It has not been the senior season so far that most people envisioned for Kendall Youngblood, who would go down as one of Utah State's greats even if he never played another basketball game. Youngblood has been nagged by petty illnesses and injuries (ankle, back, deep hand blister), and his shooting average is off 2.7 points, his assists are down and he's making more turnovers. (His rebounding is up .6 a game.)
Personally, it's a little puzzling for Youngblood, who's working an hour a day after practice to break out.But you know what?
Ask Youngblood if he's disappointed about this season, and he says, "To tell the truth, it's been our best.
"It's been our best record since I've been here, and that's what I've asked for more than anything is to be on a winning team.
"This year has been great," he says.
"I'm disappointed with my play right now, but we're winning," he says.
Through little league and high school (Ogden's Bonneville), Youngblood played on winners. That's why it's important to him. USU was 21-10 and won the Big West the year before he joined up, and though he was 1988-89 BWC Freshman of the Year, the Ags were 12-16 and haven't been above .500 for a season since. That's his real frustration, but he sees an end to it now.
USU is 7-3, 2-0 in league with 4-7 Fullerton up tonight in Logan.
"It's just we have got big guys now - so many good players," says Youngblood. "I've had some bad games, but we've had guys step up and do the job, and that's why we've been successful."
That's another reason his figures are low. Coach Kohn Smith says, "We have more balance. He's not getting as many shots.
"We still give him the toughest opponent to guard," says Smith, "and he always comes up with the big rebounds and big baskets for us. He's doing great, really."
Youngblood needs 11 points tonight to become USU's No. 8 career scorer. He has 1,446 points and is expected to finish sixth on the all-time list, ahead of assistant coach Reid Newey (1,536). He already passed two assistants, Jim Boatwright, who was on the staff last year, and the current Jimmy Moore.
With the assistants there to needle him, Youngblood can't forget the scoring statistics. "That makes it that much more fun," he says. But there have been games like Thursday's, in which he was 3-for-10 from the field, scoring nine.
USU still won by 18, beating Irvine.
"If I average 10 points a game and we have a winning season, I'll take it," says Youngblood. "I want that winning season. There's nothing to compare."
Youngblood's concern now is getting his own game back so he can again lead by example. He clearly considers himself the team leader, "and everyone else is playing good, and I'm not," he muses. "It's a challenge for me."
"If this team doesn't have a winning season," he says, "I'll have felt like I let them down."
That Youngblood is in that position for a Division I school is somewhat fortunate. A two-sport high-school all-stater, he was recruited vigorously for football. Only Creighton and University of San Diego wanted him for basketball.
"Even to this day, people say I should have played football," says Youngblood. His muscular 6-foot-4 size would lend itself perfectly to a number of football positions. He was pursued by Washington's Don James. "I have buddies at Washington. We laugh about it," he says. "They say I could have gotten a Rose Bowl ring. But that's what if . . ."
He was Smith's first USU recruit, and there's a special relationship between Smith and Youngblood, who was most grateful somebody wanted him for basketball despite "in-between" size.
"I just like basketball that much more," he says, feeling people think hoopsters are the best athletes. "I'd rather be considered a good athlete than a good football player," he says.
When Smith recruited Youngblood, he saw "a good kid who works hard. That's the intangible that means so much.
"I think the world of him. He's a very bright young man," says Smith.
The feeling between the two is very strong. "He gives me 100 percent," says Youngblood, "and I give him 100 percent back. I love Coach Smith. He's one of the coaches I adore and trust with anything," he says, including schoolwork and girl problems. "My parents love him. I'm just real lucky. He really wants me to be successful."