Men's Basketball Hands Out Awards at End of Season Banquet

Utah State [Univeristy's] men's basketball team held its annual postseason banquet Wednesday, April 14, honoring the 2009-10 team that won its third-straight Western Athletic Conference regular season championship and played in the school's 19th NCAA Tournament all-time, including its seventh in the last 11 years. Along with handing out individual awards, a highlight video recapping the year was shown.

 

With its 27-8 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, Utah State extended a pair of school records as it posted its 11th straight 23-win season and advanced to postseason play for the 11th straight year. USU is one of just three teams in the nation to win at least 23 games in each of the last 11 seasons along with Gonzaga and Kansas, and its string of 11 straight postseasons is tied for the 13th-longest active streak in the nation.

 

After starting the season with a 6-4 record, Utah State won 22 of its final 26 games, including 17 straight from January to March to tie for the third-longest winning streak in school history.

 

During the banquet, Utah State recognized eight players who received various awards from the WAC during the course of the season in senior guard Jared Quayle, junior forwards Nate Bendall, Matt Formisano and Tai Wesley, junior guards Brian Green, Tyler Newbold and Pooh Williams, and sophomore forward Brady Jardine.

 

Quayle was named first-team all-WAC as a senior, marking the 11th straight year that Utah State has had at least one player earn first-team all-conference honors. In fact, USU had two players named first-team all-WAC for the first time in its five years in the league as Wesley was a member of the team as well.

 

Utah State also had two players named to the WAC's all-newcomer team in Bendall and Green, while Williams became the first Aggie ever named to the WAC's all-defensive team.

 

Quayle and Wesley were also named to the WAC's all-tournament and the duo combined to win WAC Player of the Week honors three times during the course of the season with Wesley claiming the honor twice.

 

Utah State also had a WAC-best three players earn academic all-WAC honors this year in Formisano, Jardine and Newbold. Formisano and Newbold earned academic all-conference honors for the third straight year, while Jardine received the award for the second straight year. Under Coach Morrill, Utah State has now had 13 players earn academic all-conference honors a total of 23 times.

 

As for team honors, Quayle was voted the Most Valuable Player, which is named in honor of the late H. Cecil Baker who played at Utah State from 1923-25 and later coached at USU from 1951-61. Quayle was also presented the ninth annual Varsity Award by the Big Blue Scholarship Fund which is annually given to a senior who best represents outstanding achievement in academic, athletics and community service.

 

Green and Wesley were both named the team's Most Inspirational Player, while Newbold was named the player that Best Represents Aggie Basketball for the second straight year, and Williams was named the team's Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season.

 

H. Cecil Baker Most Valuable Player - Jared Quayle

Most Inspirational - Brian Green & Tai Wesley

Best Defensive Player - Pooh Williams

Best Represents Aggie Basketball - Tyler Newbold

Big Blue Scholarship Fund Varsity Award - Jared Quayle

 

First-Team - Jared Quayle, Tai Wesley

All-Newcomer Team - Nate Bendall, Brian Green

All-Defensive Team - Pooh Williams

 

Jared Quayle, Tai Wesley

 

Tai Wesley (2), Jared Quayle (1)

 

Brady Jardine, Matt Formisano, Tyler Newbold 

 

Additional Aggie sports news is available at the Athletics homepage Web site.