LOGAN — Utah State’s recruitment of Chasen Andersen was necessarily different than the recruitment of other athletes. With Chasen’s father, Gary, serving as the Aggie head coach, the recruitment process was altered quite significantly with Gary taking little or no part.
The recruiting overtures and contact were made by Aggie defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, among other coaches on staff — but not Gary.
“They treated me like I was any other recruit except my dad was involved with none of it,” Chasen said. “They’d call me, send me letters and all that, but at home we never talked about it.”
Chasen committed to Utah State over the weekend and will sign a letter of intent to play for the Aggies this February.
Chasen is a 6-foot, 215-pound linebacker prospect who will likely play middle linebacker for Utah State. He received an offer from BYU and a lot of interest from Utah, but decided to stay home to play college ball in the most literal sense.
He now plans to be able to play for his father — something he never got a chance to do growing up.
“It’s cool thinking about finally having him coach me full-time,” Chasen said. “I always wanted to play for my dad, but he was obviously too busy coaching full-time with Utah to help coach my teams, but that’s a big thing for me and one of the reasons I decided to commit to Utah State.”
Chasen will also get to play with his older brother Keegan, who is currently playing at tight end for the Aggies.
“It’s great knowing that we’ll all be at home with the opportunity to play with each other for the first time,” he said. “We’re a very close family and we’ve never really had that opportunity. I now get to play with Keegan and hopefully my younger brother chooses Utah State so we can all have that opportunity.”
Chasen will join Utah State for the 2013 season and hopes to play immediately after sitting out his entire senior season. On the very first play of his senior year he went down with a season-ending ACL injury that he is still recovering from.
“That was a very tough thing for me and to happen on the very first play of the very first game was hard,” Chasen said. “Fortunately I knew I’d get to play again in college and I know that a lot of guys don’t have that opportunity, so I’m very thankful for that. I’m excited to stay in this great community and with my family. It’s a huge opportunity for me to play for my dad in a program that is improving every year.”
Utah State football: Andersen decides to stay home
Chasen Andersen proved his worth during his junior season. He has committed to play football at Utah State.
Email: bgurney@desnews.com
Twitter: @BrandonCGurney