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Show Friday, April 8, 2011 Page 8 FridaySp0FtS Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com Men's basketball has holes to fill, players to fill them By MATT SONNENBERG sports editor Prior to last season, the returning players on the USU men's basketball team had started a combined 292 games, a mark of continuity unprecedented during head coach Stew Morrill's tenure at Utah State. The combined number of career starts for next season's returners? Forty-one. The loss of six seniors, including two four-year starters and another three-year starter, all from the winningest senior class in USU's history, has left quite a few question marks. A handful of returning players, as well as a quality group of incoming recruits will look to provide the answers to those questions. "I always look forward to trying to mold a team and figure out who can do what," Morrill said. "I think it will be a whole lot of challenge and hopefully a lot of fun. I don't think we know yet how talented we are." Outside of point guard, where senior Brockeith Pane stands as the team's lone returning starter after earning first team all-Western Athletic Conference (WAC) honors last season, the only other spot on the court that appears to be USU BASKETBALL PLAYERS PRESTON MEDLIN (LEFT) and Brady Jardine looking to step up to much bigger roles in Utah State's rotation next season, filling in for the six seniors who graduated this past year. Medlin returns following a redshirt season, while Jardine enters his senior year after spending the last three seasons as one of the team's primary sparks off the bench. TODD JONES photos solidly claimed is the power forward position. Senior Brady Jardine looks to step into a starting role at the same spot where he has been one of Morrill's goto players off the bench for the past three seasons. Jardine averaged 7.5 points and seven rebounds per game last season, but showed early on that he was up to the task of playing starters' minutes. With Nate Bendall out with an injury early last season, Jardine started seven games for USU, averaging 10.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while shooting 57 percent from the field. Morgan Grim also looks to be right in the mix down low after a solid first season at USU where he averaged 2.6 points and 1.6 rebounds in limited minutes last year. Grim and Jardine will be joined by redshirt freshman Ben Clifford, junior college transfer Kyisean Reed and freshman Jordan Stone, returning from an LDS mission, in 2011, each bringing their own different style of play from what fans have Wagner, Gallagher anchor strong linebacker unit By MARK ISRAELSEN staff writer What's better than having one returning senior who was also a key defensive leader? How about two? Well, that's exactly the scenario for the Utah State linebackers. Seniors Bobby Wagner and Kyle Gallagher come into spring training for the final time, ready to lead a deep, young, talented linebacking corps that looks to be an anchor for the ever improving Aggie defense. "They need to be big leaders," USU head coach Gary Andersen said. "They need to be vocal leaders at times and they're doing a much better job at that then they have in the past, which is highly encouraging." Since his freshman year, Wagner has been a key contributor to the Aggie defense, appearing in all but one game since coming to USU. Last year, Wagner notched his second straight season with more than 100 tackles and now needs just 24 tackles to break into the USU top 10 list. He was also named to the All-WAC first team following both his sophomore and junior seasons, the first Aggie to win back-to-back awards since Kevin Curtis in 2001 and 2002. Wagner enters this spring focused and ready for his final season in an Aggie uniform. With performance up to par, he could earn a third-straight All-WAC first team honor this season. "It means a lot, not a lot of people have done that recently and I would love to leave my mark," he said. That one honor, though, is hardly his only goal. "My goals for the season are to win a WAC championship, go to a bowl game, finish my senior season off right," Wagner said. "Of course I want to get a lot of tackles, but if I get 50 tackles and a WAC championship, I'll take it." Alongside Wagner is fellow senior linebacker, Kyle Gallagher. Gallagher has been an iron man for the Aggies, playing in every game since he was a freshman. Gallagher is an emotional leader for Utah State and during his time as an Aggie has been a force to be reckoned with on the field as he is just shy of 200 tackles for his career. Although these two returning stars are crucial for the Aggies, arguably the biggest story for the linebackers is the depth they've added for the upcoming season. Besides Wagner and Gallagher, USU should get major contributions from a number of players, including Zach Vigil, Jake Doughty, Tavaris McMillian, Parker Hausknecht and junior college All-American Bojay Filimoeatu. These young, talented players look to make an impact right away, something that definitely excites Wagner. "I think we improved by adding a lot of depth," Wagner said. "Last year me and (Gallagher) had to take a lot of reps, I think this year we definitely have a wide range of players who can play. It's going to make me and Kyle's job easier, so we get a little bit of break." McMillan especially has generated hype thus far. A redshirt freshman from Miami, Fla., McMillan is performing well in spring practices and seen over the past several years with the likes of Bendall and Tai Wesley. "Clifford is a really, really good perimeter shooter for a post player," USU assistant coach Tim Duryea said. "I think (Clifford) can help us because he's a really smart player, he shoots the ball well from the perimeter and he's a really good rebounder along with being a very good passer." Clifford is happy with the chance to have redshirted this past season to learn under a pair of all-WAC caliber players as he faces the responsibility of playing a major role for next year's team. "This year was great, learning from the best really from (Wesley) and (Bendall), playing against them every day in practice," Clifford said. "We've for sure got some big shoes to fill, especially in the post." Like Jardine and Clifford, coaches anticipate that Reed will add plenty to the athleticism down low for USU next year. "He's a guy that can step out and shoot it, he can put it on the floor and go by you. We think he can score some in the post because he's so athletic an so we're looking for him to jump I See NEW ERA, page 9 Friday football scrimmage to be postponed BY USU ATHLETICS AGGIE LINEBACKER BOBBY WAGNER sheds a block in pursuit of the ball-carrier during a game last season against Fresno State. Wagner, along with fellowsenior Kyle Gallagher, are the backbones to what looks to be a very strong group of linebackers for Utah State in 2011. TODD JONES photo looks to be a big contributor during the season. "My goal is, first of all, to help the team out however I can," McMillian said. "I want to be the best player I can be on the field and off the field." Other key pieces in the Aggies' "D" are two sophomores, Doughty, from Sandy, Utah, and Vigil, from Clearfield, Utah, both of whom have impressed Wagner and the coaches with their play during the spring. "I definitely think that (McMillian), Doughty and Vigil are going to come in and make a contribution as soon as they play," Wagner said. That contribution can be seen even now, as most of the time is given to the young guys. During these spring practices, Wagner and Gallagher see limited practice and playing time for several I See DEPTH, page 9 Due to inclement weather in the forecast for Friday, Utah State's football scrimmage has been postponed from Friday until Monday. The Aggies will take to the turf of Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium for the scrimmage from 3-4:30 p.m. on Monday. Monday's scrimmage is open to the public and all practices are tentatively open to the public, but they must remain off the field. When the Aggies are on Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium, fans must remain in the stands at all times. All open practices are subject to change. All practices are scheduled for Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium, but will shift to the Stan Laub Indoor Facility if there is inclement weather. Practices are currently scheduled to be open to the public, but are subject to change. USU will have a regular practice on Friday as part of the Aggies' spring drills, which conclude with the annual Spring Game on Saturday, April 23. The Spring Game will kick off at 2 p.m. at Merlin Olsen Field at Romney Stadium. Admission will again be free to the public and further details along with events surrounding the Spring Game will be released at a later date. Grad Fair April 12 9 cm-4pm TSC Ballroom If you are unable to attend the Grad Fair order online at AggieGear.com nt April 11, 2011 USUNZ UtnavheSrtsatey SAVE CAMPUF |