SeldomSeenSmith Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 As of now it looks like USU's roster is complete for next season with all 13 scholarships taken by either returning players or commits. New players coming in under Coach Odom all verbals so far are R.J. Eytle-Rock a 6'3" G from England who followed Odom to Logan from UMBC. Rylan Jones a 6' PG who transferred to USU from Utah. Norbert Thelissen a 6'7" SF from the Netherlands who had committed to Utah last year but didn't enroll. Muzamil Hamoda a 6'6" SG from Bahrain who played last season at Bridgton Academy in Maine. Brandon Horvath a 6'10" F who also followed Odom to USU from UMBC. Also new is Cade Potter a 6'8" F who is returning from an LDS mission and who has signed a LOI. I've posted this on the USU message board, but the post has been deleted or moved. I hope it won't be deleted here. While Eytle-Rock and Hamoda are both black players, one is from England the other from Bahrain. As the way things stand now, USU will not have one African American player on the roster for the coming season. This is something that hasn't occurred since before 1960. I've watched many of the great African American players at USU. Cornell Green, Shaler Halimon, LeRoy Walker, Marv Roberts, Nate Williams, Desmond Penigar, to name a few. I find the absence of black American players on the USU basketball team totally unacceptable in 2021. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndroidAggie Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 3 hours ago, SeldomSeenSmith said: As of now it looks like USU's roster is complete for next season with all 13 scholarships taken by either returning players or commits. New players coming in under Coach Odom all verbals so far are R.J. Eytle-Rock a 6'3" G from England who followed Odom to Logan from UMBC. Rylan Jones a 6' PG who transferred to USU from Utah. Norbert Thelissen a 6'7" SF from the Netherlands who had committed to Utah last year but didn't enroll. Muzamil Hamoda a 6'6" SG from Bahrain who played last season at Bridgton Academy in Maine. Brandon Horvath a 6'10" F who also followed Odom to USU from UMBC. Also new is Cade Potter a 6'8" F who is returning from an LDS mission and who has signed a LOI. I've posted this on the USU message board, but the post has been deleted or moved. I hope it won't be deleted here. While Eytle-Rock and Hamoda are both black players, one is from England the other from Bahrain. As the way things stand now, USU will not have one African American player on the roster for the coming season. This is something that hasn't occurred since before 1960. I've watched many of the great African American players at USU. Cornell Green, Shaler Halimon, LeRoy Walker, Marv Roberts, Nate Williams, Desmond Penigar, to name a few. I find the absence of black American players on the USU basketball team totally unacceptable in 2021. psyched to have you post here, SSS and agreed on the 2nd paragraph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swoll Cracker Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I’ll stay away from the issue that was raised by the OP. I think Utah State is between a rock and a hard place these days when it comes to recruiting and sustaining a top program. Historically, the Aggies have been built with returning mission LDS players who are very physically mature by the time they are juniors and seniors. Even the roster makeup under Craig Smith was strongly influenced by that with many of the players recruited by Tim Duryea and even Stew (Merrill, Brito, Bean, Miller, Ashworth). Smith’s successful additions included Queta, a transfer (Marco Anthony), and a JC (Anderson). It does not appear that he refilled the LDS pipeline other than Potter. The big question in the long run will be whether the new coach will look to re-engage with a strategy that includes a heavier dose of LDS players more in line with historical numbers or will rely on a strategy similar to Smith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aslowhiteguy Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 On 5/22/2021 at 7:59 AM, SeldomSeenSmith said: As of now it looks like USU's roster is complete for next season with all 13 scholarships taken by either returning players or commits. New players coming in under Coach Odom all verbals so far are R.J. Eytle-Rock a 6'3" G from England who followed Odom to Logan from UMBC. Rylan Jones a 6' PG who transferred to USU from Utah. Norbert Thelissen a 6'7" SF from the Netherlands who had committed to Utah last year but didn't enroll. Muzamil Hamoda a 6'6" SG from Bahrain who played last season at Bridgton Academy in Maine. Brandon Horvath a 6'10" F who also followed Odom to USU from UMBC. Also new is Cade Potter a 6'8" F who is returning from an LDS mission and who has signed a LOI. I've posted this on the USU message board, but the post has been deleted or moved. I hope it won't be deleted here. While Eytle-Rock and Hamoda are both black players, one is from England the other from Bahrain. As the way things stand now, USU will not have one African American player on the roster for the coming season. This is something that hasn't occurred since before 1960. I've watched many of the great African American players at USU. Cornell Green, Shaler Halimon, LeRoy Walker, Marv Roberts, Nate Williams, Desmond Penigar, to name a few. I find the absence of black American players on the USU basketball team totally unacceptable in 2021. I find it odd they would delete or move your post. Sure, its a sensitive topic, and IMO, it's a topic you approached in a respectful manner. No harm done. Maybe they were worried about the replies. "Don't underestimate Joe Biden's ability to F@*k things up." Barack Obama Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...