MBB: Duke vs. Utah St (Sun 11/29, 1230 ET, ESPNU) Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Duke hosts the Utah State Aggies on Sunday at 12:30 pm ET in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The games will be televised on ESPNU. This is the first ever meeting between Duke and Utah State.

Here is the goduke.com preview of the game and some associated links: http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22724&SPID=1845&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=210536798&DB_OEM_ID=4200

[Olympic Fan]

Utah State is 4-0 and is ranked No. 117 by Pomeroy (a bit lower than Yale, but higher than Siena and Bryant).

Three of their wins are home victories over fairly unimpressive competition (two of those victims are not Div. 1 opponents), but they do have a solid 73-70 road victory at Weber State.

Four starters back off an 18-13 team, but the one loss was 6-8 David Collette who quit the team just before the season started. He was their top-rated player last year. That leaves the best returnees as 6-2 Shane Rector and 6-9 Lew Evans. They'll also start 6-9 Jalen Moore and 6-4 Chris Smith.

[Tripping William]

USU is at least the third wheel (if not the fourth) of basketball tradition in the Beehive State. I'm not sure I could name a single Utah State basketball alum, and I grew up out there and have untold relatives with Aggie ties. Plus they are breaking in a new coach, after 15 years of Stew Morrill.

[MChambers]

Interestingly, Utah State is #60 in Sagarin, so roughly equivalent to Yale. Unusual to see such a big difference for a team between Pomeroy and Sagarin.

[Henderson]

USU is at least the third wheel (if not the fourth) of basketball tradition in the Beehive State. I'm not sure I could name a single Utah State basketball alum, and I grew up out there and have untold relatives with Aggie ties. Plus they are breaking in a new coach, after 15 years of Stew Morrill.

I don't think Utah State has ever had a player go on to play professionally, in any country.

But they always chalk up gawdy records by playing chumps. Over the past 7 years, they are 4th in the nation in winning percentage. That strategy has often gotten them into the NCAA tourney, but they haven't won a game there in 15 years and haven't even made it since 2010.

If Yale played Utah State, my money would be on Yale all day.

So beware the trap game.

[Olympic Fan]

I don't think Utah State has ever had a player go on to play professionally, in any country.


That may be true, but if it is, it's with an asterisk.

Utah State produced one of the great players in college basketball history. Wayne Estes scored 48 points against Denver to top the 2,000 career scoring record on Feb. 8, 1965 -- with about a month to go in his senior season. He was averaging over 33.7 points a game.

That night, after the game, Estes and a teammate were driving home when they stopped to check out a car wreck - a driver had skidded on an icy road and hit a power pole. While returning to his car, Estes touched a live power line and was killed.

Later, the Lakers said they planned to make Estes their No. 1 draft pick. So he certainly would have gotten the chance to play pro basketball.

He ranks with Ben Wilson, Maurice Stokes and Jon Speaks as one of the tragic figures in basketball history.

[lotusland]

That may be true, but if it is, it's with an asterisk.

Utah State produced one of the great players in college basketball history. Wayne Estes scored 48 points against Denver to top the 2,000 career scoring record on Feb. 8, 1965 -- with about a month to go in his senior season. He was averaging over 33.7 points a game.

That night, after the game, Estes and a teammate were driving home when they stopped to check out a car wreck - a driver had skidded on an icy road and hit a power pole. While returning to his car, Estes touched a live power line and was killed.

Later, the Lakers said they planned to make Estes their No. 1 draft pick. So he certainly would have gotten the chance to play pro basketball.

He ranks with Ben Wilson, Maurice Stokes and Jon Speaks as one of the tragic figures in basketball history.

Len Bias?

[jimsumner]

Utah State basketball actually produced a great pro player.

Only he didn't play in the NBA. Cornell Green was a hoops star before going on to a long career as a defensive back with the Dallas Cowboys.

Green wasn't the only college-basketball star the Cowboys turned into an NFL player during the '60s. Pete Gent (the author) and Preston Pearson came from Michigan and Illinois respectively. Green did not play football at USU.

But he was an All-American basketball player and helped Utah State finish in the top 10.

[Henderson]

Utah State basketball actually produced a great pro player.

Only he didn't play in the NBA. Cornell Green was a hoops star before going on to a long career as a defensive back with the Dallas Cowboys.

Green wasn't the only college-basketball star the Cowboys turned into an NFL player during the '60s. Pete Gent (the author) and Preston Pearson came from Michigan and Illinois respectively. Green did not play football at USU.

But he was an All-American basketball player and helped Utah State finish in the top 10.

Excellent catch. He was even drafted in 1962 by the Mighty Chicago Zephyrs. He could have made a career in the NBA (and did in the NFL), so I should have counted him as a Utah State pro. Sorry Mr. Green.

[Olympic Fan]

Len Bias?

Maybe it's the Puritan in me, but I find it hard to classify a kid who killed himself with a drug overdose with those who tied from disease or accidents.

I should have included Hank Gathers, however.

[johnb]

Maybe it's the Puritan in me, but I find it hard to classify a kid who killed himself with a drug overdose with those who tied from disease or accidents.



Puritans had their day, but it was a while back. I'd put Bias in with the tragedies.

Speaking of two sides to every story, Utah state and the coach, Tim Duryea, has really gone after Collette, the player who quit the team. Collette got his aid cut as soon as he quit. well, okay. He was also officially denied permission to talk to another program so that he is allowed to transfer in January (he's not in prison), BUT has to pay his way for 2 semesters and isn't allowed to have talked to the coach of the new team before he enrolls. These are NCAA rules??

In order to hurt his recruit ability,
Utah State even changed his height and weight in the media guide as soon as he quit the team, shifting him from 6'10" to 6'8" and from 235 to 220. Collette apparently
didn't like the coach and his methods, which
includes apparently whitewashing the fact that one player sucker punched another. I'm sure the coach hated having a good player quit just before the season, which hurts the team, but I hate when institutions mess with kids.

I'm sure there are two sides to this, but I know which side I'm on.

I hope Cameron gives this coach a warm welcome for being a petty jerk

reference
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/utah-state-denies-transfer-permission-to-speak-with-any-other-schools-100936787.html

[Indoor66]

That may be true, but if it is, it's with an asterisk.

Utah State produced one of the great players in college basketball history. Wayne Estes scored 48 points against Denver to top the 2,000 career scoring record on Feb. 8, 1965 -- with about a month to go in his senior season. He was averaging over 33.7 points a game.

That night, after the game, Estes and a teammate were driving home when they stopped to check out a car wreck - a driver had skidded on an icy road and hit a power pole. While returning to his car, Estes touched a live power line and was killed.

Later, the Lakers said they planned to make Estes their No. 1 draft pick. So he certainly would have gotten the chance to play pro basketball.

He ranks with Ben Wilson, Maurice Stokes and Jon Speaks as one of the tragic figures in basketball history.

I wold add Chris Street from the University of Iowa to that group. He played his last game in Cameron on January 16, 1993 and was killed on January 19, 1993 (http://wcfcourier.com/sports/college/iowa/hawkeyes-cling-to-memories-of-chris-street/article_46fabfd6-6061-11e2-8e4c-0019bb2963f4.html)in a terrible auto accident involving a team fan.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Geez, for a pregame thread, this is starting to sound surprisingly like the draft script for A Million Ways to Die in the West: Part Deux.

[riverside6]

Live tempo-based stats for Duke/Utah State, starters posted...

http://www.scacchoops.com/utah-state-at-duke-basketball-live-stats-11292015-1230-pm

Ingram back in the lineup, Thornton out

[Furniture]

http://forums.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/misc.php?do=cchatbox