Utah State basketball’s strange three-peat: Three NCAA Tournaments in row with three coaches

Changing coaches once is hard for college basketball programs. Utah State nears NCAA Tournament history with its third coach in three seasons.

Seeing Utah State on most projected NCAA men’s basketball tournament brackets is not all that surprising for even casual followers of the sport. The Aggies have been frequent March Madness participants over the first quarter of the century, and in fact won a game in the tourney’s main draw just last year.

But a closer look at Utah State’s recent success makes what the team is doing this year more notable. The program is on track for an NCAA bid for a third consecutive year with three different head coaches. It’s not an unprecedented feat but is remarkable nonetheless in an era where smaller schools consistently face both coaching and player attrition after success.

The man debuting this season is Jerrod Calhoun. He is in fact the fourth different head coach hired by the Aggies since 2018. Calhoun came to Logan last April from Youngstown State, where he led the Penguins to back-to-back 20-win campaigns.

“I think when I came out here I just felt an instant connection to the place,” Calhoun says. “I wanted to go to a place that kind of fit me and my family, and a place where they really care about basketball.”

There’s no disputing that. The Mountain West boasts some of the toughest home courts in the country, like San Diego State’s Viejas Arena and New Mexico’s home floor known universally as “The Pit.” But Utah State’s Dee Glen Smith Spectrum can compete with any of them, and the enthusiastic Aggies’ student section known as the HURD has a reputation for being among the loudest in the country, let alone the MWC.

“I think what makes ours unique is just the care factor. Every new class that comes in really wants to take ownership of it,” says Calhoun of the student support.

Life away from home wasn’t nearly as kind to the Aggies late in the regular season as they dropped three road contests, including an ugly 27-point drubbing at Colorado State. But a significant non-conference road win at West Coast regular-season champ Saint Mary’s as well as a home-and-home sweep of perennial contender San Diego State still has the team in good position with a 25-6 overall record heading into the Mountain West tournament.

But despite the considerable campus support and string of winning seasons, , the program has found itself on the coaching carousel a lot in recent years. Calhoun succeeded Danny Sprinkle, who went 28-7 in his lone season before taking the Washington job. Sprinkle was hired from his alma mater Montana State when Ryan Odom, famed giant killer at Maryland-Baltimore County, decided to return to the east coast with Virginia Commonwealth after a two-year stint with the Aggies. Before him was Craig Smith, who served three years before taking the Utah job. Smith was recently fired by the Utes.

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How Jerrod Calhoun kept Utah State thriving

Calhoun’s first order of business was retaining key pieces from the roster assembled by Sprinkle. He credits athletics director Diana Sabau for laying the groundwork.

“The student-athletes were part of the interviews,” he says. “That’s the first time I’ve had an AD do that, including the players. I just really fell in love with the mountains, with the history of the program, and with the whole process.”

”We had a roster filled with talented young individuals, and when it came to the ultimate decision I wanted them to know that their voice mattered,” Sabau says.

Not everybody stayed. All-Mountain West selection Great Osobor went with Sprinkle to Washington. But Mason Falslev announced he’d return shortly after Calhoun’s hiring was finalized. Backcourt mate Ian Martinez said he’d be back soon thereafter, and the nucleus for another 20-plus-win squad was in place.

“I think a lot of coaches make the mistake when they start out of wanting to bring in all their own people,” Calhoun says. “I made all those mistakes at Youngstown, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t do that here. I wanted to get to know these kids, get to know their story, and just familiarize myself with the culture.”

Utah State about to equal NCAA Tournament history

So just how unique is this accomplishment? According to research by the Utah State’s sports media relations department, just one other school has gone to the tournament three consecutive years under different permanent head coaches – not including those coaching on an interim basis – since the field expanded in 1985. Southern Illinois made the 2003 tournament in Bruce Weber’s last year at the helm before he moved on to Illinois. The Salukis returned in 2004 in Matt Painter’s lone year heading the program before he left to become coach in waiting at alma mater Purdue, then Chris Lowery got SIU back to the dance three times, including his first in the big office in 2005.

Source: Utah News