Utah State Guard Sam Merrill Named Senior CLASS First Team All-American

LOGAN, Utah – Utah State star guard Sam Merrill has been named a Senior CLASS first team All-American.

In order to be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

The Bountiful, Utah native led the Aggies in scoring this past season, averaging 19.7 points per game. That average ranked second in the Mountain West Conference. Merrill became just the sixth player in conference history and the fourth player in Utah State history to score 2,000 points in a career. He finished his legendary career with the Aggies with 2,197 points to rank second in both MW and USU history.

Congrats to @smerrill05 on being named a @SnrCLASSAward First-Team All-American!

➡️ https://t.co/UkY0GWpQjU#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/pImW7e2Aq5

— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) March 31, 2020

Merrill gave Utah State their second straight Mountain West Conference Championship when he made the game-winning three-pointer in the final seconds to defeat No. 5 San Diego State in the conference championship game. For his efforts, Merrill was named the tournament MVP, becoming the first player in league history to win back-to-back MWC Tournament MVP honors.

The Utah State star was joined on the first team by Kansas’ Udoka Azubuike, Marquette’s Markus Howard, Seton Hall’s Myles Powell and Michigan State’s Cassius Winston. The Senior CLASS Award second team was made up of BYU’s Yoeli Childs, Dartmouth’s James Foye, William & Mary’s Nathan Knight, LSU’s Skylar Mays and Penn State’s Lamar Stevens.