Yet another strong season for Utah State came to a close after a hard-fought loss to top-seeded Arizona in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
This year, the Aggies were Mountain West regular-season champions and brought home another conference tournament trophy. The Aggies also advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years.
But, once again, Utah State fans had little time to sit with the loss as news broke that head coach Jerrod Calhoun was leaving to become the new coach of Cincinnati. Calhoun is the fourth head coach to leave Logan in the past six years.
The theme of the Aggies in the post-Tim Duryea era has been resilience. Utah State continues to have success despite four head coaches, three university presidents and three athletic directors.
In those years, the Aggies were three-time Mountain West regular-season champions and three-time Mountain West tournament champions, and went to the NCAA Tournament six times, and they would’ve had a seventh if the tournament in 2020 hadn’t been canceled.
Strong coaching hires and recruiting certainly have helped Utah State continue its success, but the effort of the Utah State student section — the HURD — cannot be discounted.
“I think athletics is just a big part of Utah State culture in general,” said current HURD president Ben Burdette. “You hear Utah State in Logan, Utah, and some think, ‘They’re just some mid-major basketball team.’ But once you get up to the Spectrum and experience it in person, it truly is an experience that you won’t forget and that you want to keep having. I think that’s why we get such good student retention, because we create an atmosphere unlike any other college arena.”
The HURD has built a reputation as one of the most passionate fan bases in the country and has also made the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum one of the most lopsided home-court advantages in college basketball.
The HURD has a lot of buy-in from students, and it goes beyond basic cheers. According to Burdette, students have even camped out before every home game this season.
“It’s very much a community thing,” said HURD committee member Logan Baker. “Everyone knows someone or is involved in some way. It becomes just something you do that everyone else is doing. So, it gives you a way to get involved, get connected and meet new people.”
It’s also known for being loud and directly affecting the game, often by making it difficult for offenses to communicate, leading to shot-clock violations.
To wit
Burdette recalled a game where the HURD’s cheering affected the shot of Air Force forward Rytis Petraitis.
“I think something that makes the HURD super unique is that we cheer super loud for our team, but we also get in the heads of the other players, and that can actually affect how they perform,” said Burdette. “Two years ago, when we were playing Air Force and Rytis Petraitis.
“It was an off day for him, and the students were just going at him. He had a couple of air balls, and we were just badgering this poor guy, and there was one point he’s wide open in the corner, and there’s not a Utah State player within probably 10 feet of him.
“He goes up to take the shot, but he hesitates because he didn’t want to mess up in front of the students again. I can still picture his entire bench standing and yelling at him to shoot the ball because he’s wide open and he’s a shooter. But, he wasn’t a shooter in the Spectrum, and that’s because of the students and the research that we do.”
Gamesmanship for a good cause
The HURD has also taken its fandom to do benefit charity work. Starting three years ago, Utah State students started the “Leon Rice Tantrum Tracker” every time Boise State comes to Logan.
The idea is that anytime Rice, the Boise State head coach, gets angry at an official, a tally is made. At the end of the night, the tallies are counted and a donation is made to the Cache Valley Food Pantry based on contributions made for every tally.
“The Hurd is so creative,” said lifelong Utah State fan and alumnus Daniel Olsen. “I think the Leon Rice Tantrum Tracker has been a fun one that’s raised money for charity. You don’t see an average student section doing that. I think that shows that they care about the community right there.”
However, one thing that has helped the HURD, especially this year, is the buy-in from the coaching staff, including Calhoun. It hasn’t just impacted home games.
A day before an away game at Boise State in early January, the official Boise State student section X account — the Corral — made a post that said any and all students with a student ID would get a free ticket.
So, once the HURD saw the post, they worked hard to plan a takeover in Boise.
“As soon as the HURD saw it, plans were starting to be made,” said Baker. “I think part of it was that we want to take any opportunity to dunk on Boise State. It’s also only four hours away, and what’s four hours?”
The HURD immediately started fundraising for gas money, and within a day, over $3,000 was raised.
The day of the game came, word got out that the HURD was planning a takeover. So, the Corral backtracked on its post and clarified that only a student ID from Idaho was valid for a ticket.
The money then went to buying students’ tickets, and the takeover was a success. Utah State dominated Boise State, 93-68.
Staying power
But despite the success among the turmoil, the story for the Aggies has been, “Can they get back again?” and not “Can they build further?”
And once again, Utah State has to prove it can do it again. This time with a new head coach — Ben Jacobson — who spent 20 years at Northern Iowa.
While the hurt from coaching turnover isn’t new for Aggie fans, the departure of Calhoun has stung some especially deeply. What’s worse, the loss to Arizona gave some fans a taste of what could’ve been accomplished had Calhoun stuck around.
Aggie fans, and even Calhoun himself, expressed their displeasure at the selection committee naming them a No. 9 seed. Utah State’s loss to Arizona felt almost the same as its loss to Purdue in the second round two years prior.
It was yet again an unfortunate seeding that caused the Aggies to fall to a championship contender in the second round.
“I 100% think that we were underseeded, along with everyone else in the country except for the selection committee,” Burdette said. “You look at the Mountain West, and yes, it wasn’t as competitive as it was in other years, but you win a regular season and a conference championship and we get a nine seed. ... To see all the hard work that the players and the coaching staff did this season only to get rewarded with the nine seed, you can’t help but think, ‘If Calhoun stayed one more year, where would we be next year?’”
Calhoun in their corner
Even as rumors swirled among Aggie fans all season of Calhoun leaving Utah State to return to Cincinnati, his dedication not only to coaching but to supporting the HURD gave hope that maybe he was in it for the long haul.
Calhoun was often seen supporting students who were camping out for games by bringing food and spending time with them.
“Calhoun, the past two years, has done an incredible job at interacting with students,” said Burdette. “We’ve had students camp out before every basketball game, and Calhoun always makes sure to make an appearance, and he’s brought Chick-fil-A, he’s brought us McDonald’s and pizza, and he comes out and spends an hour talking with all the students out there and interacting with them.
“I really think that personal connection gets more buy-in from these students. The students, in turn, cheer louder, they cheer harder, because they love these players and they love the coaching staff.”
So after another second-round exit in a tough battle with a championship contender, the path toward a Sweet 16 and beyond looked more and more achievable.
Despite their hopes of stability, the coach was once again poached. The Aggies were forced to start over from square one.
“Being (a USU fan), it’s definitely an emotional roller-coaster,” said Olsen. “It’s not for the faint of heart. It’s probably easier if you live on the Wasatch Front to be a fan of some of those other bigger schools, but I do feel like the family aspect makes it worth the highs and the lows.”
Just as those before him, Jacobson will have to prove he can lift Utah State to similar heights. However, what Jacobson won’t have to worry about is buy-in from the HURD.
Whether or not Utah State is in another conference championship hunt next year in the new Pac-12, the HURD will certainly be there in full force.
“I’m going to be there to support the team,” Baker said. “That’s my job, that’s what I’m doing and that’s what I’m there for. If our team isn’t doing so well, oh well, I’m there to support the team. Win or lose, I’m an Aggie fan and I’m going to be there.”
