Oct. 29, 2007

LOGAN, Utah -

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

GAME 1 (Exhibition)
UTAH STATE (0-0) vs. EA SPORTS (0-0)
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 • 7:05 p.m. MT • Logan, Utah
Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (10,270) • Aggie Radio Network

GAME DAY HEADLINES
• Utah State will begin its 103rd season of basketball against EA Sports on Wed., Oct. 31. USU has an overall record of 1,346-978 (.579).

• For the past 37 years, Utah State has called the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum home and has won 80 percent of its games in the building with an impressive 419-105 (.800) record, including a 140-12 (.921) mark during the past 10 seasons.

• Utah State returns three starters (Jaycee Carroll, Kris Clark and Stephen DuCharme) and four lettermen from the 2006-07 team that went 23-12, finished in fourth-place in the Western Athletic Conference with a 9-7 record, played in the WAC Tournament championship game and advanced to the National Invitation Tournament where it lost at Michigan (68-58) in the first round.

• Utah State returns one player from last season who was honored by the Western Athletic Conference in senior guard Jaycee Carroll (first-team all-WAC). Carroll averaged 21.3 points and 6.3 rebounds during his junior season.

• Aggie players from the state of Utah include senior forward Nick Hammer (St. George/Snow Canyon HS), junior forward Gary Wilkinson (South Jordan/Bingham), sophomore center Brayden Bell (Brighton/Brighton HS), freshman guard Jaxon Myaer (Salt Lake City/Judge Memorial HS), freshman guard Tyler Newbold (Payson/Payson HS), and freshman forward Tai Wesley (Provo/Provo HS).

• Utah State lost seven lettermen from last season, including two starters in Chaz Spicer and Durrall Peterson. Spicer, who was named to the WAC's all-tournament team, averaged 11.3 points last year, while Peterson averaged 9.3 points.

THIS WEEK
Utah State (0-0) will host EA Sports (0-0) in its first exhibition game of the 2007-08 season on Wed., Oct. 31 at 7:05 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. It will also be the first game of the year for EA Sports. USU will then host Laval University, which is located in Quebec City, Quebec, on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 7:05 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

ON THE AIR
Utah State basketball games are broadcast on KVNU (610 AM) and KLZX (95.9 FM) in Logan, Utah, KFAN (1320 AM) and ESPN Radio (1230 AM) in Salt Lake City and KLZX (105.3 FM) in Montpelier, Idaho, as well as on the internet at www.UtahStateAggies.com. Al Lewis serves as the play-by-play announcer while Rod Tueller serves as the analyst during home games.

ON THE INTERNET
All of Utah State's home games are available to watch live via the internet at www.UtahStateAggies.com. Aggie fans will also be able to follow Utah State home games through the USU web site via GameTracker, a program that documents each play and updates statistics.

LOOKING AT UTAH STATE
After posting its eighth straight 20-win season, advancing to its seventh postseason tournament championship game in the last eight years, and playing in its eighth straight postseason (5-NCAA, 3-NIT), Utah State will be looking to make another run at postseason play this year. Leading the way for Utah State will be one of the best shooting guards in the country in senior All-American Jaycee Carroll. Carroll, who is the WAC's preseason Player of the Year, averaged 21.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game as a junior and finished the season first in the Western Athletic Conference and 10th in the nation in scoring. Joining Carroll will be three other returning lettermen from last season including senior forward Stephen DuCharme who started 30 games in his first season at USU and averaged 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. The Aggies will also have the services of two other seniors in guards Kris Clark and Nick Hammer Clark started 33 games as a junior and averaged 3.7 points and 4.2 assists per game, while Hammer appeared in all 35 games and averaged 3.7 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. USU will also have the services of three redshirts in sophomore center Brayden Bell and freshman forwards Matt Formisano and Tai Wesley.

SCHEDULE NOTE-ABLE
Once Utah State officially starts its season on Friday, Nov. 9 against Southern Utah, the Aggies will play eight games in 16 days, including three home games, three road games and two games at a neutral site.

NEXT WEEK
Utah State will begin the 2007-08 season at home against Southern Utah on Friday, Nov. 9 at 7:05 p.m. in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. USU will then turn around and play at Weber State on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 7:05 p.m. in the Dee Events Center. The game against the Wildcats will be televised live by KJZZ-TV.

DID YOU KNOW?
With its exhibition game against EA Sports on Oct. 31, Utah State will play basketball games in six different months this season.

LOOKING BACK AT THE BLUE/WHITE SCRIMMAGE
With less than a week to go before its first exhibition game of the 2007-08 season, Utah State's men's basketball team held its first public outing on Friday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in its annual Blue-White Scrimmage as veteran head coach Stew Morrill ran his team through four 10-minute sessions on the night, including two in front of approximately 3,500 fans. Senior All-American guard Jaycee Carroll led all scorers with 36 points as he was 15-of-18 from the field and six-of-eight from three-point range. He also added a team-high five steals to go along with five rebounds on the night. Utah State had five other players score in double-figures during the scrimmage as junior forward Gary Wilkinson had 18 points, freshman forward Tai Wesley scored 16 points, sophomore center Brayden Bell scored 13 points, senior forward Stephen DuCharme had 10 points and junior guard/forward DeUndrae Spraggins scored 10 points. USU also got solid play from its backcourt as senior guard Kris Clark had eight assists and three turnovers, while junior guard Desmond Stephens had eight assists and two turnovers. As a group, Utah State shot 55.0 percent from the field (55-100), 46.4 percent from three-point range (13-28) and 73.7 percent from the free throw line (28-38). USU also had 36 assists, 36 turnovers and 22 steals on the night.

AGGIES WELCOME EIGHT NEWCOMERS TO THE PROGRAM
Utah State head coach Stew Morrill welcomes eight new players to this year's team, which is made up of five freshman and three junior college transfers. Highlighting this group of talented newcomers is Gary Wilkinson who becomes the second Junior College All-American to sign with Utah State in the last three years along with Chaz Spicer. As a sophomore at Salt Lake Community College, Wilkinson scored in double-figures 30 times, including eight double-doubles as he averaged 18.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game and shot 60.2 percent from the field and 74.2 percent from the free throw line. Along with Wilkinson, Utah State signed two other junior college transfers who should make immediate impacts this fall in DeUndrae Spraggins and Desmond Stephens. Spraggins earned third-team all-conference and honorable mention all-region honors as a sophomore at Paris (Texas) Junior College as he averaged 11.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, and shot 52.8 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from three-point range and 84.1 percent from the free throw line, while Stephens earned first-team all-region honors as a sophomore at Southeastern Illinois Junior College as he scored in double figures 23 times, including 12 20-point games. During his sophomore season, Stephens averaged 17.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game and shot 50.5 percent from the field, 51.6 percent from three-point range and 75.2 percent from the free throw line. The remaining five newcomers to the program is a group of talented freshmen in Brad Brown, Jaxon Myaer, Tyler Newbold, Modou Niang and Pooh Williams. Brown averaged 13.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game as a prep senior in Orono, Minn. Myaer averaged 18.6 points and 6.5 assists per game at Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City and was named the 3A Most Valuable Player by the Salt Lake Tribune. Newbold was named the Region VII Player of the Year as a prep senior at Payson High School in Utah in 2005 as he averaged 18.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.3 blocks as a prep. Niang averaged 32.3 points, 18.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.6 blocks per game as a senior at Hachioji High School in Tokyo, Japan and was named the top center in the National High School Championships two straight years. And Williams averaged just under 27 points and five rebounds per game as a prep senior at Federal Way High School in Washington as he earned first-team all-state honors.

UTAH STATE RETURNS THREE REDSHIRTS
Along with eight newcomers to the program, Utah State will also have the services of three redshirts in sophomore center Brayden Bell and freshmen forwards Matt Formisano and Tai Wesley. Bell sat out the 2006-07 season after transferring from Ohio State where he averaged 1.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in seven games as a true freshman. As a prep senior at Brighton High School in Utah, Bell averaged 21.0 points and 10.0 per game as he earned first-team all-state honors. Formisano and Wesley both redshirted at Utah State during the 2004-05 season before leaving school for a two-year LDS Church Mission. As prep players, Formisano averaged 15.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game as he earned first-team all-state honors at Heritage High School in Colorado, while Wesley was named the 4A Most Valuable Player at Provo High School in Utah after averaging 16.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game en route to leading his team to the state championship.

SCOUTING EA SPORTS
EA Sports is playing its first of five preseason games on Wednesday., Oct. 31 against Utah State. Following its game in Logan, EA Sports will play at Creighton on Friday, Nov. 2, at Iowa State on Saturday, Nov. 3, at Providence on Wednesday, Nov. 7 and at LSU on Friday, Nov. 9.

EA SPORTS PLAYERS OF NOTE
EA Sports roster consists of two players who played against Utah State during their collegiate careers. Roberto Bergersen played at Boise State from 1996-99, while Lance Allred played at Weber State from 2004-05.

EA SPORTS ROSTER

No.    Player                Ht.    Wt.    College
10        Mitchell Baldwin      6-1    180    Charlotte
22        Nick Porter           6-3    215    Creighton
23        Roberto Bergersen     6-5    210    Boise State
32        Jason Forte           6-4    215    Southern Mississippi
40        Dalron Johnson        6-9    240    UNLV
42        Earnest Scott         6-7    220    Valdosta State
44        Elvin Mims            6-5    215    Southern Mississippi
50        Lance Allred          6-10   250    Weber State
55        Cory Violette         6-8    255    Gonzaga
Head Coach:  Maury Hanks

LOOKING BACK AT LAST YEAR'S EXHIBITION GAME AGAINST EA SPORTS
Turnovers down the stretch and poor shooting doomed Utah State basketball in its first exhibition game of the 2006-07 season as the Aggies lost 67-60 to EA Sports on Nov. 1. Jaycee Carroll led the Aggies with 24 points, while also adding eight rebounds, but USU, which ranked third in the country in field goal percentage during the 2005-06 season, hit just 39.3 percent of its attempts en route to the loss. Carroll, a junior guard, hit 9-of-16 attempts, but the rest of the Aggies struggled as the other four starters combined for just 8-of-23 shooting. Chaz Spicer hit four-of-eight attempts en route to 14 points for USU, but no other Aggie had more than six points. Meanwhile, EA Sports shot 52.0 percent, a figure the opponents reached just three times last season against USU. Troy Devries, a former New Mexico player, led EA Sports with 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting, which included five-of-eight from three-point range. Geoff Husted added 12 points and 12 rebounds for the visitors, while Jason Forte chipped in 12 points. USU, which out-rebounded the visitors 38-32, was paced on the board by Chris Session, who pulled down a game-high 14. Session also added six points, two assists, one block and one steal. EA Sports jumped out to a 34-25 halftime lead. The Aggies cut the margin to 36-33 three minutes into the second half as Carroll hit three lay-ups and assisted on another by Chaz Spicer as USU opened the half on an 8-2 run. However EA Sports pushed the margin back to 12 just two and one half minutes later out-scoring the Aggies 13-4. USU was able to cut the lead to just one when Session followed a miss with a lay-up to bring USU within 55-54 with 6:16 remaining in the game. However, EA Sports was able to keep the margin between three and eight points the rest of the game as USU struggled holding onto the ball as well as shooting it down the stretch.

UTAH STATE AMONG THE BEST IN THE COUNTRY
Over the last eight years, Utah State has been one of the best basketball programs in the country, recording a 198-62 (.762) record. Those 198 wins are the ninth-most in the country, while the 76.2 percent winning percentage is sixth-best. USU has also been among the top-13 teams in the country in points allowed in six of the last eight years, and among the top-35 teams in the country in winning percentage in each of those seasons.

UTAH STATE HAS DOMINATED CONFERENCE PLAY SINCE 2000
Utah State has had tremendous success in league play over the last eight years recording a 104-32 (.765) record, which includes an 84-20 record in the Big West Conference as it won three regular season championships and four tournament titles and a 20-12 record in the WAC. Here is a look at how the current members of the Western Athletic Conference has done in league play dating back to the 1999-2000 season. Note: Utah State and Idaho's league record includes six years in the Big West Conference (2000-2005); Boise State's record includes two years in the Big West (2000-2001); Nevada's record includes one year in the Big West (2000); Louisiana Tech's record includes two years in the Sun Belt Conference (2000-01); and New Mexico State's record includes one year in the Big West (2000) and five years in the Sun Belt (2001-05).

PRESEASON NOTES
• Utah State is picked to finish first in the Western Athletic Conference according to the league's coaches and second by the media in the WAC's preseason polls, while senior All-American guard Jaycee Carroll was named the preseason Player of the Year by both the coaches and media.

• Utah State received two votes in the preseason coaches poll, tying them for 49th in the nation.

• Carroll is one of 50 players named to the preseason John R. Wooden Award, the nation's most coveted college basketball award. Carroll joins Nevada's Marcelus Kemp as the only two players from the WAC on the list. Carroll is also named as one of the top 15 seniors in the nation by SportsIllustrated.com and a high-major All-American by Collegehoops.net.

• Carroll is one of just two players in school history, along with Wayne Estes, to earn Associated Press All-America honors as he was named an honorable mention AP All-American in 2007.

• Utah State does not have a single player from the state of California on its roster for the first time since the 1993-94 season, a span of 14 years. Since the 1994 season, USU has had a total of 45 players from the "Golden State", including a single-season high of seven during the 2003-04 campaign.

• Utah State has seven freshmen on its 2007-08 roster, which is the most-ever on a USU team dating back to the 1957-58 season.

• The six players from the state of Utah on the 2007-08 roster are the most on a USU team since the 1988-89 squad had seven in-state players on its roster.

RETURNING PLAYER NOTES
#3 Nick Hammer - Played in all 35 games during his junior year and averaged 3.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game... Shot 36.5 percent from the field, 31.2 percent from three-point range and 71.4 percent from the free throw line... Scored in double-figures twice during the season as he had 12 points in the season-opener at Northwestern State on Nov. 10 and scored a career-high 15 points at home against Idaho on Jan. 15.

#10 Kris Clark - Started 33 of a possible 35 games at the point in his first year at Utah State, including the final 25 games... Finished the year ranked first in the Western Athletic Conference with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.21-to-1.00... That assist-to-turnover ratio also ranks third at USU for a single-season... Recorded 146 assists during the year, which ranks 12th all-time at Utah State for a single-season... Averaged 4.17 assists per game which ranked fourth in the conference... In conference only games, he ranked second with an average of 5.13 assists per game, while his 2.65 assist-to-turnover ratio was first in the league... Also averaged 3.5 points and 1.7 rebounds in 25.5 minutes per game... Shot 33.3 percent from the field, 21.2 percent from three-point range and 93.1 percent from the free throw line (27-of-29).

#20 Jaycee Carroll - Named the 2007-08 Western Athletic Conference's preseason Player of the Year... Enters his senior season seventh all-time at Utah State with 1,737 career points and is just 391 points shy of breaking Greg Grant's (1983-86) all-time scoring mark of 2,127 points... Ranks first all-time at Utah State in three-point shooting (.452), second in three-pointers made (255), fourth in three-pointers attempted (564), fourth in double-figure scoring games (86), fifth in games started (97), sixth in field goals made (613) and attempted (1,213), sixth in free throw percentage (.834) and 12th in scoring average (17.5)... Among active Division I players, he ranks first in the nation in career three-point shooting, is second in total points scored, third in career scoring average, seventh in three-pointers made and seventh in free throw percentage (.834)... Earned honorable mention All-American honors from the Associated Press and first-team all-conference honors as he finished the season first in the WAC and 10th in the nation in scoring with 21.3 points per game... Also led the WAC and ranked 12th in the nation in free throw shooting at 88.8 percent... Ranked first in the conference in three-point shooting (43.2), fifth in overall shooting (52.7) and 12th in rebounding (6.3)... Scored 746 points during the year, which ranks second all-time in school history behind only Wayne Estes who scored 821 points during the 1963-64 season... Those 746 points are also tied for the eighth-most ever scored in a single-season in the 45-year history of the WAC... Played 1,255 minutes (35.9) during the year which ranks first all-time at Utah State, while his 21.3 point scoring average ranks 15th all-time... Was named the WAC's Player of the Week along with garnering National Player of the Week honors from ESPN's Dick Vitale after scoring a career-high 44 points in Utah State's 75-62 home win against New Mexico State on Feb. 5... Named to the WAC's all-tournament team as he averaged 24.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in leading the Aggies to the championship game as he shot 47.9 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from three-point range and 91.3 percent from the free throw line.

#40 Stephen DuCharme - Started 30 games in his first year at Utah State, including 30 of the last 31... Set a school record in November by making 17 straight field goals during a two-game span, including a 10-for-10 performance against Drake on Nov. 18... Scored a career-high 22 points against Drake... Also scored 22 points at Santa Clara on Dec. 23... Scored in double-figures 18 times during the season, including three 20-point games... Recorded three double-doubles during the year as he had 13 points and 10 rebounds against IPFW on Dec. 21, 22 points and 11 rebounds against Santa Clara on Dec. 23 and 13 points and a season-high 16 rebounds against Fresno State on Mar. 3... Finished the year second on the team in rebounding with 5.1 boards per game and third in scoring with 10.2 points per game... Led the team in field goal percentage at 54.3 percent and was second in blocked shots with 15.

UTAH STATE TRADITION
•Over the last eight years, Utah State has averaged 24.8 wins and is one of just four schools in the nation to win at least 23 games in each of those seasons joining Gonzaga, Kansas and Syracuse.

•Over the past eight years, Utah State has won three regular season conference championships and four tournament championships.

•Utah State has advanced to eight straight postseason appearances, which is a school record, going to the NCAA Tournament in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006 and to the National Invitation Tournament in 2002, 2004 and 2007.

•Over the last eight years, Utah State has gone 17-4 (.810) in conference postseason tournaments and has advanced to the championship game seven times in the last eight years.

•The Aggies have won 23-plus games in each of the last eight seasons, which is a school record.

•Utah State is the first team in the history of the Western Athletic Conference to play in the conference tournament title game in each of its first two years in the league.

•During the 2006-07 season, Utah State recorded the eighth-most wins in school history (23) and advanced to postseason play for the 25th time.

•During the 2006-07 season, Utah State set a school-record by shooting 78.0 percent from the free throw line, leading the WAC and ranking second in the nation.

•Over the past eight seasons, Utah State has gone 198-62 overall and 104-32 in conference play. Those 198 wins are the ninth-most in the country over that time period, while its 76.2 percent winning percentage is the sixth-best in the country.

•The 1999-2000 team set a school record with 28 wins and went a perfect 19-0 in the Big West Conference, marking only the third time in league history a team has gone undefeated.

•The 2000-01 team tied the school record for wins (28) and recorded Utah State's first NCAA Tournament win in 31 years with a 77-68 overtime victory against Ohio State.

•From 2000-2001, Utah State won 26-straight Big West games, which is the fourth-longest winning streak in the history of the conference.

•Over the last eight years, Utah State has recorded eight of the top nine winningest seasons in school history.

•Over the past eight years, Utah State has had two All-American selections, 14 first-team all-conference selections, 23 all-conference selections (first and second team) and 26 conference player of the week honorees, not to mention Coach Morrill being named the league's Coach of the Year on two separate occasions.

HEAD COACH Stew Morrill
Stew Morrill (Gonzaga, 1974) is in his 10th season at the helm of the Utah State men's basketball program and has posted eight straight 20-win seasons, not to mention guiding the Aggies to eight straight postseason appearances. In his first nine years at USU, he has an incredible 213-75 record, which is the best record by any coach at Utah State during that time span. Over the past eight years, Morrill has coached 14 first-team all-league players in Shawn Daniels (twice), Troy Rolle, Bernard Rock, Tony Brown, Desmond Penigar (twice), Mark Brown, Cardell Butler, Nate Harris (three times), Spencer Nelson and Jaycee Carroll, and has had over an 80 percent graduation rate. He has been involved in postseason action 11 times in his career, including the NCAA Tournament at Utah State in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006 and the National Invitation Tournament in 2002, 2004 and 2007. He has been named Coach of the Year three times, winning the award in 1991 at Montana, and in 2000 and 2002 at Utah State. He is only the fourth coach in the history of the Big West Conference to go undefeated in the league, as he led the 1999-2000 squad to a perfect 19-0 league record, joining Lou Henson, Jerry Tarkanian and Bob Thomason. Prior to coming to Utah State, Morrill had been the head coach at Colorado State University for seven seasons, recording a 121-86 record (1992-98). Prior to his stint at CSU, Morrill spent five seasons as the head coach at the University of Montana (1987-91), where he went 97-52. During his 21 years as a head coach, Morrill's teams have won at least 20 games 12 times and have won at least 17 games in 18 of his 21 seasons as a head coach. He was the second winningest coach at Colorado State behind only Boyd Grant.

• Head coach Stew Morrill (213-75) is 13 wins shy of passing E. Lowell Romney ( 225-157) to become the winningest coach in school history. Morrill is also third all-time in games coached (288) at USU and is the longest tenured coach at Utah State (entering 10th season) since the Ladell Andersen era (1962-71).

• Entering his 10th season with the Aggies, Morrill has a 213-75 (.740) overall record, a 112-40 (.737) conference record and a 17-5 (.773) record in conference postseason play. Overall, Morrill owns a 431-213 (.669) record in 21 years as a collegiate head coach.

• Among active coaches at the Division I level, Morrill ranks 23rd in the nation with his 431 career wins and 28th in winning percentage at 66.9 percent.

• Morrill is one of just 27 active coaches with 400 career wins at the Division I level and one of just 13 active coaches to notch 12 20-win seasons, while his current streak of eight straight 20-win seasons is tied for the ninth-longest active streak in the nation.

• Morrill has been named conference coach of the year three times during his career, winning the award in 1991 while at Montana, and in 2000 and 2002 while at Utah State.

• Morrill has coached 10 first-team all-league players who have won the award a total of 14 times.

• Utah State is 125-12 (.912) in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum under Morrill.

• Morrill has led Utah State to eight straight 20-win seasons and eight straight postseason appearances, both of which are school records.

• Morrill led Utah State to its first NCAA Tournament win in 31 years when USU defeated fifth-seeded Ohio State 77-68 in overtime during the 2001 NCAA Tournament.