USU basketball adding another point guard

Oh hey! Bet you didn't think this website still existed, did you? Sometimes we all need a nice little 19-day break, and I just might take another one of those soon. With the bulk of Spring football practices taking place not long after I usually go to bed (and certainly long before I wake up), getting reports on those hasn't exactly been doable for this guy.

But with news starting to come about in some places, as well as Saturday's Spring Football game looming large, there's suddenly things to write about.

Leading off the news is the verbal commitment of another player in basketball's 2013 class with point guard Viko Noma'aea.

Noma'aea was a 2011 high school graduate and first-team all-state basketball selection in the State of Nevada. He averaged 17.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and five assists per game during his senior season at Sierra Vista High School.

First football scrimmage looks like a first scrimmage

There's always a difference between running the team drills in practice and actually getting out in a competitive scenario like a scrimmage. So with this being the first scrimmage of the spring, there was undoubtedly going to be some rust. But that's about where we are every year around this point. This is where the team finds its kinks and starts really sharpening things.

I don't want to go reading too much into things that didn't go well, or getting overly excited about guys who put together a noteworthy performance. It was a first scrimmage. Plenty can change between here and April 20 and plenty likely will. Even after that, a lot more will likely change over the summer too.

Let's just bullet point some observations...

Gotta get down on Friday

There's still plenty going on in the college basketball world, and even some football finally! Even aside from football and the Big Dance, there's a little bit more that people seem to be talking about that it seems worth chiming in on, so I'm going to.

It's Friday, so we'll try and keep it short... (*UPDATE: failed miserably in the "keep it short" department. Read anyway so you can become smarter).

RUN AND GUN = ONE AND DONE?
Of the 16 teams to win on Thursday, only four of them rank in the top 100 nationally in possessions per game. Nine of those Thursday winners rank in the 200s or below in that category. In other words, making your possessions count for something is generally more valuable than running, gunning, and banking on getting more possessions in a game.

Obviously the sample size is small, and maybe this will all change come tomorrow. But it's still interesting to note at least. 

What to watch for during spring ball: Defense edition

Yesterday we ran down things to watch for and players to keep an eye on over on the offensive side of the ball. Today it's the defense's turn with part two of this spring primer for things you're going to want to be on the lookout for if you hit up any practices.

Let's get to it...

Defensive line

 - Much like the offensive line, this unit has a handful of seniors. The likes of Ricky Ali'ifua, Tryn Mesarch, and Eric Berntson need to show they're capable of pushing for reps as soon as this season.
 - No Al Lapuaho anymore, but given what both B.J. Larsen and Jordan Nielsen showed to be capable of last season, there might not be much of a dip here, if any. These two should both be providing plenty of quarterback pressure in the scrimmages this spring. How they do against the run is what they've got to prove they can do as well as Lapuaho.

What to watch for during spring ball: Offense edition

Here come the Aggies!!!

Chuckie Keeton is going to be the quarterback, the linebackers are a dynamite unit, and the offensive line returns all five starters.

Those are things we know to start spring football, among several other things, but there's plenty left out there that we should hope to see settled by April 20. At the very least, we should be hoping to see some guys step up and impress the coaches to give an idea about who will compete for the open position battles before fall camp.

So here's part one of a two-part series of what and who to keep a close eye on during spring football in 2013. Today is offense. Let's get at it!

Giving basketball a look ahead to 2013-14

Spring football got underway today, which is pretty freaking exciting! But there won't be shoulder pads in the mix for a couple more days, and not a whole lot to report in the department, so I'm going to hold off on talking about that until after Thursday when they practice in the afternoon and we can all go and get ourselves and nice, personal look at things.

In the meantime, let's give some quick takes on USU basketball's current forecast of how next season could play out with personnel. Obviously things could change a little bit between now and maybe the middle of summer, but my guess is it would be minimal.

On paper, USU looks to be in pretty decent shape for next year, assuming they can stay healthy this next time around. It's worth taking a quick look at, so let's hit these positions really quick.

The dust settles on unlucky 13

Selection Sunday came and went, and at no point was Utah State's name announced.

This feels anything but normal, but given the circumstances, I can't say it really feels all that upsetting either. Utah State was offered a bid in the College Basketball Invitational, which is a step up even from last year's inclusion in the CIT. But with half the team injured already, exhaustion undoubtedly having set in for the team, and a couple other nagging injuries among the last men still standing, the bid was turned down.

Most of me is happy with this decision. The guys have already had to give so much more into this season than players should ever have to, and with some players enduring injuries already, the risk is awfully great.

Were it not for Marcel Davis and Spencer Butterfield battling their nagging injuries, I'd say go for it. See if this team has one last epic fight in them. And I bet they'd be eager for the chance to step into the ring and keep fighting too. Can't fault Stew for wanting to protect his guys though.

Disappointment aside, I don't know how or why any sane person wouldn't be proud as hell of this team! They endured one player quitting, watching a teammate nearly die, another player quitting, a superstar getting injured, another superstar getting injured minutes later, and watching one player get carried off the bench to the locker room, later ending up in the hospital. And that's just the trials that involved personnel changes to the roster for periods of time.

Playing into unexpectedly heightened roles, moving to unfamiliar positions, and playing through nagging injuries were just condiments on the s*** sandwich that was served to Utah State basketball in 2013.

It obviously leaves one to wonder what 2013 could have been like had the roster not continually imploded throughout the year. At the same time, these guys are all going to be better moving forward because of what they endured during this hellacious season. And with the Mountain West in next year's sights, that experience is going to be huge!