Instant Replay: Former Aggie Sam Merrill Enjoys Career-Day For Cleveland Charge
Feb 23, 2023, 3:54 PM
Utah State guard Sam Merrill (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
(Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Already an NBA champion, former Utah State Aggie Sam Merrill hit ten threes on his way to a career-high 32 points on February 22.
The G-League’s Cleveland Charge looked smart for using the first-overall pick in the G-League draft on the former high-scoring Aggie.
What a night for Sam Merrill 🔥
A career-high 3️⃣2️⃣ points and a franchise-record 10 made threes for the @charge in a victory! pic.twitter.com/TNqQZDDq2l
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) February 23, 2023
His ten threes set a Charge franchise record.
In 17 games this year, the former Bountiful Brave is averaging 15.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. He has averaged 3.4 made threes per game on 42.3 percent shooting.
About Sam Merrill
A three-year varsity letter winner and 2014 Utah 4A MVP, Merrill spent his prep career with the Bountiful Braves. Led Bountiful to the 4A state title as a senior while averaging 15.8 points, 7.4 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game.
Merrill joined the Utah State in 2016 and set about re-writing the Aggie record books.
One of the best to ever play at Utah State, Merrill’s name is all over the Aggie basketball record books. He is first in career free throw percentage (.891), and second in career points (2,197), career assists (477), career three-point field goals (319), three-point field goals attempted (759), 10-point games (108), and minutes played (4,360).
What a night for Sam Merrill 🔥
A career-high 3️⃣2️⃣ points and a franchise-record 10 made threes for the @charge in a victory! pic.twitter.com/TNqQZDDq2l
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) February 23, 2023
His Utah State career ended with Merrill hitting a last-second three-pointer against San Diego State in the 2020 Mountain West conference championship game to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately for Merrill and the Aggies, Covid-19 forced the cancellation of the 2020 season before another game was played.
Merrill was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 60th pick of the 2020 NBA draft and ended up winning a title with the Bucks during his rookie season.
A 6-4 guard, Merrill was acquired via trade by the Memphis Grizzlies from the Bucks on August 7, 2021. He had played in six games for the Grizzlies before being waived, averaging 4.2 points and 1.2 rebounds in 9.7 minutes per game.
Sam Merrill is headed to the @ChargeCLE. The No. 60 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft goes No. 1 in the 2022 NBA G League Draft. 👏 pic.twitter.com/fFIQy11L27
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) October 22, 2022
Merrill has spent the season with the G-League’s Cleveland Charge after being waived by Sacramebeforer to the regular season.
