Offense wins the Blue and White game

Saturday's Blue and White game had a much better feel to it than any other USU spring game in recent memory. For starters, there was all the buzz about the new logo already stirring about the atmosphere. Throw in a higher attendance for the spring game than any other one for longer than many of us can remember, and things were all coming together.

Things were made especially interesting with a new scoring system in place that made for a true offense vs. defense setup. Both teams were given points for scoring, while points were also awarded to the offense for big plays, first downs, etc. The defense got points for sacks, tackles for loss, turnovers, points, three-and-outs, etc.

The end result was a 58-57 win for the offense, which came on the basically the last place of the game. It was awesome, and without a doubt the best spring game setup I've ever seen. All in all, just a tremendously well-done event.

New logo, new uniforms, new conference?

THE NEW LOGO: MY TAKE
I love it. I was skeptical as all hell, and I didn't totally know what to expect... but I love it. It's simple, sleek, identifiable, modern, and probably above anything, versatile!

I knew going in that it couldn't be anything too gaudy or flashy. Nike is smart enough to know that Cache Valley is a very conservative market in which they're trying to appeal to, so it was going to have to be something updated and modern, but still something that could appeal to the bulk of the non-risk taker fans.


THE NEW UNIFORMS
Regardless of how you feel about the new logo, if you try and tell me that the new uniforms don't look good, the value of your opinion is gone in my book. The uniforms were absolutely spectacular. They all used the same style of text in saying "Utah State", as well as three choices in color with the Aggie blue, fighting white, and the all new gritty grey (yeah, you heard it here first).

Michael Smith to Tampa Bay

In the history of USU football, not sure there has ever been a year when two guys who play the same position were drafted. In recent history, not many USU guys have even been drafted, both due to those down years of the program, as well as the draft shortening to only seven rounds back in 1994.

After a terrific senior season, MVP honors of the Players Classic All-Star Game and a phenomenal pro day workout, Michael Smith got his name called as a seventh round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Smith will join a backfield that will be a bit crowded, giving him much less of an ideal situation than what Robert Turbin landed into in Seattle. LeGarrett Blount is the team's leading returning back after racking up 781 yards on 184 carries in 2011. Between Blount and quarterback Josh Freeman, the Bucs only amassed nine rushing touchdowns over the course of the season.

Obviously with Blount's production being only mediocre, the Bucs were looking for a big upgrade, and they appear to likely have one... in Doug Martin.

Still teammates: Seattle drafts Robert Turbin

Using the 106th overall pick, the Seattle Seahawks came knocking on Utah State's door once again, this time drafting running back Robert Turbin.

Much like Wagner, Turbin appears to be coming into a situation where he'll be expected to fill a need for the Seahawks. While Marshawn Lynch is the unquestioned starter at running back for Seattle, everyone knows you need some running back depth in the NFL, and a solid compliment to Lynch is apparently a need that they wanted to fill.

Turbin will be battling for carries with Leon Washington and Justin Forsett. Neither was overly impressive last season, and both are decently smaller than Turbin, who is built somewhat similar to Lynch.

Bobby Wagner is a Seahawk

With the 47th pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks selected Bobby Wagner!!

At first glance, it appears that Wagner will be looked upon to immediately fill the void left by David Hawthorne, who signed a five-year deal with the New Orleans Saints this offseason. Hawthorne led Seattle in 2011 with 115 total tackles playing alongside fellow starters Leroy Hill and K.J. Wright.

As is generally the case with second round picks, Wagner should be counted on to compete for, and likely earn a starting role. This all obviously looks that much more likely with Hawthorne being out of the picture now.

For anyone who has scouted Wagner extensively, this should not come as a surprise. Wagner is similar to Hawthorne in size, and with his instincts and ball-hawking ability, should be able to fit in nicely with Hill and Wright's experience.

Hill is a seasoned veteran at this point, having surpassed 70 tackles in five of his six NFL seasons, and going over 80 tackles in four of his last five. His 89 tackles in 2011 was the second highest total of his career (all with Seattle).

NFL draft weekend starts tonight

Once upon a time, the NFL Draft was an all-day Saturday and all-day Sunday event that commanded the attention of an entire weekend. Growing up, my brother and I referred to it as The Holiest of All Holidays, and for good reason. Any day where you roll out of bed, pop on the couch for some football (of sorts) all day, eat munchies, bean dip and drink soda while getting a glimpse at your team's future was as good as it got for a Saturday in late-April.

Then Roger Goodell, as he so often does, shat on everything. We get this primetime draft garbage that just ruined that most holy of days. As if him trying to take contact out of the NFL wasn't enough... freakin dick.

BUT... On the brighter side of things, when was the last time we were all pretty sure we'd see three Utah State Aggies drafted in a single draft?? (Seriously, any of you older guys who could help with this answer, it would be appreciated)

A check in with Utah Pump-N-Run and USU recruiting

I'll admit, I went on Facebook and stole this photOH MY GOD
THAT AFRO IS INCREDIBLE!!!

The ties between Utah Pump-N-Run and Utah State University seem to be running deeper and deeper every year. Notable names of guys who have suited up for UPNR at some point include Brian Green, Jaxon Myaer, Jordan Stone, Ben Clifford, David Collette, Quincy Bair and Marcel Davis. They had me at Brian Green...

This past weekend UPNR was in action in a big way, and one guy of note on the current roster is USU class of 2013 commit, Jalen Moore. While Moore's name came up numerous times in brief recaps of the tournament, one bit in particular stood out...

"Jalen Moore might be one of the most talented players to play on UPNR squad in the last ten years. This kid can do it all. The USU commit would have schools knocking his door down to get at him if not already committed to the Aggies. Good job on spotting talent early and offering this kid by USU coaches! USU is building a tall and talented team for the future with a host of UPNR players past and present!"

Pretty much says it all...


BUT WE'RE NOT DONE YET!

A case of the Monday's, but still an update

A case of the Monday's is a pretty good way to describe, well... Monday. Granted nobody will read this until Tuesday morning, but at 2:21 a.m. (when most of these articles begin their production) it's still Monday for this guy!

Anyway, at some point in between shouting swear words at my TV during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, putting off the last couple final grades for 2011-12 basketball and a long-overdue change of address back to some town called Logan, at least some kind of update on things was needed, right? So let's hit on some of the weekend's topics and such as.

GARY WILKINSON GOING FOR ANOTHER TITLE
Last year former Aggie Gary Wilkinson helped carry the New Zealand Breakers to the National Basketball League title. Probably by the time anyone reads this, the final game of the 2012 finals will have come and gone. Either way, Wilkinson is having another monster year over there, averaging 16.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in leading the breakers to a league-best record of 21-7. 

Let's hope the Breakers make it two in-a-row!

**UPDATE: Breakers win!!!!

Bruneel on his way out

I've made no secret that I hate writing about this kind of stuff, but it's still news. In what is hopefully the last departure we see this offseason, Mitch Bruneel is headed elsewhere as reported by Tony Jones.

Out of all of this year's departures, I feel like this one could end up having the most of the Myaer effect. Granted, not to quite that level because of Bruneel not being a point guard, nor do I believe he has that swagger that Myaer had in his days in Logan, but I still worry that this one could come back to bite us.

Bruneel was maybe the epitome of solid, but not spectacular. When I graded his season, I said that his role is best served as a fourth wing in the rotation. Players want to play though, and fourth was going to be the best-case scenario for Bruneel this coming season. If that's a role he would have been willing to embrace, then great, but players want to play. I don't know whose decision to cut ties this was, but if it was Bruneel's, you can't fault him for it. If this was a call made by the coaching staff, kinda can't fault them either. It was a tough season this past year and they've got to be on the hunt for immediate upgrades.

Regardless, sad to see a guy go like this. He had a few big games this past season and a couple others where he made solid contributions as well. Who knows what could have been with him having two more years to go? Not only that, but without him in the mix, the wings situation for USU next year has a little less flexibility with redshirting, and such.

Best of luck to Mitch from here. No doubt he'll find somewhere good to land and make some solid contributions there.

Yes that is a (new) scoreboard!!

Going off of memory, I believe this is the first official team-effort in the history of this fledgling website. But hey, there's gotta be a first for everything, and if somebody is going to go out of their way to contribute quality, newsworthy content, then hell freaking yes it's going to be featured on here!

So, courtesy of an anonymous contributor who we'll call n8orade, we've got a first look at the new scoreboard inside The Spectrum!!

At first glance, it looks like we might be going with just the four video boards to handle all the duties, which wouldn't be a bad setup at all given that they will probably be of mind-blowing quality compared to what we're used to. But along the top it looks like they could be doing a circular LED display, similar to like this. Purely speculation on that, as well as the hope, or at least possibility that there are a set of smaller screens for stats and such that hung just below the four main screens.

While I'd heard a rumor or two that the days of Big Blue repelling from the scoreboard might be over, this setup looks like it could still facilitate such a thing. I'm sure there's plenty more that goes into all that though, so we'll just have to wait and see. (UPDATE: At least one source has stated that Big Blue WILL indeed still be able to drop down from this new scoreboard.)

Anyway, enjoy the little sneak peek. Hopefully we don't get in trouble for this.

Also thanks to the person who contributed this photo! (you know who you are.)

The 2012 USU basketball recruiting guide

With the signings of Marvin Jean and TeNale Roland earlier this week, Utah State looks to be done with basketball recruiting for the 2012 class.Now, it's time to break it all down!

To give a first impression, this looks like it very well could, and probably should turn out to be Stew Morrill's best recruiting class since, well... ever! Looking back at the 2005 class that brought in Durrall Peterson, Chaz Spicer, Chris Session, Nate Bendall and Tyler Newbold (who came later because of a mission), that's got some quality star power across that board. 2006 wasn't half-bad either with Kris Clark, Steve Ducharme, Brady Jardine and Pooh Williams.

But for each of those classes there were a couple of misses as well, which really can be said for every year. If you ever get a year where every guy in a class pans out to be a solid contributor, chances are a nice little NCAA tournament run is in your near future.

So if the basketball gods wouldn't mind smiling down on Utah State University this coming season, we'd really enjoy it if this were to be the class where everyone pans out to be studs. The ensuing result of such an astrological alignment (that's part of the Mayan 2012 thing, right?) would create something so unstoppable that not even John Cusack could save the rest of the WAC from USU's wrath (kind of like how he couldn't save that apocalyptic movie from being s***ty).

Farewell to Farris; E.J. and the Aggies parting ways

As has been the case whenever anyone leaves the program, it's always a bummer to see any guy who committed himself and put in the work to be a part of the program take his leave prematurely. We see it every year, including already this offseason, but it still sucks to hear about.

Such is the case once again though, this time with backup point guard E.J. Farris according to Tony Jones' story Wednesday.

In two seasons as an Aggie, Farris played enough to be considered a regular, being a part of one 30-win team and another that went the final game of a postseason tournament. While his statistics weren't anything spectacular, he was a guy who always played hard, played smart and played within himself.

Going into his senior season though, the unfortunate reality is that Farris came to the program as a walk-on (we think) battling with one guy who is arguably the best point guard recruit ever landed by Stew Morrill, as well as a junior college all-American entering the program. This isn't all the unlike when Stew was straight up with Jaxon Myaer's prospective playing time with a pair of big-time additions coming in Brockeith Pane and James Walker two years ago.

Things worked as pretty good for Myaer in the long run, as sad as it was to see him go, so we can only hope Farris finds a good place to land as well.

Best of luck E.J., and thanks for all the hard work you put in here!

Tenale Roland rounds out 2012 recruiting

A few weeks ago we were able to piece together enough of the USU recruiting picture to determine that was hard after another wing and another point guard for next season, including who the prime candidates were. Since then we'd seen both of the wings on Utah State's radar commit to become Aggies, but the point guard situation was still a little bit unclear.

No longer...

Tenale Roland added his name to USU's potentially legendary 2012 recruiting class on Tuesday.

While Quan Conner made waves among USUfans with an impressive highlight video, Roland indeed might have been the guy the coaching staff coveted all along. While he didn't have the luxury of wowing fans with a slick-looking YouTube reel, Roland was the first to take an official visit to USU of the two, is touted as a stud defender (which we know is HUGE for Stew), had impressive numbers across the board and even brought home some all-American honors.

Roland was listed as a freshman at Rend Lake College last season, which leads to believe he and Marcel Davis will be splitting point guard responsibilities for the next three seasons. Under Stew Morrill at USU, no single point guard has played regular minutes for more than two seasons, so to have this kind of continuity would be something pretty major.

Marvin Jean makes it official

Rumors have been flying around for a while about Marvin Jean becoming an Aggie. Now it looks like the first news we heard about him has turned out to be true after all...

Marvin Jean is going to be an Aggie!

Coming off a season at Sullivan County Community College where he averaged 13.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He converted on 41 percent of his shots from the field and was solid from behind the 3-point line as well, hitting 40 percent of his 134 attempts on the year.

Aside from the numbers, Jean bring a very good athlete with some height (6'5) and length that should fit in great on the wing next year. Based on what little video can be found out there of Jean playing, he looks like a tremendous athlete who is willing to be a team-first kind of guy. He also appears to take a little pride in his defense, which is probably a big part of why Stew Morrill and company showed interest in the first place.

Really for the coaches to be willing to fly all the way to New York to see a player play and to make them a recruiting priority, there's got to be something special they see in Jean. While his size and athleticism looks to be pretty good, it's nothing off the charts that couldn't be found in a lot of other players. So I feel it's safe to assume from there that they see some intangibles in Jean, whether it's his instincts, his motor, heart, swagger, or whatever else it may... It's all something we may find out a little bit more of after the coaches are able to comment on him after signing.

2011-12 Final grades: Danny Berger

Danny Berger - Sophomore
31 games, 25 starts
 ________________________
Averages
25.8 minutes
6.6 points
3.4 rebounds
2.4 assists
49.1% - FG
36.7% - 3pt
76.9% - FT


Now the grades really get tricky as we've worked our way into the starters. These are the guys we've seen the most of, seen their ups and downs, seen them play through slumps, and seen their big games that have raised the bar of expectations. In Berger's case, he made a really great impression early on and also had a pretty excellent finish to the season, leaving us all to wonder, "what happened in the middle there?"

It's unfair to ignore the fact that he came to Logan ridiculously fresh off a mission, but was expected to have the luxury of redshirting. When Adam Thoseby, Mitch Bruneel and Steve Thornton couldn't deliver on a consistent basis, Berger was thrown into the fire. The result was some stellar play in his first couple games that seemed to really inject life into the whole team. Still, with no time to get in the kind of shape demanded of a college athlete, fatigue seemed to takes its toll, along with the challenge of playing at a new level for the first time.

Thoseby and Premasunac moving on. Others looking to step in.

A FEW FAREWELLS

This time of year always comes with the excitement of recruiting and speculating about what the next season will hold for a team. The dark side of it all is the unfortunate reality that every season there are a few players who see their careers with USU come to a premature end, venturing forward to finish their playing years with another program.

Regardless of whatever factors lead to such a departure, it's tough to have to bid farewell to any player who chose to come to USU, put in the work that is demanded of players throughout any season and be a part of the program and university we're all passionate about, only to have that rug pulled out from under them. They go to school, make friends and become part of the community just like everyone else, but when the basketball side of things go away, the rest gets left behind too.

For Adam Thoseby and Igor Premasunac, they are the victims of that unfortunate reality this year. It doesn't take rocket science to see that there are probably greener pastures out there for Premasunac in a lower level where more minutes could be waiting for him. In Thoseby's case, I was a believer that he could eventually develop into a dependable backup with some more seasoning and a redshirt year. But with what looks to be some great talent on the wings next year, as well as younger guys like Quincy Bair, Riley Bradshaw and Jalen Moore coming in over the next two seasons, It's tough to justify having as many as nine wing players on scholarship going into the 2013-14 season. It's a tough situation, but I don't doubt for a second that Thoseby will land on his feet somewhere and make something very good out of his playing career.

Best of luck to both these guys moving forward. It's a shame for it to have to end like this for any guy that wants to be an Aggie.


SO WHO STEPS IN TO FILL THE VOIDS?

We know Spencer Butterfield is coming, and if you ask me, that alone could be a good enough acquisition for USU to be set on the wings next year. Danny Berger would likely hold onto his starting job next to Preston Medlin, with Butterfield being the ace off the bench and Mitch Bruneel as the No. 4 option.

It looks though like Marvin Jean is still very much on the radar, and will be in Logan this weekend. Reports are now that he's deciding between Utah State and Norfolk State. If Jean indeed commits, as he's reported expected to do, he would give the wings some excellent athleticism and length. It feels safe to assume that he would be given the chance to earn a starting role too, with the worst case scenario being a strong addition of depth. Not so bad of a thing considering that the last time USU ran four-deep on the wings, the fourth guy that year was Preston Medlin, and things seem to have worked out just fine for him.

If Jean and Butterfield are in the mix, that would have to indicate a redshirt season for Bruneel, which I think could be a very good thing, both for him, and for the team in the future.

As far as the point guard spot is concerned, if either one of Quan Conner or Tenale Roland come to USU, this team will be loaded with some serious firepower for next season. Either one sounds like they'd also be a great acquisition and a great compliment to Marcel Davis. Conner visits this weekend and is choosing between USU and Morehead State. Roland is visiting Idaho this weekend, and it isn't really known where USU and Idaho fit into his picture, or who else is after him.

(*Side note: If you call yourself an Aggie fan and aren't following Tony Jones on Twitter, and regularly reading his blog, you're doing it wrong.)

2011-12 Final grades: Ben Clifford

Ben Clifford - Freshman
36 games, 4 starts
 ________________________
Averages
16.8 minutes
4.4 points
3.5 rebounds
0.36 assists
50.9% - FG
38.9% - 3pt
72.9% - FT


I made no secret early on about my feelings toward Ben Clifford. He became my underdog that I wanted to see succeed after only a few games with his always solid rebounding, never half-assing his effort defensively and his overall motor playing out there. It seemed obvious that he cared as much as anyone else out there earlier on in the year, long before the team found the collective passion that drove them to finish the season as strong as they did (and hey, huge kudos to everyone on that one!)

With the chance to make a historical comparison or two, you know I'm going to! The last USU big man to play as a freshman without two years of growing up on a mission was the legend himself, Nate Harris. Harris, like Clifford, redshirted his first year at USU and was the primary big man off the bench as a redshirt freshman. How the numbers stack up are a bit surprising, keeping in mind that they somehow both managed to average exactly 16.8 minutes per game in their freshman years.

Harris:   5.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg. 16 assists, 39 TOs, 11 blk, 21 stl. - 60.9% FG - 0.0% 3pt - 60.3% FT
Clifford: 4.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg. 13 assists, 30 TOs, 17 blk, 16 stl. - 50.9% FG - 38.9% 3pt - 72.9% FT

2011-12 Final grades: Mitch Bruneel

Mitch Bruneel - Sophomore
36 games, 9 starts
 ________________________
Averages
14.9 minutes
4.1 points
1.8 rebounds
0.69 assists
49.1% - FG
40% - 3pt
60.7% - FT


 With USU coming off a historic season and stuck with the loss of six graduating seniors, bringing in a player fresh off a JUCO national championship looked like an ideal way to keep some winning momentum going. Bruneel was one of the key players during Southern Idaho's championship season was being looked at to provide some scoring punch, toughness and defense on the wings.

As was the case though with the majority of Utah State's team this season, Bruneel's play could only be described as inconsistent. Some games he looked like an all-around force, others he pulled the disappearing act.

Positives: Early on in the season, when this team was really struggling to find itself, Bruneel was one of the more consistent guys on the team. Through the first 10 games of the season he averaged 5.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game on 53 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from deep. He also punished the living hell out of San Jose State, hitting 8-of-10 3-pointers and scoring 27 total points over two games against the Spartans. Ever once in a while in a tense situation he'd seem to fly out of nowhere for a tip-in basket too, and really, was pretty good about finishing around the rim all season.

2011-12 Final grades: E.J. Farris

E.J. Farris - Junior
33 games, 1 start
 ________________________
Averages
9.2 minutes
2.8 points
1.2 rebounds
0.79 assists
34.8% - FG
19.4% - 3pt
95.7% - FT


As has been the case with everyone else so far, E.J. Farris' final grade will depend partly on what was expected of him going into this year. For a guy tasked with backing up the preseason WAC Player of the Year, the expectations weren't exactly through the roof for a guy most people are pretty sure is a walk-on (not dealing in absolutes there after the internet was all sorts of wrong about Morgan Grim being a walk-on).

Even with the low expectations, this season had a fair share of ups, downs and frustrations.

Spencer Butterfield chooses Utah State - with bonus content!

It was only a matter of time before the USU recruiting picture became a little bit more clear, and Friday was a big step in that direction.

News came out early Friday that Yuba College shooting guard Spencer Butterfield committed to play for Utah State next season, bringing with him the toughness and scoring punch that made him a superstar at the junior college level. The Aggies are getting a player who led his team in scoring, rebounding, and steals, while having the second most assists on his team as well.

His overall numbers were 16.3 points per game, 8.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists, all while hitting on 54.3 percent of his shots from the field and 48.2 percent from behind the 3-point line. Oh, and all of this is from a guy who is only 6'3.

Based on everything that's been reported about his toughness and persona as a player, mixed in with his statistics, Butterfield sounds like the ultimate hybrid between Brian Green and Jared Quayle. If that potential doesn't get you excited... well... you probably don't know who Green and Quayle are.

Thursday takes on Utah State, grey jerseys, Utah and Rivals.com

Before that recruiting article got wordy as all hell, the original plan was to weigh in on several current topics surrounding Utah State athletics. Now with a few other bits of news with USU and neighboring schools coming about, let's weigh in shall we?


YES THAT WAS A SCOREBOARD!!!

We knew this day was coming, but it's still a little bit sad to see the old scoreboard and jumbotron go. It wasn't a pretty sight to look at this past year with all the technical difficulties and the tarps of advertisements covering up the corner screens on there, but for those of us who have come and gone from USU since that scoreboard has been there, it's been a part of The Spectrum as we've always known it.

I'm sure the new scoreboard will look nice and fancy up there, but from what I understand, will not have a support inside it from which Big Blue can repel out from. So those days look to be done too. Maybe I've heard wrong on that topic, and maybe the plan for the new board could change, but that is what is likely the case.

Sorting out USU basketball's current recruiting picture

It seems like a flurry of recruiting news and rumors waited until right after the season officially ended last Wednesday to surface. So with all the speculation flying around, it's about time The Sagebrush Spot weighed in on a couple of these guys. Keep in mind too that this is all based on what I've been able to gather from various sources around the internet, while doing my best to be accurate on everything based on info available.

THE NEEDS

As things look, Utah State is after a point guard and at least one wing player to bring in for next year. Who those guys will be is the question that still remains... But we've got a few ideas.

THE RECRUITS

PG - Quan Conner
According to an article posted three weeks ago, Connr currently holds a scholarship offer from the Aggies. According to his Twitter, he's narrowed his choices to Morehead State and Utah State, with impending visits to both (Morehead this weekend, USU the next).

Based on video available of him, he looks like a total stud prospect. Smooth ball handling ability, good court-vision, some pretty passes and a good outside shot. Above all else, he looks like he just loves playing basketball. With that kind of mentality, one can only imagine the epic high-fives that he and Preston Medlin might share during big moments next season if those two are wrecking everyone's eardrums at The Spectrum together. This season he was 16th in NJCAA Division-I scoring with just more than 19 points per game to go with 3.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.

2011-12 Final grades: Jordan Stone

Jordan Stone - Freshman
34 games, 2 starts
 ________________________
Averages
9.3 minutes
2.1 points
2.5 rebounds
0.12 assists
60.5% - FG
N/A% - 3pt
48.6% - FT


Fair or not, I disclaimed from the beginning that part of Adam Thoseby's final grade was going to be judged partly on the early hype he carried, as well as his impressive showing in exhibition games. On the flip side of that, Jordan Stone gets a bit of leeway given the fact that coaches very much had hoped to redshirt him, but due to the lack of size down low, couldn't do it.

The thing that was tough about this was the fact that Stone very much looked in need of a redshirt year. Coaches had tabbed him as a project all along, and the last thing you want to have to do with a project player is pull a redshirt and thrust them into action. But when Brady Jardine got hurt and Igor Premasunac struggled to come along, Stone was needed. When Morgan Grim and Kyisean Reed had nagging injuries, Stone was needed more. On the bright side of that, he still got a decent amount of minutes for a true freshman, and all of it should help him for the future.

2011-12 Final grades: Adam Thoseby

Adam Thoseby - Freshman
28 games, 2 starts
 ________________________
Averages
8 minutes
1.6 points
0.4 rebounds
0.39 assists
27.1% - FG
31.3% - 3pt
37.5% - FT


I'm going to disclaim this now, but a big part of what is going to factor into the final grade for Tea-Time (fist pump for using that nickname for the first time in forever) is going to be the hype that followed Thoseby into the start of this season. Reports came out in the days leading up to the first exhibition game against UC San Diego that Thoseby was majorly turning heads, so much so that it apparently looked like a starting role could be in his very near future.

Whether or not that forecast was under the assumption that his grasp of the system was come along quickly, I have no idea. Regardless, things appear that they did not quite pan out as some had hoped for Tea-Time. Of his 225 minutes played this season, more than half of them came in the first eight games of the year. He played double-digit minutes in seven of those eight games, but only reached that mark twice in the team's 29 games from that point.

2011-12 Final grades: Igor Premasunac

Igor Premasunac - Junior
13 games, 0 starts
 ________________________
Averages
3.2 minutes
0.2 points
0.6 rebounds
0.08 assists
20% - FG
0% - 3pt
N/A - FT


What exactly is one supposed to say about Igor's season in 2011-12? Eight of his 13 appearances this season were stints of no more than two minutes and the statistics which he registered the most of were personal fouls, rebounds and turnovers, in that order. In the bigger picture of things, he never seemed to really click with anything within the system here.

Positives: He filled in with 10 minutes of play (nearly a quarter of his season total) when injuries had USU shorthanded against Idaho State. It also has to go mentioned that he did indeed score two points on the road at Louisiana Tech in nine minutes of play in that game. Maybe the biggest thing is that USU was 12-1 in games he appeared in, with the only loss being on the road at New Mexico State. Really though, all of this is a reach as far as finding positives.