2021 WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW
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MANAGING EDITOR DARCY RITCHIE SPORTS MANAGER JACOB NIELSON
CONTENTS
STATESMAN WRITERS JACEE CALDWELL MARK GREENWOOD
6
ESTABLISHING SUCCESS
WILLIAM BULTEZ
10
ARD LOOKS TO REVAMP
NATHAN DUNN
14
HOMETOWN HERO
18
DRIVEN TO GREATNESS
22
MEN’S FRONT COURT
24
MEN’S BACK COURT
26
WOMEN’S SEASON PREVIEW
28
MEN’S SEASON PREVIEW
31
MERRILL WINS NBA TITLE
32
GYMNASTICS RAMPS UP
36
SPIRITED SUPPORT
PARKER BALLANTYNE NATALIE RUST JAKE ELLIS PHOTO MANAGER BAILEY RIGBY STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS JOSEPH F MYERS EDWARD HARIMOTO DESIGNERS SAVANNAH KNAPP JILLIAN POLL SALES TEAM JACOB HORTON KATIE VARGA NICK BAER EMMA BAUMAN SOPHIE BAKER-BUNCH
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Inside Ryan Odom’s approach to establishing a winning culture at Utah State Jacob Nielson his arms and sliding his feet from the sideline, chewing out his team in the huddles and bear hugging fans post game, Craig Smith set a new standard for what it meant to be the head basketball coach at Utah State. RAISING
But after three years as the head coach of the Aggies, Smith jumped on an opportunity to coach in the Pac-12. If you want to see a sideline charade, head down to Salt Lake City and see the Runnin’ Utes play. Smith’s successor, Ryan Odom, brings a much different vibe to USU Men’s Basketball. The new Aggie head coach seldom raises his voice when he communicates with his players. He’ll call out plays from the sideline, then fold his arms and observe. You may even see him sitting down, watching the game like a spectator. In 2018, when his UMBC Retrievers knocked off the top seeded Virginia in the NCAA Tournament — the first time a #16 seed has ever beaten a #1 seed — Odom seemed unmoved, calmly shaking Tony Bennet’s hand as if he’d just won a game against Montana Western. His soft mannered nature is the first thing you notice, especially after becoming accustomed to Smith’s persona. But it shouldn’t 6
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be mistaken for passiveness. “I think some people get confused when they see him because there’s this image of coaches that you have to be like, rah rah,” said Assistant Coach Matt Henry. “And Ryan is really, really competitive, right? But he channels that in really productive ways.” Odom’s task now is to learn how to channel it into consistent winning because he has inherited a program that is well acquainted with success. Aggies expect wins. Under Smith, Utah State won two Mountain West Championships, qualified for three straight NCAA tournaments and got two of its players drafted into the NBA in back to back years. Since 2000, the Aggies are just one of 17 teams that have 16 seasons with 20 or more wins to go along with at least 11 NCAA tournament bids. Utah State returns just two starters from last season’s team — seniors Brock Miller and Justin Bean — which means competing for another conference championship and NCAA tournament appearance will be no easy task. The Aggies were picked fifth in the conference preseason rankings.
But if anyone knows how to exceed expectations, it’s Odom. Just three years before he defeated Virginia at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, Odom found out he wouldn’t be UNC Charlotte’s next coach after carrying the interim tag the late portion of the season. He was out of a job. He was hired as head coach of division 2 Lenoir-Rhyme, and took them to the NCAA Division 2 regional finals. The Bears also improved from an 8-18 team in the 2014-15 season to 21-10 in the 2015-16 year. Lenoir-Rhyne was led by Keenan Palmore, who current Aggie Assistant Coach Bryce Crawford described as a “cheat code.” He led their conference in scoring, assists and rebounds. Palmore is now a graduate manager on Utah State’s staff. Odom’s success at Lenoir-Rhyne helped him land the head coaching job at UMBC. In his first season in Baltimore, they won 21 games and advanced to the semifinals of the CIT tournament. In his second year, they won 25 games, including the win over Virginia. According to Aggie assistant coach Nate Dixon, who’s been
with Odom since the Charlotte days, Odom’s ability to empower the players is what has helped so many of his teams overachieve. “He’s probably different than pretty much everyone I’ve ever worked for,” Dixon said. “He’s got more of a calm demeanor ... he tries to instill confidence and make guys feel good about themselves. And I think that’s part of the reason why we had success in the Virginia game.” “Going into the Virginia game in the tournament, we never talked about losing that game,” Crawford said. “He was just like ‘we’re gonna be who we are, and we got a chance to beat these guys.’ He just kind of breeds confidence into people with his preparation.” An Odom-run program isn’t a program of exactness or perfection. Big men learning post moves aren’t taught to pivot one way just to be reprimanded if they go the other. They’re taught to go whatever way they want, so the coaching staff can see which way they’re more comfortable with.
Joseph F Myers
An Odom program runs an offense which senior forward Justin Bean describes as “free flowing,” where guys are encouraged to run in the open floor and shoot open shots. It’s an environment where you don’t have to glance over your shoulder every time you make a mistake.
“He coaches instead of just yelling. He wants to teach you more than he wants to prove that he’s right,” Crawford said. “He also allows you to be creative and have autonomy yourself.” This approach isn’t just limited to on the court.
“If you miss a shot you’re not getting yanked out,” Dixon said.
According to his assistants, Odom wants his players to be
comfortable in all aspects of the program. To do this, he tries to develop meaningful relationships with each of his players. Odom has a set of core values he frequently goes over with the team. He sends encouraging messages to individual players via text message and organizes non-basketball team activities,
like a bowling night.
Odom at Lenoir Rhyne. Dixon has worked with or under Odom since 2013. Henry joined the gang for the 2018-19 season, after UMBC assistant Eric Skeeters was hired as head coach at Delaware State. “I spend more time with these guys that I work with and our players than I do with my own family,” Crawford said. “That’s hard. So you got to be around the right people.”
“For some coaches, how you play the game and who you are as a person is the same. And that’s really challenging,” Crawford said. “That’s not how Ryan is. He sees you as a human being.” And for a team that has 10 new individuals on the roster, as well as student-athletes from all over the globe, having that support from a head coach can go a long way. Utah State has players from Australia, England, Ukraine, Poland, Bahrain, and the Netherlands.
Nate Dixon
To Odom, getting to coach such an ethnically diverse team is a privilege. “You know, I think when you’re around folks that maybe are from different cultures, or from a different place, eventually you begin to learn, obviously, a lot about them and where they come from,” Odom said. “But eventually, you learn about yourself too, which I think is really cool.”
Odom feels the same way about his assistants. He said he’s “fortunate” to have people under him that “make him a better coach.”
Matt Henry
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The goal from Odom is to foster a culture of trust, not fear. A culture where players can “mirror his calmness,” as Henry puts it. And then channel it into winning. “Each year, your team has one chance to do it right,” Odom said. “And work together to make the most of the opportunity.”
Odom’s impact for a program — on and off the court — hasn’t reaped any tangible rewards in Logan yet. But it’s clear his approach has an impact, not just because of the wins he’s compiled, but because people he’s worked with seem to stick with him. Crawford first coached with Odom when he was a graduate manager at Charlotte from 2011 to 2013. He was hired by
“As good of a basketball coach as (Odom) is — and he’s a great basketball coach — he’s a way better human being and person and friend and boss and family man as well,” Henry said.
Bryce Crawford
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Kayla Ard looks to revamp the women’s program Jake Ellis women’s basketball has had tough seasons back-toback. They finished the last two seasons with less than nine wins. Head Coach Kayla Ard took over the helm for the Aggies last year and acknowledges that the season didn’t go well for the Aggies. UTAH STATE
“Last year was my first year, (it) was obviously not a good season. A lot has changed since then. I’m not going to blame it on COVID, that was not the problem. The problem was the culture. The culture has been changed. That’s all we’ve worked on from the day of the last game all summer long,” Ard said.
culture in just a few words. After a brainstorming session, they narrowed it down to four words: loyalty, toughness, accountability and grateful. These words are all over the program. There are posters of them on the wall, they have wristbands, and they have a golden jersey covered with it. The gold jersey signifies a player who has lived up to the ideals
Ard takes part in leadership meetings with Aggie head coaches across all the different sports. In each meeting, a coach presents a leadership moment where they share what has been successful for them and their team. In one meeting, Ard was inspired to have her team define their 10
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Not only have the players stepped up, but Ard credits every member of her staff with helping her whip the program in shape. A strategy the Aggies have used on the court this offseason is practicing against a male practice team. They’ve played against them almost every day in practice. “That’s been really, really fun. It’s been really good for the girls. It’s tough, it’s difficult for them to go against men for one thing… they’re bigger, they’re stronger, they’re faster so it’s just elevating their game,” Ard said.
It took most of this last year to install Ard’s vision for her team’s culture. It’s been the focus of the offseason for the Aggies, and also what Ard sees as inducing the greatest improvement in the team. “We’ve been focusing on a ton of stuff on the court, but our culture has been the thing that has changed so much that is why our product on the floor is so much better,” Ard said.
‘hey, are we being grateful to be here?’” Ard said.
The training has helped elevate their game according to Ard. She said when they play against other women in practice it almost looks easy for them now.
Edward Harimoto
and gets out of conditioning for that practice. “That’s what we’re about. We hold our kids to that, and they hold us to that. We talk about that quite a bit. If we’re not having a very good practice, we’ll huddle up and me or one of the players or somebody will be like
During the offseason, the Aggies added size and experience with six players that joined the team from the transfer portal. Four of the newcomers are over six feet tall, three of the players are seniors and one is a graduate student. Ard expects all the transfers to have minutes and has highlighted what fans can expect from them. Kaylin Randhawa is a senior guard from Turlock, California. She transferred from Pacific
where she played 81 games in three years and helped the Tigers to a WNIT appearance in her freshman season. “Love her size on the perimeter, she can score on all three levels, and she’s extremely talented,” Ard said. Olivia Wikstrom adds aggression and endurance to the Aggie squad. She’s a sophomore guard from Brainbridge Island, Washington, and transferred from Northern Colorado where she was a letter-winner during her freshman season. “I’ve never seen someone with a motor like this before. She does not get tired. She loves running. She’s just so long and aggressive. I think she’s about to have a really good season,” Ard said. Laci Hawthorne is a graduate forward from Fort Worth, Texas. At Murray State, she was second in the conference with 9.3 rebounds per game in the 20192020 season. She is a strong leader for the Aggies and was named a captain. “She’s going to be phenomenal for us. Really excited about her leadership and her maturity and what she can do on the court,” Ard said. “It’s really rare to take six kids out of the transfer portal that you didn’t get to take on campus, you had to do your recruiting over zoom, and not miss with any of them. I can truly, honestly say that we did not miss on any of them. All six of these Edward Harimoto
kids will play. All six of them will be successful and they are great people. They fit in with our returners so well,” Ard said. Ard also said the team has improved because of the newcomers, the hard work of returning players and the new culture that has been installed. “I also think our talent level has been raised so much, not only with the transfers that we got, but the returners have really been working. And I think because they have these types of players around them, they’re just really excelling in the system. We have a lot more playmakers. We have a lot better scorers,” Ard said. One returner expected to make an impact this year is sophomore, Megan Mendazona, who looks to build on her solid freshman campaign. The guard from Monmouth, Oregon appeared in 20 games and averaged six points and 4.1 rebounds per game. She was also named a Mountain West Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-Mountain West in 2021. “She’s very talented… I think she fits this system really well and we’re really excited about her,” Ard said. Ard is proud of the hard work 12
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the returning players put in over the offseason. She thinks that they will find success that has been eluding them at USU the last couple of years. “I am excited about these returners. I think they’re finally going to get something this year that they’ve been working for, for a while. That has felt out of reach to them, and they deserve it to have some success and I think they’re going to get that this year,” she said. Although Ard knows that the women’s basketball team hasn’t always been the most entertaining team to support in recent years. “It’s no secret that the women’s
$500 to a lucky student that attended an open practice on Oct. 26. She wanted to entice the students to come and see her new and improved team in person. She believes once people see the team, they’ll continue to support them at games this season. “It’s going to be fun to watch. We’re going to score a lot of points. It’s going to be a fastpaced system,” Ard said. As for preseason projections, the Aggies are predicted to finish last in the Mountain West Conference as voted by the coaches of the conference and select media members. “I think we’re going to surprise some people. Someone asked me how I feel being ranked last in the polls, I love it. That’s exactly where I want to be,” Ard said. More specifically, success will look like competitiveness for the Aggies this year.
basketball games have not been very exciting in the past. You know they haven’t, but this is a new team. It’s a new culture, it’s a new head coach I want them to come see that,” Ard said. Ard put her money where her mouth is when she raffled away
Ard concluded, “I want to compete. I don’t want anyone coming in here saying ‘Utah Bailey Rigby State’s on the schedule, that’s an automatic win for us.’ I want people to be like, ‘I don’t want to go to Logan and play them.’ That’s why I’m so adamant on getting the students in here. I want the atmosphere to be kind of hostile like it is at the football games.”
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Hometown Hero: Rylan Jones returns to Logan to play for the Aggies Jake Ellis Smith leaving for Utah and Ryan Odom being hired as Utah State’s new head coach, the men’s basketball roster was riddled with roster changes over the off-season. One of the biggest changes was the addition of former Logan resident and Ute point guard Rylan Jones. WITH
Jones announced he was coming to Utah State in May 2021 after he entered the transfer portal. With his father, Chris Jones, no longer the director of basketball operations at Utah, it was an easy decision for Jones to come back to a place he called home for much of his childhood. “I kind of knew where I wanted to go before I entered the portal,” Jones said. “Utah State was my dream school growing up. I mean, I was here every night when my dad was here. Spencer Butterfield, Preston Medlin, you know those guys. Those are my idols, and it was a dream come true to actually put on the Aggie uniform.” Assistant coach Nate Dixon, who has been friends with Chris for several years, helped recruit Jones back to Cache Valley. “Rylan left and went down to Utah, obviously when his mom and dad moved, and he took, his dad, took the job, but I don’t think the Aggies ever left his blood,” Dixon said. 14
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Chris was on Utah State’s coaching staff from 2009 to 2016. Jones even recruited his son’s current teammate Brock Miller back in 2015. He was then the director of player operations at Utah until the end of the 2021 season. As a result of his dad coaching at Utah State, Jones lived in Logan for 11 years, including his freshman year of high school. He played for one year at Logan High School before moving to Olympus High School. Jones led the Titans to a Utah 5A State Championship in 2018. Deseret News selected him as their Mr. Basketball in 2018 and 2019. He was also named the Gatorade Player of the Year in 2019.
“(That was) one of the top five nights of my life,” Jones said. “That was a lot of fun, we celebrated that win.” Now playing for coach Odom, Jones feels like he’s in a situation where he can build upon his success at Utah. Jones first heard of Odom when his UMBC team became the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament in 2018. He liked the up-tempo offense and fun style of play utilized by the Retrievers. According to Jones, the Aggies have embraced the style and have excelled with it.
Committing to Utah, Jones shined his freshman year. He averaged 9.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists and appeared in 17 games for the Utes. Last season, his stats declined from his freshman 20192020 season to his sophomore 2020-2021 season due to injury. But over his two-year career at Utah, he had 43 starts for the Utes in two seasons averaging 7.6 points, 4.3 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game.
“I’m very excited for the opportunity to play in this kind of offense. It’s a lot of reading and ball screens where we can just make plays,” Jones said. “I feel like that’s a strength of our team, is we got a lot of guys who can make plays, not just one. That’s going to be super exciting to watch for the fans as well. We’re going to be making some great plays where it’s not just like a set every time.”
One of the first games you see when you search “Rylan Jones highlights” online is BYU at Utah in 2019. Jones put up 25 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds, leading the Utes to victory over the Cougars in overtime.
Beyond returning home, playing under Odom was a big reason Jones chose to come to Utah State.
Joseph F Myers
“Coach is a point guard, Rylan’s a point guard,” Dixon said. “You know, I think that part was an easy sell. Once Rylan realized the style of play, it was pretty easy.” Jones is focused on what he can contribute to the Aggies this season. His main goal is “to be the best player I can be and help the team win.” Jones hopes to use his experience to be a leader on the court. “I’ve played a lot of games at high levels, so I just want to bring my experience,” Jones said. “You know I’m not the loudest person, but I want to bring that leadership of calmness and collectiveness like a point guard should be. Just helping make plays for my teammates.” Jones is confident with the pick and roll and distributing the ball to his teammates on the floor. “I feel like probably my best ability is creating off the pick and roll and creating for my teammates, and I feel like I’ve done that pretty well so far in the preseason,” Jones said. “So I’m just going to try to keep making the right plays and doing what the game tells me to do. That’s where I think I can make the biggest impact.” 16
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The team is eyeing a tournament run this season and Jones is 100 percent on board.
a fun time. We’re always hanging out, doing stuff together, so it’s been awesome.”
“The goal is obviously a Mountain West Championship… and then making it to the NCAA tournament,” Jones said. “We’re going to set our standard there, and we’re going to go 1-0 every day and work our way to the tournament.”
That chemistry has come out on the court, according to Jones. He thinks Aggie fans will like what they see this season.
According to Jones, he has built strong bonds with his teammates
and has known many of them for years. He went to high school with Travis Wagstaff at Olympus. Landon Brenchley, who graduated from Ridgeline, was one of his best friends growing up. He knows Brock Miller from when his Dad recruited him, and he knows Steven Ashworth from the competitive basketball scene in the state. “You know there’s a lot of connections with these guys, and you know I didn’t know them very well, but now I know them very well,” Jones said. “All great guys, great teammates. We have
“I think we’re going to be a very exciting offensive and defensive team,” Jones said. “We’re looking to run, play fast and shoot a lot of threes… We got a lot of guys who make great passes, and we’re an unselfish group so it’s going to be a fun brand of basketball. (If) you like good basketball, you’re going to want to come out and watch us.” And they get to do it all in the Spectrum, a place Jones sees as Joseph F Myers home. “It means a lot to me,” Jones said. “When I was growing up, I couldn’t wait for Tuesday night and Saturday night when my Dad was coaching here. That was the highlight of my week. I’d bring my buddies and we would come in here, and we would just cheer for the Aggies, and the student section was unbelievable as it is, probably the best in the country. The HURD is crazy. As a kid, I dreamed about playing in (the Spectrum). I’m just excited to play in front of 10,000 people… Spectrum Magic is something that’s real, I believe.”
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Senior Aggie guard is driven to be the greatest Mark Greenwood playing in 22 games last season and averaging almost 29 minutes per game, senior guard Emmie Harris is preparing to play an even more prominent role for Utah State Women’s Basketball this year. AFTER
Bs, you don’t get to play any sports.’”
Elected by both the players and the coaches to be a team captain, she is held in high regard by the program. Head coach Kayla Ard has nothing but praise for her.
Growing up in her mother’s household has undoubtedly paid dividends for Emmie, as she has been named Academic All-Mountain West all four years she’s been in college. To be named an Academic All-Mountain West athlete, a player must have completed at least two terms and maintain a cumulative grade point average above 3.5.
“I count on her every day. She’s the same person every day,” Ard said. “I feel really, really lucky to have her.”
A cumulative 3.5 GPA is not easy to maintain but is especially difficult for someone who graduated with a degree in human biology.
But beginning her fifth season with the Aggies, Emmie has more on her plate than just basketball.
Maintaining a high GPA in classes that combine high-level math, biology, chemistry and physics while also playing Division I basketball isn’t aneasy task.
“My goal is to attend medical school,” Emmie said. “Having the knowledge of that being a really competitive area to go into after undergrad, I need to do anything (I can) so I can have more of a competitive edge.” The competitiveness USU has seen on the hardwood the last four seasons doesn’t seem to fade after the final buzzer. Emmie has always striven for excellence in the classroom, a trait she said comes in part from her mom. “My mom always pushed me,” she said. “She’s like ‘if you make 18
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To Emmie, basketball and good grades are connected through a simple personality trait. “I hate losing,” she said. While many, if not all, athletes have this in common, most of them don’t apply that to other areasof their lives like Emmie has. “That kind of fuels me to continue to work inside and outside of the classroom,” she said.
After the coronavirus pandemic granted Emmie another year of eligibility, she decided to remain at USU and further her education. In her fifth academic year, she is currently working on a master’s in business administration. Having a long-term goal of having her own medical practice, she sees getting an MBA as a crucial step towards that goal. Venturing into a new, unknown area of study that she has not worked on through her undergraduate degree, Emmie described her studies as exciting and fun. Those are two words not typically used to describe graduate course load. Her success is impressive for any student, let alone someone also playing Division I basketball. But it is even more incredible when you consider she is a first-generation college student. Though neither of her parents went to college, they still pushed their two daughters to excel in the classroom in every stage of their learning. In addition to her mom, Emmie also attributed some of her remarkable academic success to her older sister, Hannah. Four years older than her, Hannah has always been someone she looked
Edward Harimoto
up to both athletically and scholastically through their childhood. Hannah earned academic allstate honors all four years in high school and was named to the ACC Honor Roll and the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll at the University of Louisville while playing soccer. Anyone who has been around Emmie for more than an hour knows she doesn’t let anything stop her from accomplishing her goals. According to Hannah, this has always been the case.
keep her active, her mom would even hide their television remote until she had gotten outside and played basketball or soccer for 30 minutes. Born and raised in Danville, Kentucky, Emmie is a long way from home here in Logan. To be exact: 1,462 miles. She claims she is never homesick for Kentucky, even though her drive time home
is almost 24 hours. Emmie relies on FaceTime to keep in touch and looks forward to her parents and sister visiting her throughout the winter. She has enjoyed playing basketball for USU and living in Logan. However, she’s hoping she’ll get an opportunity to move closer to her family in the coming years.
“Whatever she wants, she goes after,” Hannah said. “Whether it’s with basketball or with school ...She just works so hard at everything.” Emmie certainly makes her drive evident through her numerous athletic and academic accolades. Hannah also said it is not uncommon for her to get a call from her little sister at 3 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, who is still awake working on schoolwork and has a question. Emmie repeatedly emphasized how important her family is to her and how they’ve inspired her to be a better person and helped her become a better athlete. “I was raised really well by my parents,” she said. “They had high expectations for me. Basically, they wanted me to be a good person all around, not just within sports or just within school.” Emmie said in an attempt to 20
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Edward Harimoto
Although Emmie said the decision hasn’t been made yet, her top priority for medical school is the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Beyond that, she prefers somewhere on the East Coast. “A little bit closer to my family so I can be within travel distance,” she said. “Four to six hours is totally fine with me.” With family being such an influence in Emmie’s life, why would she elect to come out west to Utah to play basketball? She ended her career at Boyle County High School as the school’s all-time leading scorer and had
an illustrious soccer career leading the team to three straight region titles. Her trophy case also contains back-to-back track and field titles for Boyle. She had numerous Division I offers in all three sports from schools all around the country, including closer to home in Kentucky. Picking one of the offers was not easy, and her robust Christian beliefs played a significant role in the decision. “My family and I,” Emmie said, “we prayed about it, and we felt this was the right place for me to be.”
She was raised in a Baptist church before becoming a nondenominational Christian in high school. Before every game, Emmie writes the scripture 1 Corinthians 10:31 on her wrist: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” She said she does this so “I know what I’m doing, know why I’m playing basketball and who I’m playing basketball for. He’s kind of my reason why for everything.”
Bailey Rigby
Joseph F Myers
Men’s Hoops Front Court Preview
Nathan Dunn
State University’s basketball team losing three-time All-Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Neemias Queta to the Sacramento Kings, the Aggies front court takes a major hit. WITH UTAH
However, the players seem to have a solution. “He’s a once-in-a-generation talent,” said Justin Bean, a senior forward on the team. “It’s going to be tough replacing him because you can’t. But being more scrappy and physical is something we have to do a good job at. We have already started on different tactics.” 22
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One of those tactics is changing the way the Aggies play basketball. It starts with USU senior, Brandon Horvath, who followed head coach Ryan Odom to Logan from UMBC. Horvath averaged 19 points per game and nearly nine rebounds last season. Bean said the 6’10” forward, who he called “a great all-around player,” will give the Aggies a lot of miss-match opportunities in the five spot with his ability to stretch the floor and shoot three’s.
Horvath looks to be a nice compliment to Bean, who is the Aggie captain and top returner from last year’s roster. After averaging 11.4 points and nearly eight rebounds a game on 52% shooting in 2020-2021 season, Bean opted not to transfer schools or play professionally, and returns for his senior year. Bean understands his role as a leader and one of the fan-favorites. “My family has always done a really good job of helping me stay level-headed and let me know what kind of leader I need
to be,” he said. “My dad played college ball, so I look to him for a lot of advice. I talked to Sam Merrill who was excited to hear I was coming back and has been supportive. He told me to continue to lead and he told me since I was a freshman to be the most vocal guy on the court.”
sophomore forward Nortert Thelissen from the Netherlands, sophomore Travis Wagstaff from Snow College, and freshman forward Cade Potter from California. Sometimes when new coaches
everyone that’s coming in. They know what the coach expects daily in practice. We try to do team activities once a week, and we have been bowling, had dinner, and it’s a fun group and I’m really excited to see how we grow that chemistry and see it displayed on the court.”
The Aggies will have plenty of depth to back up Horvath and Bean.
With the offense not running through the post like it did under Queta, things will inevitably look different. But one of their main focuses will be something Bean has always excelled at.
Trevin Dorius, a 7’0” junior and the backup to Queta last season, will likely compete with 6’11” sophomore, Szymon Zapala, for the center position. Zee Hamoda, a 6’7” forward who was recruited by Odom out of Bridgton Academy in Maine, is a true freshman with a chance to get meaningful playing time as well. Hamoda is originally from Riffa, Bahrain. In the 2018 FIBA U18 Asian Championships, he dominated with averages of 23 points, 13 rebounds, four steals, 3.5 assists, and nearly three blocks per game. Other new additions include
Joseph F Myers
and players come in, team chemistry can start to fade. But that isn’t the case with this group, according to Bean. “I feel like we have really done the opposite,” he said. “I think we have all gone in stride with
“The biggest thing we focused on is to be a great rebounding team,” Bean said. “We’ve taken a lot of pride in that the last few years and Coach Odom really drilled that too, that we need to rebound the ball and convert opportunities.”
The Aggies should have an exciting and developing year in the front court. They have veteran leadership, young legs, and a team chemistry that hasn’t skipped a beat.
Men’s Hoops Back Court Preview Nathan Dunn State University’s basketball backcourt lost two starters from last season, Rollie Worster and Marco Anthony, who followed Craig Smith, head coach at University of Utah, to Utah. THE UTAH
Steven Ashworth, a sophomore guard, said. “We can’t throw it into Neemy with how great of a passer he is. Guys like Trevin Dorius and Szymon Zapala have made huge strides this summer
However, even with this loss, the Aggies guard position is expected to be deep with likely starters — RJ Eytle-Rock from UMBC and Rylan Jones from Utah. They also have four returning contributing guards from last season including senior Brock Miller, sophomore Steven Ashworth, sophomore Max Shulga and junior Sean Bairstow. And after losing center Neemias Queta, and his prowess defensively and offensively, the guards have added responsibilities in both facets. “It’s going to be a challenge,” 24
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in feeling those shoes, but it’s not all on them. The perimeter has to contribute more to the success on offense. Not having (Queta) in the paint, with him being the best rim protector in the country last year, means we can’t let people get to the rim. It will be fun to see how we execute that this season.” If they can play better defense and shoot the three-pointer at
a higher clip than last season at 33.6%, they could have a successful season. “We have the goal to be one of the best backcourts in the country,” Ashworth said. “Coach Odom has put us in a position to do that. We are excited to show people what we are able to do, and how we do it.” Returners Probable starter, Brock Miller, returns for his senior season. Last year, Miller averaged 8.8 points per game, and shot 36.5% from three-point range. Miller Joseph F Myers will be relied on to shoot and make a high volume of outside shots. Ashworth made an appearance in all 29 games for the Aggies last season, averaging 6.1 points a game with 2.6 assists and two rebounds per game. With a season high coming against rival San Diego State, Ashworth solidified himself a spot in the rotation.
Max Shulga originally entered the transfer portal in March but decided to return to Utah State. Averaging 6.8 minutes of action per game last season. The Ukrainian hopes to have a bigger role as a sophomore. Sean Bairstow, who averaged 3.7 points last season, will sit out to start the season with a broken wrist, but will be looked to for his defensive prowess and passing ability.
rim,” Ashworth said. “He adds a lot of versatility.” Freshman Landon Brenchley is an exciting talent. Brenchley averaged 24.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.4 steals per game in his senior year at Ridgeline High School. He also
helped the Riverhawks to a USU title as a sophomore, earning third-team all-region honors that year. Other newcomers include sophomore, Conner Gillis, from East Carolina and sophomore, Connor Odom, from Flagler College.
Transfers and Newcomers Rylan Jones was a key contributor at Utah, averaging 7.6 points and 4.3 assists a game. He also finished with a triple-double his freshman year against Mississippi Valley State, a game which Utah won by 94 points. “Jones brings the experience of playing college basketball for multiple years,” Ashworth said. “He’s able to facilitate well and is smart with the ball in his hands. He has been a great addition to our team this year and we will be able to see a lot of success come from him and I at the one and two.” UMBC Transfer RJ Etyle-Rock will also play a big role for the Aggies this season. Etyle-Rock appeared in 73 games with 64 starts in three years at UMBC. He led the Retrievers in scoring during the 2020-2021 season, with 14.3 points per game. He shot 47.4% from the floor and 40.0% from behind the arc. “RJ is hard to stop when he gets in transition and attacks the
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Edward Harimoto
Women’s Hoops Preview Mark Greenwood University’s Women’s Basketball ended the 2020-2021 season with a 16-game losing streak as part of a 4-20 record. The Aggies struggled on both sides of the ball, scoring 63 points per game and allowing nearly 79 points per game. UTAH STATE
The Aggies look to improve on multiple fronts, with women’s basketball being no exception. With nine players returning from last year and an addition of six more transfer players. One thing that will aid the team’s improvement is the new talent since last season. Leading into the season, head coach, Kayla Ard, said the team’s depth is encouraging. “We have playmakers this year,” she said. “Our talent level has 26
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been increased a lot. Not just from these transfers but also from the returners. Because we put these other people around them, their games have elevated.” Ard sees her team playing on a level she hasn’t seen before because of this new playmaking ability. Even with the new roster makeup, the Mountain West Conference projected USU to finish last in the media day’s preseason rankings released in October. During the media day, senior team captain, Emmie Harris, said she loves where they are and emphasized a motto they have within the team, “something to prove every day.”
After finishing last in the conference during the previous season, they have a lot to prove. But that doesn’t seem to unnerve this older, more experienced group. Everyone has their eye on two players, Harris and junior point guard, Faith Brantley. Of the returning players, Brantley and Harris had the most games played and the highest average points per game. “Confidence,” Brantley said. “It’s not like on the court skill, but I think that’s something I improved on from last year. And it helps with my teammates believing in me and my coaching staff believing in me.”
Harris got off to a quick start last year before a nagging ankle injury limited her effectiveness. After getting healthy during the offseason, she’s ready to go and looking to have a big year. Speaking highly of her basketball IQ and ability to be a catalyst on the floor, Ard also projects Harris will have a really good season. The roster isn’t the only thing that’s been revamped. The Aggies made several coaching staff changes in preparation for the upcoming season. The addition of coach Marc Wilson as an assistant coach and role change of Juawan Scaife to include a recruiting coordinator. After spending the 2020-2021 season with Cleveland State University, Wilson joins the team with 21 years of D1 coaching on his resume. Wilson and Ard got to know each otherwhile coaching at Clemson University. Ard spoke of nothing but praise for Wilson, highlighting his experience, defensive mindedness, and ability to develop post players. Scaife has been with the program since the hiring of Ard, but this will be the first year in his new role as recruiting looks to become more of a priority. Recruiting is going to be an all-hands-on deck effort while attacking at every front. “I just want to get the best players we can get. I don’t care where they come from,” Ard said.
Scaife echoed her sentiment. “It will be a little bit of a mix of everything, whether it’s junior college, high school kids or (transfer) portal,” he said. “We will be pulling from every different avenue and every different angle we can.” Between the player development and coaching changes, expectations are high within the program. The Aggies aren’t afraid of setting the bar and they feel they can compete for a conference title with the current talent. “That’s something we really want to reach for,” Scaife said. “Even if we don’t reach exactly where we want to, I think we’ll still be able to accomplish some things that we never even imagined at times, so the sky’s the limit for our group.” Ard drove home the goal of improving on every possible front, including recruiting, student and community involvement, more complete gameplay and, most importantly, team dynamic and culture. Culture is quickly becoming a big focus for this team early in the 2021-2022 season. After a disappointing 2020-2021 campaign, Ard’s players are taking it upon themselves to change the dynamic of the team and specifically, the team culture. With six transfer players, a fluid team dynamic does not come right away. In a focused effort to create relationships and set a team culture,
the women’s team participated in “The Program” over the summer. The Program is an exercise where military professionals come and work with the team for four to eight hours to develop leadership skills and team bonding. Ard attributed some of the genuine relationships within the group to what occurred in those two days. “Watching them protect each other and have each other’s back and come together as one knowing that 14 of them couldn’t do it, it has to be all 15. It was really cool to see the huge step they took,” she said. Another way the team is becoming a tighter unit and setting the culture is through weekly culture checks. This team wants to have a sense of increased accountability and is creating that through a weekly open forum to share thoughts, suggestions, and concerns about the team’s current state. Culture checks are the primary way the girls are all staying on the same page to accomplish their goals. “If there are any problems that are arising on the team, we talk about those and talk about keeping our healthy culture in check so that no problems arise for us,” Harris said. Culture is a crucial concept for any organization but especially within a team that relies on each other for success. The team hopes their focused efforts will translate into success on the court.
Nevada Athletics
Men’s Mountain West Conference Preview Parker Ballantyne West Conference is one of the best basketball conferences in the nation, featuring some of the nation’s top teams, toughest venues and most storied programs. THE MOUNTAIN
Last year, order of finish in the regular season was: San Diego State (23-5, 16-3), Utah State (20-9, 15-4), Colorado State (208, 14-4), Boise State (19-9, 146), Nevada (16-10, 10-7), Fresno (12-12, 9-11), UNLV (12-15, 8-10), Wyoming (14-11, 7-9), San Jose State ( 5-16, 3-13), Air Force (5-20, 3-17), then New Mexico (6-16, 2-17). The closest game of the tournament was San Diego State’s 6966 victory over Wyoming. 28
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The largest deficit also belonged to Wyoming when they beat San Jose 111-80 in a No. 8 to No. 9 matchup just one round earlier. In the tournament, San Diego State beat Utah State in the finals. This year the Mountain West is sure to look different. For the second time ever and the first time since 2008, the conference has four first-year head coaches in Kevin Kruger at UNLV, Tim Miles at San Jose State, Ryan Odom at Utah State, and Richard Pitino at New Mexico. In addition to losing four coaches, the Mountain West also lost three of its top players in Derrick
Alston of Boise State, Neemias Queta of Utah State, and Mountain West Player of the Year and tournament MVP Matt Mitchell of San Diego State. What is Utah State up against in this revamped and reloaded Mountain West? Can the Aggies return to the championship game or even reclaim the top spot as tournament champions? Standing in their way are some loaded teams and some elite players. If the Aggies want a repeat of playing in the conference championship, they have a difficult road ahead. While no team in the league has appeared to take a significant
step back, many have reloaded and should be a lot better. The seemingly clear favorites are Colorado State and Nevada. Both look like worthy candidates to dethrone San Diego State. Although lately dormant, UNLV and New Mexico are basketball powerhouses and overdue for a return to prominence. Air Force and San Jose state have become reliably suboptimal. Although neither should be a threat to win the conference, both could get in the way. Boise State, Fresno State and Wyoming are teams that could beat anybody, and any one of them could easily make a jump to the top of the conference and compete for a title. Here’s what to expect from three of the top teams: Colorado State The Rams are running it back behind fourth-year head coach Niko Medved and junior forward David Roddy. Including the post-season, Colorado State ended up 20-8 and 14-4 last year. Utah State played against the Rams three times in the 202021 season, twice in the regular season and once in the conference semi-finals. The two teams split the regular season series, and the Aggies bested the Rams in the tournament. Interestingly, none of the games were particularly close as Utah State won by 19 and 12 points in the first and third matchup while Colorado State won by an 8-point
margin in their sole victory over the Aggies.
State and the entire conference this year.
Nevada The Wolf Pack somehow flew under the radar during 2020-21, even though they started strong and ended up 16-10 and 10-7, including post-season play.
Mensah is a familiar foe for the Aggies, although in 2020-21, he played with Jordan Schakel and Conference Player of the Year Matt Mitchell, who took most of the spotlight.
Nevada was on a four-game win streak when, in a span of seven scheduled games in February and March, five were canceled or postponed. The two games they did play resulted in back-to-back losses to Utah State — their only two games against the Aggies.
Brian Dutcher, entering his fifth year as head coach, certainly has the weapons to maintain his position atop the conference.
After the losses and canceled games, Nevada would only have one more regular season game before heading to Vegas for the tournament. This year, back under normal circumstances, Nevada hopes to take control of their own season and rally behind second-year head coach Steve Alford and returning starter Grant Sherfield, who is poised to make a run for not only a Mountain West Championship but also a Mountain West Player of the Year award. San Diego State The Aztecs don’t rebuild — they just reload. This year, they are reloading with some promising transfers around some solid returners. Big-man Nathan Mensah will return and be joined by Matt Bradley, a 6’4” guard transferring from Cal. Both players will likely cause problems for Utah
Even outside of the top teams, the conference is loaded with talent. Some of the apparent bottom teams boast some of the conference’s top players. As per usual for the Mountain West, each team has potential superstars and players to watch. Some of the players most poised for a breakout season or a run at Player of the Year include the aforementioned David Roddy, Grant Sherfield and Nathan Mensah. But there are three dark horse players to look out for in the conference this season: Bryce Hamilton, UNLV Guard Bryce Hamilton has both first and second-team Mountain West All-Conference honors on his resume. Although his TOs a bit high, he’s a solid shooter with great defense. On a new-look UNLV team with a first-year head coach and an influx of transfer portal talent, Hamilton could step into a bigger role on a better team. Hamilton was UNLV’s leading
scorer in one of Utah State’s rare losses during the 2020-21 campaign. In his three games against Utah State, he played 99 minutes and went 14-47 from the field and 6-19 from three with 11 assists, 10 steals and 32 points. Hunter Maldonado, Wyoming Guard Hunter Maldonado is a versatile guard with scoring and passing abilities and a ton of potential. Averaging 12.5 points made him the second-leading scorer for the Cowboys while he led the team in both assists and rebounds. This year he could be the
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leading scorer for Wyoming and one of the leading scorers in the conference.
the Fresno State Bulldogs after declaring for, then withdrawing from, the NBA Draft.
The Cowboys only faced Utah State once during the 2020-21 season, and Maldonado was the leading scorer for the Pokes with 14. He played a game-high of 38 minutes and went 6-10 from the field and 1-3 from three with 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
The seven-footer can score in the paint and from the perimeter, making him a very dangerous scorer. He started in all 24 games for the Bulldogs and averaged 14.6 points a game.
Orlando Robinson, Fresno State Forward Orlando Robinson is coming off a second-team All-Mountain West selection year and returning to
In his two games against Utah State, Robinson played 66 minutes and went 6-24 from the field and 2-9 from three. He also grabbed 16 rebounds, 7 assists and a block to go along with his 20 points.
Bailey Rigby
Sam Merrill becomes first Aggie to win NBA title Jacob Nielson first time in program history, a former Utah State Aggie has an NBA Championship ring. FOR THE
With the Milwaukee Bucks’ 105-98 win over the Phoenix Suns in game six of the NBA Finals on July 21, Sam Merrill became an NBA title winner in his rookie season.
Merrill’s wife, Kanyan Merrill — a former USU soccer player — also seemed to enjoy the experience. She posted an Instagram story of herself running through the concourse at Talking Stick Arena in Phoenix celebrating the Bucks 123-119 win in game five
He had several memorable moments throughout his rookie season. Merrill’s career-high came on March 26 against the Celtics, when he scored 15 points on 6-8 shooting in just 20 minutes played. In a game on April 9 against the Hornets, he turned heads by driving down the lane and throwing the ball down for a dunk — something he never did at USU.
He is also the first former Aggie to win a major professional basketball title since Marvin Roberts won an ABA title with the Kentucky Colonels in 1975.
On Dec. 29 against the Miami Heat, Merrill stepped in and hit the Bucks 29th 3-pointer of the game — achieving an NBA record for most 3-pointers in one game.
Merrill stepped on the court just once during the finals, playing the final 1:18 of the Bucks game three victory over the Suns.
On Aug. 6, Merrill was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. Despite nursing an ankle injury, he has shown flashes of potential in his sophomore NBA season.
He appeared in eight games throughout the whole playoffs, where he averaged 3.8 minutes and 0.6 points per game. Despite the lack of meaningful playing time, it was an impactful experience for Merrill. “It’s been a lot of fun,” Merril told The Salt Lake Tribune. “It’s been a great experience for me … It’s been unlike anything I’ve ever been through.”
In a preseason game against the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 13, he shot 8-13 from three points range. This performance helped him secure a spot on Memphis’ opening season roster. At the print deadline of this story, he was averaging 4.5 points per game for the Grizzlies.
Nick Monroe/Milwaukee Bucks
over the Suns. Merrill appeared in 30 games in the regular season, where he averaged 7.8 minutes, three points and one rebound. He finished the year shooting .447 percent from 3-point range and .444 from the field.
Joseph F Myers
Young gymnastics squad set for another big year Jacee Caldwell AS WINTER approaches,
basketball isn’t the only sport Aggie students can look forward to watching. The Utah State University gymnastics team also has a season that they’re preparing for, and they’re more ready t han ever. Last season, at the 2021 NCAA Regional Championships, USU recorded a record 49.075 vault score, which beat the previous 48.950 record score in 2017. The gymnastics team also made their mark last season with an average of 49.036 on floor, which ranks fourth in USU history, and recorded three alltime team scores with a 196.500 against University of Utah, a 196.600 against BYU, and a 32
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196.775 at the Denver tri meet, which ranks third in school history. And although it may seem like the team has already accomplished a lot, they have a lot more goals that they are striving to achieve this year. Head coach Amy Smith said she is very excited for the upcoming season and although they lost a lot of seniors last year, she is confident that the new freshman will step up to the plate and be a big help in obtaining their goals. “I think as the coaching staff and even the team too, we really have this feeling that we can do even better than what we did last year,” Smith said.
“We want to win conference. We feel like we’ve been knocking on the door,” Smith continued. “Last year we had one of our best conference meets, I mean we’ve just been building. That is something we are really striving for and feel like we can accomplish if we put the work in.” Out of the 19 gymnasts currently on the team, there are seven freshmen, three sophomores, six juniors and three seniors. One of those freshmen is Gabrielle Clark, who is not new to the spotlight or press after receiving recognition in her senior year of high school, after being the very first level 10 athlete to successfully complete the Simone Biles skill test.
Clark, who has been competing in gymnastics since she was nineyears old, said that although it has been a transition from her competition team to being on a college team, she has loved every minute of it so far because she feels like she’s a part of a family, and she can’t wait for the season to start. “I’m most looking forward to helping my team in any way that I can, and just moving forward as a team and improving as a team and the season in general,” Clark said. However, one struggle that the team is currently facing in preseason is conveyance and helping make the shift from club to college for all the freshmen. “The communication changes so much from an athlete’s senior year doing club gymnastics to freshman year of doing college gymnastics. I think right now that transition is something that we’re working on and that communication of giving them more ownership and accountability,” Smith said. “That’s a big shift and I think that we’re kind of in the meat of that right now of getting them to realize that communication factor needs to play in.” Despite the inevitable obstacles, Smith knows that these girls are pumped and can even feel the enthusiasm in the room during practice. “The team has been talking about how great the energy has been and how completely just this very inspired excitement fills the gym,” Smith said. “And hearing girls making those comments has been pretty awesome too.”
After leading the Aggies to a 7-61 overall record in 2020, which named Smith the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Coach of the Year and was the first time since 1999 that USU walked away from a season with a winning record, Smith believes they can do it again. It all starts at their season opener at the Best of Utah competition on January 9. This competition is a very premiere event and USU will be facing against University of Utah, BYU and Southern Utah University. Carley Bayles, a senior gymnast on the team competing on beam, is another athlete to be watching for at the competitions this year. Bayles, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had a 9.900 score for beam in the 2021 season against U of U, which made for her career best and averaged 9.775, which is tied for 11th in school history for best single-season average. Bayles goal for herself for this year is to get a perfect 10.000 and believes that if she continues to work hard and put in the work, she’ll be able to achieve it. Although this is her final year, she is also counting down the days until the season starts, especially since last year was a very different experience due to the Coronavirus. “This season will be way different from last. Last year we were still kind of dealing with COVID a little bit, so we weren’t even allowed to give high-fives,” Bayles
said. “So I think it’ll change our energy a lot, being able to get really hyped up.” Bayles said that the gymnastics team is also more known this year because they made it to regionals last year. To her, it feels like there will be an increase in following and fans. Focusing on this year though, Bayles said that BYU could be their biggest competition. However, Smith explains that gymnastics isn’t all about your direct opponent — it’s much more important to focus on getting good scores. “We could open with BYU this year at home and maybe lose that meet, but then all of a sudden we’ve moved up in the rankings because our score was so good,” Smith explained. “Really we compete against everybody in the country every night when we’re going. It’s very unique to us.” With the pressure of competing for a better score than every other team, every single competition, these athletes have to put in a lot of hard work. Both Bayles and Clark said that the majority of their day consists of something related to gymnastics, however, their dedication always pays off in the end. Smith said that she has the gymnasts capped at the maximum 20 hours a week, allowed by the NCAA. This includes practice, meetings and injury prevention.
However, the girls are allowed to do more on their own if they want to.
being able to trust your teammates and have that relationship to help push each other.
And although having this good work ethic and the talent for gymnastics is needed to be a part of the team, Smith said that is only phase one of their recruiting process when they are looking for gymnasts.
Overall, Bayles and Clark both said that they believe this years’ team does have that relationship and it’s their favorite part about being on the team.
“The next phase of that is really getting to know the athlete,” Smith said. “For us, we feel like personalities are such an important component for a team working well together and making sure that we’ve got the qualities and characteristics that we’re looking for, not only as gymnasts, but as people.” Even Bayles has recognized the importance of not only being good at what you do, but also
“Our team culture is amazing,” Bayles said. “You could contact almost anyone on our team for anything at any time and they would be there for you, even if it’s someone you aren’t super close with, no questions asked.” Smith said that their energy and that culture can be seen even during their competitions and she’s hoping that other students will come to support the team to see how they can all come together and perform.
“I feel like the year before COVID happened, we were gaining momentum,” Smith said. “We want to get back to getting more students, getting that student section presence at the gymnastics meets as strong as what it is at football and basketball and kind of start building that crowd culture.” And claiming that college gymnastics in-person is very different from watching it on TV, Smith is confident that students will enjoy being able to watch how these gymnasts make these difficult events look easy. “Whatever I can do to get people in the door to that first meet, they’ll be hooked after that,” Smith said.
Joseph F Myers
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Get to Know USU’s Spirit Squad Natalie Rust
the spectrum fills with the sound of thudding feet. Members of the Utah State University Spirit Squad sprint up the spectrum’s multicolor stairs to warm up. AT 6 A.M.,
The athletes next line up for stretches, spreading across the stadium’s expansive linoleum floor. Finally, the Cheer Squad and Aggiettes split up to rehearse dance routines and stunting until practice ends three hours later at 9:00 a.m. The squad practices every day Monday through Friday. But that’s not all. The Spirit Squad performs at almost every women’s volleyball, men’s basketball, women’s volleyball, soccer and football game throughout the Fall, taking up almost every week night. “That’s five sports that we’re juggling right now so it gets really tough,” said Spirit Squad coach Morgan Watts. True to their name, the squad, clad in cheerleading uniforms and polos, inspires Aggie spirit at every home game with polished routines and carefully choreographed cheers. But behind the grins, glitter pom poms and polished formations lie real people. People who work hard to balance work, school and 36
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cheer throughout the year. “I feel like what people see at games is the very glamorous glitzy side of it. But what people don’t see is how much work goes into everything that they do,” Watts said. “They have their plates are completely full, and they still manage to do everything with positivity and a smile on their face.” Kennedy Pitts, a fourth year dancer on the Aggiettes, decided to try out for the squad after she learned USU had a cheer dance team. The Aggiettes differ from the Cheer Squad — they focus solely on dance. The Aggiettes dance at halftimes and timeouts while the Cheer Squad usually performs stunts and cheers during timeouts. Together, the two teams compose the Spirit Squad. Pitts is studying interior design, and in her free time she loves to go boating, hiking and explore the outdoors. Pitts favorite part of Aggiettes is getting to perform at basketball and football games. “It’s so much fun to be able to interact with the student section, and the feeling that you get is just awesome. It’s so much fun,” she said. Throughout her time as an Aggiette, Pitts has learned about dedication, determination and hard work. She’s learned the value
of hard work as she’s worked to incorporate it into her routines and witnessed the pay off. “I love being on this team, it’s been a great experience,” Pitts said. “I’ve learned so much over the past four years that I’ve been on it.” Although Pitts has loved her experience on the cheer team, all the games, practices and technicalities can become a little overwhelming. “I mean it does get overwhelming at times and we have to learn like five dances in one week, but it’s awesome,” she said. Pitts, however, has learned to balance school, cheer and other extracurriculars by planning out her schedule at the beginning of the week. Josh Phillips is one of the nine men on the Cheer Squad. He decided to join after a friend on the team suggested he try out. This is now Phillips’ third year on the team. “It’s probably been the best experience I’ve had,” Phillips said of his time on the squad. “It’s honestly kept me having good grades in school, but then also I created a lot of friends and made a lot of friends on the team.” In order to stay on the squad, athletes have to keep a minimum of a 2.5 GPA, according to Phil-
Joseph F Myers
Edward Harimoto
lips. This standard helps Phillips keep motivated with his school work. Cheer’s intensive schedule helps balance all aspects of his life, as it provides structure to wake up early and attend his classes. “I’m up and then I’m ready to go and then I go to my classes, and then I get my schoolwork done,” Phillips said.
“It’s just a really, it’s a very hard sport and there’s a lot to it, and it’s very technical, and it takes a ton of work to get to certain areas and certain spots with the sport itself,” Phillips said. Kambree Knowles, a third year Aggiette studying family consumer science education, loves the unity of the squad. To her, the team is like family.
As one of the men on the Cheer Squad, Phillips serves as a base. Essentially, Phillips is assigned one partner who he performs solo stunts with. As a team, both the men and women work together on baskets — a type of stunt where three guys throw one of the girls up to do flips in the air.
“We all love the same thing,” Knowles said. “We’re all there to cheer on our Aggies, and we all have one goal and that’s to pump up the crowd and get people ready for the games.”
Many of the guys also tumble for the squad at practices and games.
“You’re spending every morning together, sometimes every weekend together with games and everything, so you really get close with your teammates,” Kalli Dickson, a fourth year cheerleader, said.
“A lot of the guys on the team can tumble really well,” Phillips said. Phillips wishes people would realize how much work being on the squad requires. Acting as a base can take a huge toll on the body. Many times, the bases will tape their wrists and fingers to deal with the strain. The sport also requires a lot of technical coordination. 38
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Knowles isn’t the only one who appreciates the squad’s closeness.
Traveling to out of state sports games is an important part of Spirit Squad for many of the athletes. Some of the athletes most memorable moments have been at out of state games. For example, Dickson attended the Mountain West Conference Championship in Vegas when Sam Merrill made the game winning shot. “I have to say that was probably hands down one of the coolest, most exciting games I’ve ever cheered at,” Dickson said. From daily three hour practices, to performances at every home sports game, to interactive service projects and memorable experiences, the cheer team means more than simply a sport, according to Watts. “We’re a family,” she said. “We are friends. We’re teammates.”
When the squad travels for games, they will often take part in service projects. “We’ve worked with a lot of kids,” Pitts said of the squad’s volunteer history. ”We got to give kids like new backpacks on new school supplies, just things like that.”
Edward Harimoto
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