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Show Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 Page 8 WednesdaySports Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com Game on: By TIM OLSEN sports editor Under the watchful eye of head coach Stew Morrill, the Utah State men’s basketball program has reveled in unprecedented success during the past decade. That success has led to extremely high expectations from Aggie fans, and the 2009-10 year is no exception. With a school-record 30-win season, a second consecutive WAC regular season title, a conference tournament title and with four returning starters from that record-setting squad, expectations are, again, high. “We always have expectations at Utah State. That’s something we’ve learned to live with and understand through the years,” said Morrill according to the team’s media guide. “When you are fortunate enough to go to 10-straight postseasons, fans expect you to have a quality basketball team, and we expect to compete for a WAC championship every year.” Heading into Friday’s season opener at Weber State, however, it’s not only USU fans that have high expectations for this season’s Aggies. Utah State was tabbed as the No. 1 team in the conference by both the coaches and the media. “We’re excited. We’re glad to be recognized,” said senior Jared Quayle who was voted to the preseason WAC first-team. “We can’t get big heads, we can’t go off of last year’s team or last year’s accomplishments. We’ve got to come out and prove ourselves this year. It’s a whole new team. We’ve just got to keep working hard and prepare ourselves for this year.” Along with Quayle, junior forward and twoyear starter Tai Wesley was also recognized as he was voted to the WAC preseason second-team. Wesley averaged 12 points and six rebounds a game during his sophomore campaign. “I think we need to not let it go to our head. It’s definitely a compliment, something that we should be proud of but more about last year’s accomplishments,” said Wesley of the preseason accolades. “This year we haven’t proved anything, and I think we need to go into each game with that mindset, prove ourselves each game and prove the critics right – that we can be that No. 1 team.” Returning to the starting rotation, along with Quayle and Wesley, will be junior swing-men Tyler Newbold and Pooh Williams. Newbold has played in 70 games since his freshman season, including starting in the last 60. Last year, the 6-foot-4-inch shooting guard led not only the Ags ready to kick off 2009 season Aggies but also the nation in assistcombo-guard Brian Green. Green averto-turnover ratio (3.96). He also averaged 14.1 points and shot 47.2 percent from aged nine points and 4.2 rebounds beyond the arc for SLCC last year. per game. Along with the two JC transfers, the Aggies Williams has been recovering added five freshmen to their team this year. from a foot surgery this offseason Among those who should contribute quickly but could see time against the is shooting guard Prestin Medlin (Hebron Wildcats after missing the Aggies’ HS, Texas) and small forward Tyrone White two exhibition games. Williams (Jefferson HS, Ore.). Texas Hoops ranked only averaged 5.9 points and 1.9 Medlin as the No. 43 player in the state as a rebounds as a sophomore but prep senior. He averaged 22.5 points a game came one strong toward the end while knocking down 53 percent of his shots, of the season. He is the Aggies’ including 44 percent from 3-point range. most athletic small forward and White – who was a Mcdonald’s Allbest lockdown defender. American nominee The only spot on the floor where – averaged 16 the Aggies don’t return a starter points, eight – and their biggest question mark rebounds and heading into the season – is the cenfour assists ter position vacated by 2008-09 WAC last year with Player of the Year Gary Wilkinson. the Air Force The big red head left a 17.1-point, 6.8Academy Prep rebound hole in the starting lineup. School. The Aggies, though, have had recent “We’ve got experience in replacing a WAC Player of some good playthe Year. Before last season’s 30-win campaign, USU was presented with the task of replacing the school’s all-time leading scorer Jaycee Carroll. “I think we do it the same way we did last year in replacing Jaycee,” Wesley said of replacing Wilkinson. “We’ve got a lot of new guys that are going to have to step up and take on big roles – fill some big shoes – but I think we’ve got the guys to do it.” One of those new guys who will ers that most likely step in and fill the hole is are new. JC transfer Nate Bendall. The 6-footThey’ll help us 9-inch, 245-pound junior is returning out a ton this to USU (he played for USU as a freshyear,” Quayle said. man, appearing in 13 games) after “It’s hard to say helping lead Salt Lake Community who’s going to be an College to a 31-6 record and the outstanding guy, NJCAA National Championship. but I think they’ll “I always knew Nate was a good all do well this player,” Morrill said. “I remember year.” watching him when he was in high Quayle will school and I turned to my assistant be backed up after warm-ups and said, ‘We want by redshirt him,’ hadn’t even seen him play a sophomore game yet. It’s nice to have him back Jaxon Myaer PATRICK ODEN photo in an Aggie uniform.” who is comThe Bruins also provided the Aggies with another transfer who - See PREVIEW, page 11 should contribute right away in CROSS COUNTRY Running a winning tradition at USU By STEVEN CLARK staff writer USU has always been known for its winning tradition in men’s basketball, but the Spectrum isn’t where all of the magic at USU takes place. October marked the Western Athletic Conference championships for cross country where the Aggie men’s team took home the hardware by finishing in first place overall. The women came away with second place honors. This is the fifth-straight WAC title for the men, as they have won every title since coming into the WAC in 2005. The women have had similar success, finishing in the top four each year and bringing home two titles of their own since the change from the Big West. What is the secret to the Aggies’ success over these past five years? “Great athletes,” said USU head coach Gregg Gensel. “These kids are the ones who run and work really hard in practice. That’s the thing that I enjoy the most: watching these kids grow and have success. When they train hard good things like this happen.” The Aggies performed extremely well while competing in the Big West conference and obviously found no problems in their transition to the WAC. “The Big West was a different kind of a conference. It had more teams so the first adjustment was to get used to not as many teams, but the quality of the competition was just as good,” Gensel said. Since making the move to the WAC, the Aggies have had great student athletes come through the program. Sophomores Brian McKenna and Jessie Chugg have been big contributors to USU’s winning. Along with five other USU men, both McKenna and Chugg were placed on the All-WAC first team. “We always try to recruit really good athletes,” Gensel said. “Coming into the WAC with a new facility helped out a lot.” What gets high school seniors to want to come to USU and join the cross country team? Chugg had the answer. “First off, I came to a basketball game, and I thought that our school has a lot of school spirit, and I just thought that it’d be fun to have that much pride in my school,” she said. “I also had a teammate from high school come up here, and she said that she really loved it and she had a lot of success (with the cross country team).” McKenna had a similar answer. “I like Utah State because it has good balance. It gives you support but lets you do your own thing,” he said. “I knew that USU had a balanced team. I just knew that I would fit in. Our program is patient, yet it pushes you to be the very best you can.” Each season brings new runners and new personalities to the team, but Gensel has found a way to win with everyone. “One consistent thing is that everyone works very hard,” said USU’s longtime coach. “They know that if they work hard then good things will happen.” Gensel mentioned there has been one factor this season that has made an impact on his team: friendship. “This year’s team, both on the men’s and on the women’s side, seems to be a lot closer and work together and everything,” he said. “I’m not saying that I haven’t had other teams that have done that, but that is what stands out in particular for this team.” - See TITLES, page 10 USU’S KYLE MOFFET competes in an event earlier in the year. CATHERINE URIE photo TouchBase Spikers swept away by Rainbow Warriors By CONNOR JONES sports senior writer The women’s volleyball team fell to the No. 3 ranked team in the country, Hawaii, Sunday night in Honolulu. With the loss, the Aggies slide to 14-13 on the season and 5-9 in WAC play. While the Aggies stuck around early in the first set, the Warriors went on a 17-5 run to take the first set. USU had a .000 hitting percentage (4-4-23) while Hawaii hit .464 (17-4-28) . USU improved in the second and third sets with a .161 (8-3-30) and .250 (12-4-32) hitting percentages, respectively. USU finished the match with a .153 (24-11-85) hitting percentage while Hawaii hit .426 (52-12-94). UH had six more service aces (7-1) in the match, while USU had 2.5 more team blocks. Borel: USU’s athlete of the week BY USU ATHLETICS Utah State football player Diondre Borel has been named the America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of Nov. 2-8. It was announced on Monday. The award is voted on by a state media panel. Borel, a junior quarterback from Oakley, Calif., (Freedom HS) threw for 344 yards on 25-38 passing, tying his career-best for completions and his second-best yardage total, Saturday in USU’s 49-36 loss at Hawaii. He tossed two TDs but was also intercepted twice, snapping the nation’s longest active streak for passes without an interception at 228, leaving as the third-longest streak this season. He also rushed for 18 yards and a TD, marking the second-straight game with a rushing and throwing TD in the same game, and it was the fifth time this season and seventh time in his career doing so. Additionally, Borel topped the 1,000 career rushing yards, becoming the 21st Aggie player to do so and the first Aggie QB to reach that mark, as he is USU’s career record holder for rushing yards by a QB, now with 1,002 yards. He now has 2,265 yards passing, becoming the 18th Aggie QB to hit the 2k milestone. Borel has moved into the No. 10 spot on the career passing list with 3,970, needing just 30 yards to reach 4,000 career yards and become the 10th USU signal-caller to reach that plateau. Borel will lead the Aggies (2-7, 1-4 WAC) into action Saturday, Nov. 14, vs. San Jose State (1-7, 0-4 WAC). Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. (MT) from USU’s Romney Stadium. For Aggie football ticket information, contact the USU Ticket Office at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum by phone by calling 1-888-USTATE-1 or 7970305 or online at www. UtahStateAggies.com and clicking on the “buy/renew tickets” under the “tickets” drop-down menu. |