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.

On senior night, (almost) everything felt right. Aggies win 67-50

For the first time in way too long, Aggie basketball felt fun again Friday night. With a student section that was loaded up and ready to fire from the start, as well an emotional senior night ceremony, things were looking primed for something special. Turns out, by the time it was all done, special was a pretty good way to describe how things felt.

The team showed fire, chemistry and execution that we've rarely seen this year. They looked like the team that so many of us believed they could be all this time. As hard as it was to see Brady Jardine in uniform on the bench, still unable to play, the team looked like they were playing with the type of fire that I've felt he would have brought to this team all along had he been healthy this season.

Regardless of the reasoning, it was just fun to watch and to be a part of. Everything about Aggie basketball this senior night felt like the Aggie basketball we all know and love. Really, by the end of the game, the only thing that didn't feel pretty much perfect was the lack of Jardine in the game.

FIRST HALF
After the emotion of honoring the seniors, the rollercoaster ride that this team has repeatedly ridden this season, began. Idaho came out with some serious fire, led by a former one of our own, Deremy Geiger. To top it off, the Vandals' defense was completely smothering the Aggies. The feeling in the crowd seemed to sink from something of excitement to the bracing for possibility of getting blown out at home.

Man down... Jardine's road reaches its end

Never forget!!!

News broke today that Brady Jardine's career is over. The injury that has kept him out since the third game of this season is worse than initially believed, has been healing slower than it should and is going to require surgery.

As badly as this has been a blow to this year's team and now will affect next year's team as well, the real tragedy is that this kind of thing happened to as quality of a guy like Brady. For three years, Brady was the ultimate team guy. From his freshman year where his redshirt was pulled midseason to give the team some much-needed depth in the post, to the next two seasons where he was an ace off the bench for the team. As ambitious and competitive of a player as Brady is, he was still the ultimate "team first" guy, and the team's record in his three seasons of playing reflects that.

Utah State won an outright WAC championship in each of Jardine's three seasons, dominating the conference with a record of 43-5 over that span. He's also one of only seven Aggie players ever to be a member of three NCAA Tournament teams.