every opposing team had the USU game on their schedule penciled in as their “big one” or their own personal Super Bowl, if you will. It also doesn’t help that the teams gunning for USU the most were also the teams who were best equipped to actually beat the Aggies.
But, what’s done is done. The losses this season have been very few, and I think some have forgotten just how great we’ve had it up here. The Aggies have one more regular season game at home Saturday night, and unless San Jose State can pull out a miracle, the Aggies will stand just one win shy of tying the record for most wins in school history. The Aggies are the regular season WAC Champions and are a win away from a second consecutive undefeated season at home. If that isn’t enough silver lining for any fan then it’s probably time to look to things other than sports as a source of entertainment.
Silver linings aside now, I want to take a second and give some very due props to Gary Wilkinson. When assistant coach Lance Beckert cut down the last string of the net after the WAC Championship clinching victory last Thursday against Hawaii, it could not have been more fitting than it was when he handed that net to Wilkinson to go celebrate with teammates and fans. Wilkinson came in a season ago and did nothing but work hard and do what was asked of him. At times it seemed like he needed the work, but he always got it done. His career record at USU currently stands at 50-15, not to mention overcoming the challenge of replacing Jaycee Carroll as the man for the Aggies. I don’t think many people gave either Wilkinson, or the rest of this year’s Aggies, a chance to do as well as they have.
Wilkinson is also one of those rare cases of a guy gets his very own senior night, and I don’t think it could be any more fitting. It seems like nobody enjoys playing in front of the Spectrum crowd as much as Wilkinson. For this, and many other reasons, hold off on skipping town for your Spring Break and stick around to send off Gary just how he deserves. Afterall, the WAC Tournament doesn’t start until March 12, so there’s no rush to leave just yet.