You could hardly blame Nate Wickizer for having tears in his eyes most of the night Saturday.
One of the main reasons he signed with Utah State in 1988 was to win a championship. Rod Tueller, retiring as basketball coach to be athletic director, had just won the Big West (PCAA) tournament and taken USU to the NCAAs. Wickizer would come in with Kohn Smith and seven seniors expecting more 20-win seasons starting in 1988-89."That definitely influenced me. I was excited to come here when they won 21 games," Wickizer says.
But Wickizer, the 7-footer from Bountiful, redshirted that year with a 12-16 team. After an LDS mission, he returned to Kendall Youngblood's senior-season team that posted a 16-12 record but lost its Big West Tourney opener. The Ags were 10-17 Wickizer's sophomore year, and then Larry Eustachy replaced Smith. Wickizer nearly quit the fall of his junior year but instead led the Ags in scoring last season as they surged late in the campaign to second place.
This, after seven years, is Wickizer's senior year, and he's played only 131 minutes because of offseason ankle surgeries and a calf injury.
And so the tears began flowing for big Nate before Saturday's final home game started, and they were still there at the end. "Oh, big-time," he admits. Until his turn to climb the ladder and cut down part of the net during the postgame Big West Conference championship celebration.
"You put a lot of years into something, it kinda hits you," said Wickizer Sunday. "It was a bunch of things, the end of my (home) career. On the selfish side, it was a disappointing year. And it was the last game with my brother (junior Jon) and all the other teammates, and all the hard work. It was just a really big game."
He did play the last :11, Eustachy bowing to the crowd's chant: "Nate."
Nate's best moments Saturday were when Jon hit a clutch baseline 5-footer with :53 left to help stem any Pacific comeback and when he gave Jon a hug as he replaced him on the court.
Wickizer thinks he's ready to play. "Of course I feel I could go out and dominate," he says, adding Eustachy's more objective having seen practices. "He knows the truth," Wickizer laughs.
"I'd love to see some time in the Big West Tournament," Nate says. "And the NCAA Tournament. I want nothing more than to play at the NCAA."
As Big West-season champs, the 21-6, 14-4 Aggies are the No. 1 seed to the Big West Tournament this week in Las Vegas. USU gets a first-round bye and will meet the winner of Thursday's Irvine-Fullerton game on Friday at 7 MST in the quarterfinals. The semifinals are Saturday night (the winner of USU's quarterfinal plays the Nevada/Pacific quarterfinal winner). The championship is at 1:30 MST Sunday.
The tourney champ advances to the NCAA first round. Any other Big West NCAA entrants will be chosen at-large Sunday afternoon. The National Invitation Tournament (USU athletic director Chuck Bell is a regional NIT representative) begins its bid-letting process at 10 p.m. MST Sunday.
Bell says the Aggies have already earned championship rings; any postseason accomplishments will be incorporated in the ring design.
Of his Saturday emotions, Bell said, "I can almost write a book about that. It was like being in an Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie," noting the circumstances of USU going into the week needing New Mexico State or UNLV to beat Long Beach for the Aggies to gain even a share of the title after they'd lost at Nevada.
"Often you don't get a chance for a championship in a lifetime," Bell says.
And Bell, Wickizer and some 11,000 others who witnessed this 1994-95 championship will remember it for a long time. (Spectrum capacity is 10,270, but Bell said the crowd including standing-room overflow was in excess of 11,000.)
"To see all the people that have waited so long so happy," said Bell. "A conference championship is something you can't take away. It lasts a long time and will stay in peoples' memories.
"It made it a nice, warm winter."
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Big West men's basketball tournament
At Las Vegas
First-round games
Thursday, March 9
- Nevada-Las Vegas vs. San Jose State, 1:30 p.m.
- UC Irvine vs. Cal State-Fullerton, 4 p.m.
Quarterfinal games
Friday, March 10
- New Mexico State vs. UNLV-San Jose St. winner, 1:30 p.m.
- Long Beach State vs. UC Santa Barbara, 4 p.m.
- Utah State vs. UC Irvine-CS Fullerton winner, 7 p.m.
- Nevada vs. Pacific, 9:30 p.m.
Semifinal games
Saturday, March 11
- Winner of New Mexico State-(UNLV-SJSU winner) game vs. Long Beach State-UC Santa Barbara winner, 6:30 p.m.
- Winner of Utah State-(UCI-Fullerton winner) game vs. Nevada-Pacific winner, 9 p.m.
Championship game
Sunday, March 12
- Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.