Jerrod Calhoun, New Look Utah State Aggies Prepare To Defend Regular Season Title In 2024-25
Oct 25, 2024, 5:22 PM
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 24: Ian Martinez #4 of the Utah State Aggies attempts a shot while being guarded by Braden Smith #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers in the first half in the second round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 24, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS – College basketball season is right around the corner with the 2024-2025 season kicking off for the Utah State Aggies at home on November 6 against Alcorn State.
Utah State boasted a 28-7 record last season, winning the Mountain West regular season title after being picked to finish 9th in the preseason poll. The Aggies added another NCAA Tournament appearance to their resume, earning an 8 seed and beating TCU in the first round, only to intersect with Purdue in the round of 32, who would eventually represent the right side of the bracket in the National Championship Game.
However, expectations are up in the air as the Aggies once again welcome in a new head coach. Jerrod Calhoun, heading over from Youngstown State, was named the head coach back in March, meaning massive roster turnover once again with Isaac Johnson, Mason Falslev, Karson Templin, and Ian Martinez being the only four returning members from last year’s squad.
Coach Calhoun will be the third head coach to lead the Aggies in the last three years, but the high turnover rate at the helm is not due to poor performance, but rather the opposite. In two seasons at Utah State, Ryan Odom went 44–25 with one NCAA Tournament appearance before taking the job at VCU. In to replace Odom was Danny Sprinkle, who spent a single, very successful, season in Logan before taking the job at the University of Washington, opening the door for Jerrod Calhoun.
During Mountain West Media Day in Las Vegas, Head Coach Jerrod Calhoun, returner Ian Martinez, and transfer Drake Allen joined Jesse Kurtz to discuss the upcoming season of Aggies basketball and the expectations surrounding this squad of new faces.
𝓥𝓮𝓰𝓪𝓼 with the boys 🤘@MountainWest Media Day on tap tomorrow live from Las Vegas! pic.twitter.com/VegaQp4IBK
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) October 17, 2024
Coach Jerrod Calhoun On Coming To Utah State
Jerrod Calhoun made the move out west from Youngstown State where he went 118-106 as the head coach of the Penguins. “When this job came about, I felt a real connection, and it really was with the players,” Calhoun said, “There’s just certain programs that have that ‘it’ factor. Utah State has the ‘it’ factor, and I think it starts and ends with our players.”
Jerrod expressed his excitement and desire to coach the Aggies saying, “I wanted the job really bad and I was very fortunate to get it.”
Two of his new players, Ian Martinez and Drake Allen, spoke about the culture that Jerrod Calhoun is building in Logan and the emphasis on family that their new head coach has employed since joining the program.
“I think the coach’s standpoint is really important and having someone like Coach [Calhoun] who just puts in so much confidence into the players,” said Martinez, “I think that just contributes more to what we are trying to do here in Utah in building that family aspect where there’s trust, there’s a brotherhood, and just having Coach be a part of it is very big for us.”
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Drake Allen added to Ian Martinez’s praise, “You don’t meet a lot of people like coach where they’re so family-oriented, you know, he wants his program to be run like a family, so when you see a guy like that off the court that cares about you, you just know that it’s gonna transfer to the court as well.”
Coach Calhoun was asked about his coaching past and his basketball mentors, citing some of the game’s great minds that he has learned from the most. He specifically mentioned Bob Huggins and Joe Mazzulla. Calhoun was on Huggins’ staff at West Virginia from 2008-2012 and Joe Mazulla, who is the head coach of the NBA Champion Boston Celtics, coached under Calhoun at Fairmont State.
“Obviously, Coach [Bob] Higgins, if you look at his track record of producing great guys that have left to become head coaches… Nobody’s ever left his tree and not won.” Coach Calhoun continued, “Joe Mazzulla, obviously. The way we play is similar offensively, we give our guys freedom, we like five guys on the court that really can pass, catch, shoot and create advantages… he was on my staff and I really study the way [the Boston Celtics] play.”
🗣️ 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/zihkkQAR4C
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 30, 2024
Utah State Aggies 2024-2025 Roster
With more heavy roster turnover from last year, Coach Calhoun, Ian Martinez, and Drake Allen all gave insights on the returners, some of the new additions, and what Aggie fans can expect from their players this year.
“For this year I wanted to have more impact in other areas,” Martinez said while talking about his own game, “I can score so I wanted to take it up another level and see how much I could impact the other areas of the game.”
Coach Calhoun praised the work that Martinez has put in during the off-season, saying, “I think [Ian] is one of the best players, not only in the Mountain West but the country. I think he could really take this league by storm. I think he can score at three levels, I think very few guys can do that nowadays.”
Jerrod continued to talk about the strengths of his leaders, this time discussing UVU transfer Drake Allen, “The thing that I’ve been most impressed with is his ability to finish around the rim, his willingness to put in the work to shoot the ball… If he makes threes, I think he’s as good as any point guard in this conference.”
Get To Know Drake Allen 🤘
8️⃣ | Senior | Guard pic.twitter.com/NpujqoVfbX
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) August 6, 2024
Coach continued, speaking about Mason Falslev, who finished his first year in contention for Mountain West Freshman of the Year, “He’s a one-man fast break, one of the most efficient two-point field goal guys out there in the country as a 6’3 guard, I think it speaks volumes of his toughness.”
Next, Drake Allen and Jerrod Calhoun talked about the big man, Isaac Johnson, “A seven-footer who stretches the floor, there not much more you can ask for.” Allen Expressed.
Coach Calhoun mentioned the production that he wants to see out of the Big Fish. “Isaac Johnson made 25 threes last season. He needs to double that, I’d like to see him make 50-70.”
Coach Jerrod Calhoun then went on to talk about some of the important role players on Utah State’s roster and the impact that they will have on the Aggies’ success throughout the season. “I think Karson Templin is another guy that will be in that rotation, he plays really, really hard… We hit the portal really hard, Deyton Albury is going to be a really good player… Dexter Akanno I think could provide a lot, a versatile player, can play two or three different positions… I think Aubin Gateretse is going to be critical for us. 6’11, rim protector… Tucker Anderson… the A-SUN Freshman of the Year, a guy that we need to make shots… I think the guy that nobody talks about that has a chance is Isaac Davis, former top 100 kid from Idaho Falls… I think he’s gonna play big minutes for us, I think he’s got a chance to be a special player.”
The Utah State Aggies Overseas
In August, the Aggies hopped the pond over to Europe where they spent ten days in Italy and Croatia, playing three games against European competition in preparation for the season. Utah State went undefeated with wins over Stella Azzurra, KK Split, and KK Podgorica.
When asked about the benefit of the preseason European tour, Drake Allen said, “I think it kind of gave us a head start as far as building a connection and kind of a synergy with the guys. Being able to play those games and kind of seeing how people react in certain situations has helped me as a leader, understanding what certain guys need in certain situations. It also showed how close we already are, we’re like a family already, and Italy just solidified that.”
GAME 3️⃣ | 𝐃𝐔𝐁 ✅✅✅
…and we're coming home! pic.twitter.com/Qbp2Ryu60i
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) August 19, 2024
Non-conference Schedule for Utah State
Jerrod Calhoun also dove into the non-conference slate, emphasizing the importance of facing quality teams to build a resume for March.
“I think it’s one of the most important aspects as a head coach. I have an obligation to our players to put them in a really good position to play quality opponents, and I thought that was one of the things, we wanted to really capitalize on the momentum of Utah State’s program and upgrade the schedule,” Calhoun expressed, “We’ve got two for sure quad 1 and quad 2’s, but we’ve got four or five other games that could turn into quad 2’s depending on what [our opponents] do. We’ve gotta take care of business and we’ve gotta take care of things in the next couple weeks because as we know, every single game in college basketball is critical as you’re trying to get an at large opportunity.”
𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙢 𝙈𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜…
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░░░░░░Our 2024 Non-Conference Schedule is here!
➡️ https://t.co/X2rMJbx6VD pic.twitter.com/Ike0pYMGPm
— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) July 18, 2024
Season Opener For The Utah State Aggies
Tune in to see the Aggies’ first action on November 6, at 7:00 p.m. MT. You can catch the game on the Mountain West Network.
