|
The Utah State Aggies are a Division I men's college basketball team that plays in the Mountain West Conference, representing Utah State University. The Aggies have enjoyed a great deal of success in recent years under head coach Stew Morrill. In the eleven years that Morrill has been at the helm, Utah State has the 4th highest winning percentage in the nation, behind only Duke, Kansas, and Gonzaga. As of the end of the 2010-2011 season, the Aggies have an all-time record of 1,458-1,006 (.592). ==History== The first basketball team on Utah State's campus was organized in 1902 and consisted of only women. A men's team was organized in 1904, at which point the women's club fell into obscurity. The Aggies enjoyed mixed success early in their history, notching sporadic NCAA tournament appearances and alternating winning in the then-smaller postseason bracket with not winning much at all. Perhaps the most notable event in Utah State basketball history occurred on February 8, 1965, with the tragic death of Wayne Estes. Estes was a 6'6" forward for the Aggies, and was the nation's second leading scorer in 1965, behind only Rick Barry, at 33.7 ppg. He had just amassed 2,000 career points with a 48-point showing in a home victory over the University of Denver, when he stopped at the scene of a car accident in Logan. While crossing the street, Estes accidentally clipped a downed power line with his head and was electrocuted. His full potential remains unrealized. The Los Angeles Lakers had planned on drafting him in the 1st round of the NBA Draft, where he likely would have gone on to win several championships with the team. Following Estes's death, he was posthumously awarded 1st team All-American honors. The men's basketball team wasn't adversely affected by the constant shuffling of conference affiliations and independent status that blighted the USU football program throughout the mid-to-late 20th century. The program, however, did endure a lengthy stint as an independent program, from 1937 to 1978—although in that period, basketball independence was not the financial and competitive obstacle that it would become in the ESPN era. All the while, it remained the most resilient and popular sport at USU, enjoying steady success for decades. During the 1960s and '70s, the Aggies spent a great deal of time in both major national polls, finishing the season in the AP Top 25 three times and in the Coaches' Poll Top 25 seven times during those two decades. USU reached the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1962, and the Elite 8 in 1970. The Aggies haven't performed well in the postseason recently, though their success at the regional level and during the regular season is virtually unmatched. They enjoy a particularly strong home-court advantage at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, where they are 159-12 in the Morrill era.〔 The Aggies have a difficult time scheduling high-profile opponents, which rarely emerge from the Smith Spectrum victorious. Although that home court has proved not so dominate in the past three years. Due to the mid-major conference and relatively weak schedule that USU plays each year, the Aggies are often left out of the national spotlight. That being said, their fame continues to grow and spread throughout the country, aided by ESPN appearances, often-epic win streaks, the boisterous Aggie faithful, and the team's statistical rankings. During the 2008-09 season, USU led the nation in field goal percentage with 49.8%. In addition, they were 2nd in win/loss percentage and 5th in assist-to-turnover ratio. Thus far in 2009-10, the Aggies lead the nation in 3-point percentage with an incredible 42.5%. The Aggies have spent time in the national rankings in two of the last six seasons, reaching as high as #19 in the Coaches' Poll in 2003-04, and #17 in 2008-09. During the 2009-2010, the Aggies reached as high as #26, one spot out of the actual rankings, before falling back to #31 for the postseason poll. Utah State has also won the Old Oquirrh Bucket nine times, including both of the last two seasons. The Bucket is the award given each year to the best college basketball team in Utah, based on records against in-state opponents. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Utah State Aggies men's basketball」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|