Stew's top 20: No. 1 - Jaycee Carroll

Finally, we're here. The top player of the last 14 years, and arguably in all of Utah State history, is none other than the 6'2 guard from Evanston, Wyoming... Jaycee Carroll.

It took all of one game to get the conversation started about what heights Carroll's career would reach, with a team-high 19 points in the first game of his freshman season. Fast forward to a few months later, and he had already racked up the Big West Freshman of the Year award, second-team all-Big West honors, Rivals.com freshman all-American, and the Big West Tournament Most Valuable Player award.

And it was only up from there...

As a sophomore, Carroll made significant improvements in both points and assists per game, earning second-team all-WAC honors that season. On the year, he averaged 16.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 45.1 percent from 3-point land.

But going into his junior season, Carroll was without a dominant post player to balance out the offense for the first time in his career. All he did was up his game to a whole new level, chipping in an extra five points per game, nearly doubling his rebounding average and shooting 52.7 percent from the field. Carroll largely put that entire team on his back, helping lead the Aggies to the most unlikely 23-win season of the last 14 years.

And while Chaz Spicer was Mr. Automatic in the final seconds, if USU needed a big basket to either tie the game or bring USU within one more basket to take the lead, Carroll was the guy hitting that big shot every time!

After leading the WAC in scoring, including an epic 44-point game against New Mexico State, Carroll was a no-brainer pick for the all-WAC first team. And with three-time WAC Player of the Year Nick Fazekas graduated, Carroll was also a no-brainer to be the preseason Player of the Year going into the 2007-08 season.

He completely lived up to all the hype as a senior, upping his scoring by a little and his 3-point percentage by a lot. Most importantly though, he helped lead Utah State to its first WAC regular season title. At the end of that regular season, Carroll became the first Stew Morrill player to earn Player of the Year honors in either the WAC or Big West.

The biggest accomplishment though came on a Saturday night in January against the Idaho Vandals. Just two days after helping Morrill become the all-time coaching wins leader at Utah State, Carroll stuck a claim to the greatest individual record a player can earn. Needing just two points to tie Greg Grants scoring record, and three to claim the record for himself, he came off a high screen early in the first half and let a 3-point shot go that would make history.

A high bounce off and stalling on the rim that seemed like forever, the shot finally went down, cementing Carroll as the greatest scorer in this history of Utah State basketball. He finished his career with an unreal 2,522 points.

Breaking down his game as a whole, Carroll was about as good at shooting a basketball as most anyone to ever play the game. Not just at Utah State, but in the history of basketball. On top of that, he had a relentless motor, playing insane totals of minutes each game, yet never seeming to get fatigued. He was also an elite rebounder for a guard and terrific at reading and jumping into passing lanes defensively. For his career, Carroll averaged 18.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and two assists per game, while shooting 51.1 percent from the field 46.5 percent from behind the 3-point line and hitting 86.1 percent of his free throws.

With all-conference honors in all four of his seasons, a Player of the Year award and possession of the single greatest individual record ever, the choice for No. 1 is obvious.

In Stew Morrill's time at Utah State, there has been no greater player than Jaycee Carroll.

Stew's top 20: No. 2 - Tai Wesley

Between 2008 and 2011, Utah State enjoyed more success than any other four-year stretch in school history. Three outright WAC championships, a shared WAC title, two conference tournament championships, 111 wins and an overall conference record of 55-9 are just a few of the accomplishments.

Players such as Gary Wilkinson, Jared Quayle and Jaycee Carroll all had significant parts in making that all happen. No player though was as crucial to USU's most successful four-year run than Tai Wesley.

After just 10 games in his freshman season, Wesley played his way into a starting role over then-senior Steve Ducharme. By season's end, Wesley had fallen just short of being just the third of Stew Morrill's freshman to average 10 points per game, coming in at 9.9. He also averaged 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, while logging the sixth best single-season field goal percentage in USU history of 63.5 percent.

Then as a sophomore, Wesley upped the game even more, boosting his averages to 12 points, six rebounds and 2.7 assists per game as one of the backbones of a school-record 30-win season. Along with teammate Gary Wilkinson, he and Wesley made up the highest scoring post duo of the last 14 years during the 2008-09 season, combining for 29.1 points per game and essentially dominating every other team down low. That year also included the first of three NCAA Tournament appearances for Wesley.

Then as a junior, Wesley kept the train rolling. Despite a few rough patches during the non-conference schedule, as well as an 0-2 start to WAC play, Wesley stepped up and took the leadership reigns to push the team to a 15-game winning streak to finish the regular season, another trip to the big dance and first-team all-WAC honors. For the season, he averaged 13.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.

While Wesley had shared the spotlight with the likes of Carroll, Wilkinson and Quayle during his first three seasons, for 2010-11, Wesley was undoubtedly THE guy. The end result was another 30-win season, a merciless domination of the WAC with a 15-1 record, a top 25 ranking, another all-WAC first team honor and winning of the 2011 WAC Player of the Year award. He averaged 14.8 points, eight rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 blocks and 0.8 steals per game. He finished his senior season and career as the most dominant player on arguably USU's best team ever.

Capping it off was Wesley being named only the fourth Associated Press All-American selection in USU history, joining Carroll, Wilkinson and Wayne Estes.

He finished his career ranking in the top 10 in USU history in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, field goals made, field goal percentage, free throws made, 10-point games, games played, games started, total minutes played, and above all else... WINS!!!

A dominant low-post scorer, defender, passer and leader, Wesley's career was the best career of any player in the last 14 years to not have set an all-time scoring record!

Stew's top 20: No. 3 - Nate Harris

One constant on this entire top 20 has been pointing out what different players did to set themselves apart from the rest. And with one of the main factors for ranking being all-conference honors, this player's unique accomplishments, along with plenty more greatness to be taken from, make him an obvious pick as one of the greatest players in Utah State history.

When it comes to being named first-team all-conference, 15 of Stew Morrill's players have earned that honor at Utah State.

Five players have managed to earn first-team honors in two different seasons.

But in both Morrill's tenure, and the entire history of Utah State basketball, Nate Harris is the only player to do it three times.

After a solid freshman season of averaging 5.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, but not many people could have predicted that he'd break out quite to the level of dominance that he did in his sophomore season in 2004. From the start though, Harris' play was demanding of a major role on the team, and by the time Big West play began, his game was simply dominant. He finished the 2003-04 season averaging 11.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.9 blocks and 0.8 steals per game.

On top of also being a rock defensively, Harris converted on a mind-blowing 67.7 percent of his shots from the field, leading the entire nation in 2004 and setting a USU record in that category. For his career, Harris is No. 1 in field goal percentage at Utah State, and holds three of the top seven single-season marks in that category.

As a junior, Harris' scoring improved to 13 points per game, with his field goal shooting ranking second nationally, all en route to a second time on the all-Big West first team.

Then as a senior in 2006, Harris put together probably the only senior season of any USU big man that could rival Spencer Nelson's 2005 senior campaign. And he did it while making the jump from the Big West to the WAC. His 17.3 points per game that year is still the single highest scoring output by any of Morrill's big men. He also added nearly two rebounds per game to his averages that year, while also averaging three assists per game. Oh, and he landed on the all-WAC first team, to pretty much nobody's surprise.

Only one other player has ever been an all-conference first teamer as a sophomore (Preston Medlin), and ironically enough, he will have the challenge of moving up to a new conference for his senior season just like Harris did. 

Topping things off is the fact that Harris became the first Aggie to play for three NCAA Tournament teams, a title he could claim as his own until 2011 when a bunch more players joined that club. The amazing thing about it is that the one non-NCAA Tourney team that Harris was a part of was the famed snub year of 2004.

Records aside, because it would take an eternity to talk about all of those, Harris was the ultimate steady big man down low. He could anything, and he was sure to do it well. He wasn't a superior athlete by any means, but he was able to outsmart any defender with ease for a clean look at the basket.

In the last 14 years, no low-post scorer has done it as well as Harris did. And over that same span, only one player has managed to average better than the 17.3 points per game that Harris did as a senior.

Greatness is an understatement.

Stew's top 20: No. 4 - Spencer Nelson

Thanks to TrueAggies.com for the epic
action shots from back in the day!

While Tony Brown putting an emphatic stamp on a stellar freshman season in 1999, another freshman was making smaller contributions at the time. As time went on though, that other freshman would go on to carve out an epic legacy of his own, well after the one season that he and Brown played together.

Spencer Nelson didn't start any games as a freshman in that 1998-99 season, but still a solid year for a freshman by most standards. He averaged 4.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, while making 63.6 percent of his shots from the field.

Then he didn't play for the next three seasons.

Following two years on a mission and a medical redshirt due to a torn ACL, Nelson finally returned to the court for the 2002-03 season, but as a much stronger player than the one who played for the Aggies back in 1999. Despite playing on after a major knee injury, Nelson was a force for the team on both ends of the floor. He averaged 10.2 points and 7.4 rebounds, while improving his field goal shooting to 65.3 percent, fourth best single-season total in USU history. He was also an honorable mention all-Big West selection, while being named the Co-Hustle Player of the Year for the conference.

The next season, Nelson's spot under the spotlight got a little crowded with both Cardell Butler and Nate Harris making huge leaps forward in their own production. Still, Nelson's numbers improved pretty much across the board, most notably with his assists per game nearly doubling, while his steals per game more than doubled. And that was all while playing a good portion of the year with a face mask after getting his nose busted up.

While Butler and Harris were the top two scorers on that 2004 team, Nelson wasn't far behind them, while his rebounding led the Aggies by a solid margin that year. At year's end, he was named to the all-Big West second team, while repeating as Hustle Player of the Year. All of it as part of an Aggie team that was the first in generations to crack the top 25.

As a senior, Nelson finally was able to play and start in every single game. The result was arguably the best all-around season that any of Stew Morrill's big men have ever had. Nelson averaged 16 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. What's really astounding about the 4.8 assists per game is that it was the third highest assist average of any Morrill player. Only point guards Mark Brown and Kris Clark have had a season that bested that.

But even despite having two other seemingly automatic baskets to dish off to in Harris and some new kid named Carroll, Nelson still scored his own points in bunches, while dominating the defensive glass when the opposition failed to get theirs. That combination of being a dominant scorer, rebounder and distributor had never, and has never been done to level that Nelson did in 2005. Had he not been battling illness during that year's NCAA Tournament game against Arizona, Utah State likely would have had at least one more big dance victory in the Morrill era.

Still, Nelson might have been the most complete player to play for Utah State in the last 14 years. Between his leadership, outrageous statistics and a relentless motor, Nelson was just about as good as they come. He ranks as the 19th best scorer in school history, 8th in rebounds and 11th in assists. Nelson also has more double-doubles than any of Morrill's players, with 22.

It's hard not to wonder what could have been had he not played the bulk of his career on a surgically repaired knee, or if he had been healthy for his final NCAA Tournament, but his career is still close to as good as it gets!

Stew's top 20: No. 5 - Tony Brown

Where to begin with a player like Tony Brown? It's probably best start at the beginning of Stew Morrill's time at USU. Brown began his career at Utah State along with Morrill in the 1998-99 season, ushering in his own four-year run of greatness to complement the epic run that Morrill began that same year.

From the start, Brown was a solid and reliable offensive force, scoring 18 points in his game as a freshman. The contributions in rebounding and assists didn't quite come around for Brown until his sophomore season, but he still managed to come out even on assists and turnovers as a true freshman. That alone is impressive for any freshman, and made even more impressive when you add in 11 points per game on 40.5 percent shooting from the field 36.3 percent on 3-pointers and a USU-record 92.1 percent from the free throw line.

As a sophomore, Brown added a little bit more scoring and a solid amount to his assist and rebound totals, all while improving his shooting from the field and from deep. His assist-to-turnover ratio improved by quite a bit as well. On the season, Brown averaged 11.6 points, 2.7 rebounds 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

He put up almost identical averages the next season as a junior during a two-year stretch of dominance by USU including an undefeated conference season in 2000 and a NCAA Tournament in in 2001.

Then as a senior, and the only returning starter from that epic 2001 season, Brown shared the spotlight with superstar junior college transfer Desmond Penigar. That seemed to only help Brown though, with all of his numbers across the board skyrocketing to 14.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game, all while hitting on a career-best 48.9 percent of his field goals. It's no coincidence that with another dominant scorer, Brown's assist numbers went up like they did, along with his field goal percentage. To date, The Brown/Penigar duo of 2002 is the third-highest scoring duo to play for Morrill.

When it comes to career totals, Brown litters the USU record books like few other players have. He ranks in the top 10 in school history in points, assists, steals, 3-pointers made, 3-point percentage, free throw percentage, games played and games started. He ranks in the top five of a handful of those too.

Amazingly enough, despite all those impressive numbers, Brown never led one of his teams in scoring. He racked up team-bests in assists and steals as a senior in 2002, but outside of those, never led the team in any other major statistical categories.

Still, Brown's greatness is undeniable. His consistency across the board and on both sides of the court were essential in making a handful of great Aggie teams. He's also one of only two of Morrill's players to average double-figures in scoring in all four seasons. He also hit probably the biggest single shot of the Morrill era when he tied the game with 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation of Utah State's 2001 NCAA Tournament win over Ohio State. And topping it all off, a nickname as fitting as "Downtown Tony Brown" is about as good as you'll find!

In an era of so many great players, Brown was the one who set the standard for all other players to shoot for, even though many of his career marks remain tops of the Morrill era.

Stew's top 20: No. 6 - Gary Wilkinson

As crucial as guys like Jared Quayle, Tai Wesley, Tyler Newbold and Pooh Williams were in filling the shoes of Jaycee Carroll and Kris Clark after the 2008 season, they were all second-fiddle at best. When it came to replacing the production of the 2008 WAC Player of the Year and USU's all-time leading scorer, Gary Wilkinson was the guy to step up and say, "Don't worry guys. I got this!"

To put plainly, Wilkinson took the reigns of Utah State basketball after losing one of its best players ever and led the program to arguably its best season of all time. And he did it all by being a dominant scorer from both in the post and out to mid-range, while shooting high percentages from the field, as well as an excellent rebounder.

But what makes Wilkinson so great was his leadership. Straight-up, there has been no better team-leader to play for Stew Morrill than the leader that Gary Wilkinson was. You could see it in every aspect of him from his persona, his attitude, his play and all the way to how he constantly was rallying the team back together on the court.

Coming to USU after earning junior college all-American honors at Salt Lake Community College, Wilkinson had a fantastic first season in Logan, averaging 13.3 points and seven rebounds per game. And all of that was despite battling through a broken thumb early in the season. From the Gossner's tournament through the end of the year, Wilkinson scored in double-figures in all but two games, racking up six double-doubles in the process with his rebounding continually improving.

Being the only returning all-WAC member going into the 2008-09 season after earning second-team all-WAC as a junior, Wilkinson was voted by the media as the WAC's preseason Player of the Year. From there, it was straight domination.

The 2009 Aggies made it back to the top 25 for the first time since 2004, tied a school-record with a 19-game winning streak, won just the second outright conference title under Morrill at USU and won the WAC Tournament title with a dominating display against Nevada on their home court in the championship game. Wilkinson was by far the go-to guy on that team, averaging 17.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. When the postseason all-WAC honors rolled around, Wilkinson was an absolute no-brainer pick for Player of the Year, more so than even Carroll was the previous season.

While his scoring numbers were just a bit below Desmond Penigar's for their respective careers, Wilkinson still gets this nod for the best JUCO transfer to play for Stew. With an incredible senior season, a school-record 30 wins, Player of the Year honors and the best leadership of any Stew guy, Wilkinson was about as good a player as you'll ever find.

And topping it all off is the fact that Wilkinson never once lost a game in The Spectrum! Who else can claim that?

Stew's top 20: No. 7 - Desmond Penigar

As far as an overall combination of size, skill and athleticism, Desmond Penigar might be second-to-none under Stew Morrill. From both inside and out, he was an offensive force to be reckoned with, and one that few teams were ever capable of slowing down.

Penigar wasted little time making a huge impression at Utah State, going off for a career-high 34 points in just his fourth game, leading the Aggies to a 90-81 win over BYU. He also had nine rebounds in that contest, which were a nice compliment to Tony Brown's 20 points and 10 assists in that game.

In that 2001-02 season, Penigar and Brown combined to make up the third best scoring duo in Stew's tenure at USU, behind only Jaycee Carroll and Gary Wilkinson of 2008, and 2006's outputs by Carroll and Nate Harris. Penigar finished the year averaging 17.2 points per game, which is the best first season for a junior college transfer under Morrill by quite a wide margin. On top of that, he was a stellar rebounder, pulling down 6.9 boards per game in that first season.

Despite the graduation of Brown after Penigar's junior season, he still got a slew of reinforcements for his senior season in 2002-03 in the form of Mark Brown, Cardell Butler, Spencer Nelson and Nate Harris. With so many guys capable of scoring, Penigar's per game averages all took a slight dip in his senior season. Despite a finishing third in the Big West regular season standings that season, Penigar laid down the hammer in the Big West Tournament, leading USU to a championship, while being named tournament MVP in the process. Penigar was also named a mid-major all-American by CollegeInsider.com in 2003.

He capped off his career with an impressive 25 points and nine rebounds in a near shocker again Kansas in the NCAA Tournament. Kansas went on all the way to the championship game that season after barely surviving against Penigar's Aggies. Despite the drop off in his senior season, Penigar still finished his USU career averaging 16.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, all while hitting on 47.7 percent of his shots from the field.

As dominant as he was offensively at times though, Penigar did leave a bit to desired both defensively and when it came to sharing the basketball. For his career he only racked up a total of 35 assists compared to 118 turnovers. Also, relative to most Stew Morrill big men, Penigar's field goal percentage was quite low. Part of that was due to his mid-range game that he brought to the table, but not all of it.

It's also worth noting, even though it held no bearing in his placement in the top 20, Penigar is the only USU player under Morrill to have played in the NBA. And while his 10 games were short lived, he has still had a solid playing career overseas in his post-USU career.

When it came to putting points on the board, Penigar was the best of any JUCO transfer to play for Stew. He is second to only Jaycee Carroll in career points per game of any player to play for Morrill. He also was key in what almost was a win for the ages, the likely would still be talked about around the country today if the Aggies had been able to pull it out.

Stew's top 20: No. 8 - Shawn Daniels

Picture quality has apparently come
a very long way in the past decade...

Now things are getting bigger, and what better ways to kick things off with the first real dominant big man that Stew Morrill brought on board to USU? Fact is, the majority of the best players to come through Utah State in the past 14 years have been big men, and (Spoiler alert!) the rest of this top 20 is loaded with bigs.

At first glance, it's almost impossible to not undersell Shawn Daniels' athleticism. He stood at only 6'6, was a thick 250 pounds and really just looked more like the big guy you'd normally find playing ball at a local park. But then you see him play and you see a guy who excellently skilled, used every pound to his advantage down low and could get up a whole lot higher than you'd think he be vertically capable of.

Much like Bernard Rock, Daniels was a key part of an incredible two-year stretch for Aggie basketball in the 2000 and 2001 seasons. He played and started in every single one of those games, averaging 11.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in those two seasons. He also hit on 57.8 percent of his shots from the field, which ranks as the seventh best average in school history.

Outside of wins though, maybe the most impressive statistic by Daniels was the amount of blocks he racked up in his two-year career. His blocks per game average of 1.7 is the best in Utah State history, and despite only playing two seasons, Daniels ranks No. 4 all time in total blocks. That all was a product of being solid as a rock down low, as well as masterful timing to become USU's sultan of swat, earning him the honor of the 2001 Big West Defensive Player of the Year.

Daniels was also named to the all-Big West first team in both of his seasons at USU as well as a mid-major all-American in 2001 by CollegeInsider.com (hey, they do a tournament now!).

Outside of his god-awful free throw shooting numbers, Daniels possessed an absolutely complete game. His per game averages in both rebounding and blocks are the best of any player to play more than one season for Morrill. And capping it all off was the fact that his team's absolutely dominated the Big West Conference for those two seasons, as well as that famed NCAA Tournament win over Ohio State in 2001. Daniels was as key as anyone in that stretch, providing an anchor down low in an offense that relies so heavily on a strong post presence.

Stew's top 20: No. 9 - Bernard Rock

Back in the Big West days, if Utah State was going to land in the NCAA Tournament, they had to do it the old fashioned way by winning the conference tournament championship. While both Jared Quayle and David Pak can claim back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances during their USU careers as starting point guards, both of them had the benefit of an at-large bid for one of those trips.

If you want to find a point guard who helped lead USU to conference tournament titles in back-to-back seasons, there is only one. And if you're looking for a point guard who managed to lead Utah State past the first round of the big dance, there is only one.

Bernard Rock is that one!

While his individual statistics aren't quite on the level of the likes of Quayle or even Brockeith Pane, Rock helped lead his team as well as anyone to the most important stat of all... wins! With a two-year conference record of 29-3, Rock was at the the helm for an absolutely dominant stretch of Aggie basketball for 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons. Capping all of it off was Rock's team-high 18 points in USU's thrilling overtime victory over Ohio State in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, still the most important single victory of the past 14 years.

Over the course of his two seasons in Aggie blue, Rock's numbers stayed impressively consistent in both seasons. He finished his USU career averaging 10.3 points, 3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. He also hit on 47.1 percent of his shots from the field and was a 35.2 percent 3-point shooter. Following the undefeated conference season in 2000, Rock was named an honorable mention all-Big West selection, and earned first-team honors as a senior in 2001.

With the team's success during Rock's tenure at Utah State, along with impressive individual statistics make Rock a pretty easy choice to dub as the best point guard to have played under Stew Morrill at USU.

Stew's top 20: No. 10 - Jared Quayle

After graduating Jaycee Carroll as USU's all-time leading scorer and Kris Clark off a record-setting season of his own in 2008, the burning question surrounding Utah State at the time was, "How can the Aggies possibly replace that kind of production in the back court?"

Pooh Williams was a big factor in replacing a little scoring and giving a major defensive upgrade, but the biggest piece in filling those holes was Jared Quayle. After putting up absolutely absurd stats in junior college, Quayle didn't take long in becoming a serious impact player for Utah State. With his crazy rebounding skills, the ability to score both inside and out, solid defensive prowess and an overall "it" factor that few other players have possessed in recent years, Quayle could absolutely do it all.

Stew's top 20: No. 11 - Troy Rolle

One of the biggest hurdles for junior college transfers coming to Stew Morrill's teams over the years has been consistent play while learning the ropes of how Stew does things. Even some of the greats went through brutal stretches of inconsistency during the early parts of their first seasons at Utah State. And most of them also had the aid of returning teammates who knew the ropes to help them learn along the way.

Troy Rolle didn't have that kind of help from teammates, coming to USU for Morrill's first season in 1998-99. Rolle also never seemed to have the learning curve that most other JUCO transfers have.

Stew's top 20: No. 12 - Brockeith Pane

With 23 points, five rebounds and four assists in his first game as an Aggie, Brockeith Pane wasted no time making a big impression at Utah State. Tasked with replacing Jared Quayle, the lone graduate from the previous season, Pane had both benefits and challenges with that. On one hand, learning the ropes had to have been made easier with so many guys knowing how things work playing alongside him. On the other hand, basically that entire team had been together for years already, and Pane had to learn to fit in with that.

The end result was a season where Pane averaged 11.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists. He was named to the all-WAC first team at the end of the regular season, marking the only time that one of Stew Morrill's point guards has been an all-conference first-teamer as a junior. He also joined only Shawn Daniels and Desmond Penigar as players to have earned first-team all-conference honors in their first seasons at Utah State. And capping all of that off was an impressive performance at the 2011 WAC Tournament where Pane averaged 17.5 points per game in being named tournament MVP.

Stew's top 20: No. 13 - Cardell Butler

The 2003-04 season was memorable in a lot of ways: A top 25 ranking, massive winning streak and tons of national attention are a few that come to mind. And while it was an awesome team effort from top to bottom that season, when that team needed big buckets, Cardell Butler was the guy!

While his first season at Utah State had its fair share of ups and downs, he still put up solid numbers on the year with averages of 8.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. He hit on 43 percent of his shots from the field and 83.7 percent from the free throw line, despite leaving a little to be desired with a 30.3 percent mark from 3-point land. That aspect of things improved though as his junior year progressed, as did his contributions as a rebounder.

Stew's top 20: No. 14 - Preston Medlin

Desmond Penigar, Nate Harris, Jaycee Carroll, Gary Wilkinson, Preston Medlin. Those are the names of each player under Stew Morrill to have averaged as high as 17 points per game in a single season. And out of each of them, only Penigar and Carroll did it as juniors, with Carroll being the only guy to do it twice.

Medlin pretty much one-upped everyone of them by doing it as a freaking sophomore in 2011-12! And he did it basically against opposing defenses that knew, "Stop Medlin and you stop the Aggies."

Even against those odds, it's hardly even arguable to say that Medlin had the best sophomore season of any of Morrill's Aggies. With 17 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, Medlin's 2012 season was easily one of the most well-rounded years put forth by a USU player under Morrill. He also delivered arguably the best single-game performance of of Morrill's tenure during Utah State's senior night game against Idaho with 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists. All of that was capped off by becoming just the second Utah State player ever to be named first-team all-conference as a sophomore, joining only Nate Harris in that club.

Stew's top 20: No. 15 - Mark Brown

SPOILER ALERT!!! - The rest of this top 20 is loaded with great big men and great point guards. First up out of those point guards is a guy who nearly led the Aggies to an epic NCAA Tournament upset, and a top 25 ranking the following season.

Mark Brown was the epitome of a well-rounded point guard, capable of scoring in bunches from all over the court and a fantastic facilitator for the rest of the offense. His career average of 4.7 assists per game is the second best total among Stew Morrill's point guards (behind Kris Clark), as is his career 3-point percentage of 39.8 percent (behind Jared Quayle). He also had the third best average in steals with 1.2 per game.

All of that helped Brown burst onto the scene in a big way to start the 2002-03 season. In his first game as an Aggie, he scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, with two rebounds, three assists and four steals. He scored in double-figures in each of his first six games, while being a continuous threat in both dishing assists and getting to the free throw line over that span. And while he only scored in double-figures seven more times after those first six games, his assist totals went up accordingly, leaving no drop off in overall production. Put plainly, no other Aggie point guard came out of the gates to start their career as well as Brown did that season. 

When it came to all-conference honors, Brown racked up a few of those, starting with being named an honorable mention selection to the all-Big West team in his junior season in 2002-03. Brown also was included on the Big West's all-tournament team that same year. As a senior, Brown was one of three Aggies on the all-Big West first team, joining Cardell Butler and Nate Harris.

With 62 games played and 62 games started, he's one of only two of Stew's point guards to start in ever game he played in during his career, and it's no mistake that both of those seasons with Brown at the helm produced fantastic results.

Stew's top 20: No. 16 - Tyler Newbold

It's tough to peruse the career statistics at USUstats.com without running into Newbold's name plenty often. Perhaps the most impressive of those stats is the fact that he started 129 games in an Aggie uniform, second only to Jaycee Carroll.

A fair argument could be made that Newbold should be higher up based on where he ranks on multiple career statistics lists. Considering though that all-conference honors were laid out as a major determining factor for the list, it only seems fair that the top 15 spots be reserved for the 15 players to have earned first-team all-conference honors under Stew. So essentially, No. 16 is the dubbing of Newbold to be the best Aggie to never get first-team honors under Stew. And it's fair to say that anybody willing to argue that is only looking at one single statistic, and undervaluing the rest.

Put plainly, Newbold was just a decent scorer. In every other area of the game though, Newbold was great. Not good... GREAT! He was a lockdown defender, fantastic rebounder and better at facilitating the offense from the wing position than anyone else we've seen at Utah State.

Stew's top 20: No. 17 - Pooh Williams

On a list filled with guys getting mentioned for all sorts of stats that they put up over they careers, Williams makes the list for the stats that weren't put up!

When it comes to perimeter defense, nobody did it better than Williams. Whether it was a super athletic opposing wing, or another team's superstar point guard, if they needed to be shut down, Pooh was all over them (and hell yes that pun was intended)! His junior season in 2009-10 earned all sorts of mention for his defensive prowess, landing him on the WAC's all-defensive team that year.

What is largely overlooked though is that Williams became a pretty efficient offensive threat too, averaging 8.7 and 8.6 points per game in his junior and senior years respectively. He was a career 36.6 percent 3-point shooter, as well as a pretty excellent passer from the wings, enough so to check in at No. 25 in total assists in USU history.

Stew's top 20: No. 18 - Brian Green

This is the first one on the list that stings me a little bit. There's a couple guys who I would love to rank higher than where they're ending up, but based on the selection criteria and trying to keep emotions out of things as much as possible, reason will prevail.

It was still tough to not put Green higher, but a lot of that speaks both to how many good players have come through USU in recent years.

Green's go-to ability was obviously his 3-point shooting, which stands in the record books as the best in USU history, hitting on 48.1 percent of his attempts from deep. He also set the USU single-season record for 3-point percentage making 50 percent of his attempts during his junior season, which included a mind-blowing 63.3 percent made in conference play.

Stew's top 20: No. 19 - Chaz Spicer

One of so many epic celebration shots caught by TrueAggies.com that season

If any Aggie basketball fan ever asks you to describe Chaz Spicer in one word, and you say anything other than "clutch," you're doing it wrong!

On the surface, Spicer was an undersized power forward with decent offensive skills from mid-range and beyond. His career numbers are a far cry from the totals that most other players on this list have put up, but none of those other guys can even touch the late-game mystique of Chaz "The Icer" Spicer.

Stew's top 20: No. 20 - Brady Jardine

Outside of one key statistic, one could argue that Brady Jardine really doesn't have any business being in the top 20. With individual statistics, Jardine rarely got the chance to light things up, spending his entire career behind one of the best to every play at USU. But in the bigger picture of the most important statistic (wins), Jardine was technically better than any other Aggie... ever!

If you were lucky enough to have seen Jardine at his best, you'd understand why his inclusion on this list is a no-brainer. Were it not for his injury, he likely would have landed much higher, as he would have probably threatened to average a double-double this past year. At the very least, he likely would have taken away Donnie Johnson's claim of the highest single-season rebounding average of 8.3 per game.

Former SUU star coming to be an Aggie

Tony Jones was all over the breaking news this morning that former SUU freshman stud Kyle Davis is transferring to Utah State. Davis averaged 8.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game as a true freshman during the 2010-11 season with the Thunderbirds. His rebounding total was the best on the team that season, while he finished No. 2 on the team in blocked shots that year with 31 total.

As rumor has it, Davis is a true 3/4 combo forward, which is really something that has largely eluded Stew Morrill for the majority of his years at USU. That kind of versatility though could pay off in a big way in a couple years with guys like Jordan Stone, Matt Lopez and Carson Shanks to play down low, while Davis and Jalen Moore both could bring tremendous size to the wings.

For a program that has usually excelled despite most often being on the wrong end of a mismatch in size and athleticism, the thoughts of what these guys could do while boasting massive size across the board has got to be pretty frightening for opposing teams.

In the bigger picture of it all, this looks like another step forward in the continued improvement in recruiting for this program. A lot of fans have often bagged on Morrill for not getting top-level recruits in Logan, as if it were some easy thing to do that he just wasn't trying hard enough with. But with the continued success of the program, things have seemed to take a noticeable improvement in recruiting. Whether that is due to the program's reputation as a whole, the continued improvement in facilities, conference affiliation or even just the coaching staff developing more and more connections around the country; there's a definite improvement in the size and athleticism of recruits coming to this program.

It's feels generally safe to assume that if guys come to Logan and buy into Stew's way of doing things, success will shortly follow. Davis already has one solid year of college basketball under his belt, and because of the coaching change at SUU while he has been out on his mission, he apparently will be eligible to play as soon as he gets here, although a redshirt year is available as well. Given the amount of wing players this team will have, it's probably a good bet that Davis will redshirt in his first season at USU.

Regardless, this looks like a very good get for the program, and Davis should be a very welcomed edition to the program. Stew will likely love him from the get-go based on his defense and rebounding, and if he can score from outside and with his back to the basket, the kid could have greatness in his future!

Stew's top 20: The honorable mentions

With any list like this, there's going to be controversy over who should and shouldn't be included on the list. Today is the guys who didn't quite make the cut, even though they were still some excellent players.

So let's officially kick this off!
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Kris Clark
In 2007-08, Clark set the USU record for assists in a season with 224 dimes, shattering the previous record of 185. As far as pure passing skills, Clark is second-to-none in the Stew era. While he might not have had a more well-rounded skill set like other point guards on this list, he was phenomenal at what he did best.

Counting down the top 20 players of the Stew era

As was teased a few days ago, a huge summer feature was coming. This, is that feature.

With 13-straight 20-win seasons, 13-straight postseason appearances, and all that routine successful stuff we always hear about, there have been a lot of great players along the way. Those players have brought too many all-conference honors to count on your fingers and toes, some player of the year awards and a whole lot of wins over the years. Not only that, but they've helped earn Utah State's way into a better conference than it was previously in... twice!

So over the next three weeks, The Sagebrush Spot is bringing you the top 20 players of the Stew Morrill era of Utah State Aggie basketball!!!

Selections will be made based on numerous factors, but will be weighed heavily on all-conference honors, all-time statistical rankings and memorable plays or games of theirs. In some cases, players will also get some credit for how good their teams were, even if the statistics might not blow away other players.

Will everyone agree with every choice? Probably not, but it should at least make for some great discussion along the way!

Monday morning links - 7/2

Well holy freakin crap, the grades from last season are finished!!! And to top things off, it's hotter than balls outside, and this writer has a basement living room with no windows that is nice and cold. This all equates to probably a lot more writing on here for a change, as well as an upcoming 20-part summer feature that should stir up a little conversation.

Now, you're probably thinking, "Yeah right, this idiot took three whole months to bust out basketball's final grades." And you know what? I agree!! But with the start of fall football camp only a little more than a month away, the excitement is building.

In the meantime, it's time to get caught up on what's been going on around the USU world from everywhere else. There's been a handful of football recruiting commitments, some basketball updates and a few extra-curricular activities. So let's jump in...
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First off, Tony Jones was right there with me through most of May and June in taking time off. He's been a lot more on the ball lately though, so here's some of the important stuff from the last few weeks.

• Football is already up to 11 commits for the 2013 class. Not sure we were able to say that until mid-January this past year.
• The basketball schedule is coming together... just without USC.
• The Maurice Alexander situation is finally explained.

Now for the best of the rest...

• Nick Ballam offers up a solid review of some pick-up basketball. Be sure to read the disclaimer though.
• College football finally pulls their collective heads out of their asses. We're getting a playoff!!!
• Braden Harris gets his own football feature after committing to be an Aggie.
• The WAC Tournament will stay at The Orleans in Las Vegas for one more season.
• *EDIT - Just stumbled across this gem from Brandon Gurney at the D-news about the recent upswing in USU's football recruiting.

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That's all for now. Be back a little bit later to outline that 20-part feature that's coming up.

2011-12 Final grades: Preston Medlin

Preston Medlin - Sophomore
37 games, 37 starts
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Averages
35.2 minutes
17.0 points
4.4 rebounds
3.4 assists
49.6% - FG
42.8 - 3pt
80.1% - FT


So here we are... Start of July and finally finishing up what really should have been done by the middle of April. Today is the day though when the report card is complete though. And to top it off, I get one final 2011-12 gushing session for a dude I rarely, if ever, had a single bad thing to say about.

The fact that the comparison between Medlin and USU's all-time leading scorer Jaycee Carroll is even worthy of mentioning, if not completely deserved, is impressive enough on its own. When it comes down to the overall numbers, Medlin's sophomore season is better than Carroll's. And what's more impressive is that Medlin didn't have a big man like Nate Harris down low to balance the inside-out game, or really share the spotlight with. He also put up those numbers facing double-teams, pretty much the entire season as the team's biggest scoring threat by a significant margin.