It was a memorable moment in a game the Aggies really wish they could forget.
Riding high after winning the first 10 games of the season, the Utah State basketball team was clinging to a four-point lead against UC San Diego on Dec. 17 at the Spectrum when USU guard Mason Falslev missed a shot from directly underneath the basket. The misfire went off the glass and over to the other side of the basket, leading to a battle for the rebound.
It initially looked like UCSD’s Cade Pendleton was going to come away with the board, but Falslev managed to tip the ball out of his hands in mid-air, leading Aggie Karson Templin to dive after the carom with his usual reckless abandon.
The sophomore forward managed to get control of the basketball while on his back, but Templin was quickly swarmed by the greedy hands of Pendleton and Tritons guard Justin Rochelin.
In an effort to maintain possession of the basketball, Templin kicked his legs upward, somehow propelling his body straight up with just his head and neck still on the floor. It was an impressive athletic move that looked a little bit like break dancing … or perhaps another sport.
“I don’t know if he was trying out for the gymnastics team or what?” Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun said of Templin going inverted. “I don’t know if (USU gymnastics coach) Kristin (White) was in the stands or not, but that was weird.”
Fortunately for Templin, Falslev managed to grab his teammate’s ankles for support just as an official blew the whistle, enabling the Aggies to maintain possession on a held ball call and Templin’s lower body to be carefully lowered to the floor.
“Honestly, I don’t really know what happened,” Templin declared a few days later, prior an Aggie practice at the Spectrum. “It’s kind of a blur for me. All I know is I was trying to get back to my feet, so I think I was trying to roll over backwards onto my feet. But as I’m doing that, Mason grabbed my legs.
“I don’t know. I think he thought we were doing a football celebration or something, going back to his football days. I don’t know what happened.”
While Templin emerged from the scrum unscathed, the Aggies turned the ball over during their subsequent possession, a not-insignificant turnover considering the home team ended up losing the game to the Tritons by two points.
Karson Templin’s basketball career
Templin’s acrobatic move during the UC San Diego game was unusual, but not wholly unexpected. The effort was something Utah State fans have become very accustomed to seeing from Templin the past two seasons.
From the moment Templin arrived in Logan, the Texas native has been putting his body on the line in pursuit of basketballs, drawing comparisons to a young Justin Bean.
Like the 6-foot-7, 210-pound Bean, who initially walked on at USU and redshirted in 2017-18 before emerging as a starter and a star the next four seasons, the 6-8, 230-pound Templin is probably a bit undersized to man the post for a Division I team.
But also like Bean, who played in the NBA G League for the Memphis Hustle in 2022-23 before signing with Alba Berlin in Germany in July 2023, Templin has become a fan favorite at the Spectrum for his hustle plays.
“I feel like that’s something I’ve kind of been hearing ever since the Ryan Odom coaching staff,” Templin said of the Justin Bean comparison. “That’s one thing they told me when I was kind of looking at coming here, like ‘We just see a lot of Justin in you.’ And I take that as a huge compliment. I love Justin’s game. I love the person he is. He’s a great guy, so I can’t complain.”
A standout at Lovejoy High School in Lucas, Texas — about 200 miles away from Bean’s hometown of Moore, Oklahoma — Templin averaged 20.7 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game as a senior. He was originally recruited by Odom, who spent the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons at Utah State before taking the job at VCU.
Templin maintained his commitment to the Aggies, however, and last season played for Danny Sprinkle, who guided USU to a 28-7 record, a regular-season Mountain West title and its first NCAA Tournament victory in 23 years. That was enough for Washington to hire Sprinkle away, but less than a week after Calhoun was hired, Templin announced he was once again staying at Utah State.
And so far, that’s clearly worked out for everyone.
Playing primarily behind 2024 Mountain West Player of the Year Great Osobor last season, Templin saw action in 23 games, averaging just 7.5 minutes per game and scoring 58 total points. Although he’s still come off the bench all but one game thus far this year, Templin needed just six games to score his first 60 points of the 2024-25 season.
“Karson has been a wonderful teammate,” Calhoun said. “First and foremost, he puts the team over himself. I think he really embodies what we want a Utah State basketball player to look like. I think when he puts the uniform on, he feels the passion from our fan base, and he thrives off of that. He’s taken the next step as a sophomore — just like Mason has — I think both kids fit our system to a tee.”
Calhoun continued, “Karson is really, really good at rebounding the ball, finishing around the rim and giving energy. He’s really grown with his passing and his understanding of offense, and he’s staying out of foul trouble. Last year he was in a lot of foul trouble and had inconsistency with his minutes. But he’s played a ton of minutes for us, and he’s going to continue to do that. I think he will only get better and better.”
Templin is starting to answer the question of whether or not he’ll be able to develop his offensive game in a manner similar to Bean, who went from averaging 4.1 points as a redshirt freshman, to starting all 97 of Utah State’s games the next three seasons. After averaging 11.9 points and 11.4 points his sophomore and junior seasons, respectively, Bean averaged just under a double-double as a senior: 17.4 points and 9.9 rebounds.
“Yeah, I’ve seen a little bit of it, mostly from his junior and senior years,” Templin said when asked if he’s seen tape of Bean’s college days. “I just love how hard he plays, and I try to resemble that. He was a walk-on at the start, so he definitely worked his butt off. He’s a heck of a player.”
Templin’s 2024-25 season
Through the first dozen games of 2024-25, Templin is averaging 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game despite playing only 17.5 minutes per night. He’s shooting 64.8% from the field, and the forward is 8 of 16 from 3-point range after knocking down a career-high three 3-pointers in Utah State’s 75-68 win at St. Mary’s on Dec. 22.
“I mean, Coach tells us if we’re open to shoot it,” said Templin, who scored a career-best 18 points and connected on two 3-point attempts in the loss to UC San Diego. “So, if I am open and have a good look at the rim, then coach wants me to be shooting it. And it’s definitely something I work on, so it’s something that I think I can definitely add to my game a little more as I get older.”
The son of Anna-lise and Erik, Templin grew up the offspring of a former Ricks College softball player from Sandy and a BYU graduate who grew up in Texas. Admittedly raised a Cougars fan, Templin made an unofficial visit to Brigham Young during the summer of 2022.
“My sister is at BYU right now, so we have a little beef there,” Templin said with a grin. “But other than that, my parents love Utah State. I think my dad’s become an even bigger Utah State fan than BYU fan now so it’s kind of taking over. We love the Aggies.”
Thanks in a large part to Odom, who started recruiting Templin during his sophomore year at Lovejoy, Templin has stayed with his commitment to the very first basketball program to make him an offer. And due to his relentless drive and energy, it’s been a great fit. So much so that a group of a half-dozen Aggie fans often show up on the first row of Utah State games at the Spectrum sporting blonde wigs and black Cobra Kai headbands.
Although Templin normally wears white Nike headbands to contain his flowing locks, there is undeniably a physical resemblance between him and famed “Karate Kid” and “Cobra Kai” character Johnny Lawrence, a.k.a. William Zabka.
“I think it’s hilarious,” Templin said. “I love that people say that. I think it’s a cool kind of thing to be compared to. It’s a good show. So, I think it’s funny. And I like it because I like to play physical, too.”