Reader comments
Utah State basketball: Aggies hire Utah assistant Jones

Another One Gone | 4:26 a.m. April 1, 2008

"Jones stressed that he wasn't leaving because of any unhappiness in working with Coach Boylen."

Yeah right. He was hiding in the locker room with his hands in his face when Boylen was grabbing the mic after games. That is the second assistant coach we lost this year. We also lost two players. Come on people. Wake up.

Who is going to leave next?

Aggie Fan | 7:54 a.m. April 1, 2008

Its hard for Ute Fans to understand that The Aggies are a better Basktball Program overall (Yes we did lose to you early in the Season). So come up with excuses that Coach Boylen is a Bad Guy and Bad Coach. Wrong Boylen will get things turned around on the Hill. With all that being said, Jones was a bad hire for Boylen and a bad hire for Morrill. This is really the 1st time, I think Coach Morrill has made a major mistake.

Ute fans the players you lost weren't that good and a couple years from now you won't even remember who Chris Jones was.

Facts | 8:00 a.m. April 1, 2008

1. Better Job? Answer, No.
Jones is leaving a better paying job for a lesser paying job. He is not being promoted--as he is in the same position in a lesser conference.

2. Salt Lake or Logan?
Um, do I really need to go there?

3. Utah Man?
Jones played and graduated from Utah. He has never coached at a different University (having coached under Majerus, Giacoletti, and Boylen. He has been a fixture on Utah's sideline for over 10 years.

Truth.
Boylen must be as hard to work for as he seems to be hard to play for. Jones jumped ship before it sinks. That looks pretty obvious, doesn't it?

Comments continue below

Another Aggie Fan | 8:09 a.m. April 1, 2008

RE: Aggie Fan

It remains to be seen how the hiring of Jones works out, how long he'll stay, what kind of coach and recruiter he is. If it is a bad hire, it isn't the first one that Morrill's made. Remember Dave Rice, who only lasted a year, brought in no recruits, then headed to BYU. How about Don Holst from Montana country, who lasted about as long and was incognito the entire time he was in Logan. Then there was the ex assistant from Arizona State who accepted the job, but quit before he even made it to Logan. While I was hoping for someone with more California recruiting connections, this may work out. Maybe Jones has connections in Utah and around the intermountain area that will bring in good players.

New U assistant | 9:11 a.m. April 1, 2008

Look up in Twin Falls at Barret Perry. He has led CSI to prominence in JC ranks. He is an unbelievable recruiter with Utah/LDS ties. I think he would make a great fit with Boylen.

UteNation | 10:36 a.m. April 1, 2008

Jones was a holdover from the Gaicolleti era, and it was probably only a matter of time before Boylen replaced him with his own guy. Best of luck to Chris Jones at USU; just not against my beloved Utes.

Eyeofthebeholder | 11:09 a.m. April 1, 2008

Why would Perry take a pay cut to come and coach in the Mountain West?? Half his players go on to play at bigger schools than Utah.

I love listening to people talk about basketball who think they know but have no idea what is going on.

First Jones is one of the best coaches in Utah. Between X O's, player relationships, recruiting. Ask the players what they think and know of him.

Second bigger is not always better. Who has a better chance to go to the NCAA tournament every year Utah State or Utah. Which job has more Job security right now? Which program has placed assistants as head DI coaches the past 5 years. I would say USU. Coach Morrill's reputaion in the west carries tremendous weight!

re: Aggie Fan | 11:23 a.m. April 1, 2008

You MUST BE KIDDING??!! And after Utah destroyed USU this year, how you can say such a thing? USU couldn't even compete with Utah. Give Utah USU's schedule and they would have has more wins than USU this year. Even when USU has 3 losses the NCAA doesn't even want you guys. Post season play is a huge part of a program, and Utah blows every other Utah team out of the water in that department.

However, if this man says Boylen is the best coach he's ever seen, why would he be so crazy to leave?

Anonymous | 11:40 a.m. April 1, 2008

yeah, we lost two injury prone players who wouldnt have played the remainder of the season anyways. stop with the doomsday prophecies for Ute hoops!

AginCali | 12:54 p.m. April 1, 2008

Must be kidding? Uhh, no. Utah overall is not a better program than USU. Yes Utah beat us in SLC early in the season long before we found our rhythm, if that game would have been played at the end of the season, USU would have flattened the U... anywhere! USU got into the NIT. Utah bought their way into the what ever it was called. Yes USU has a slight edge of late over Utah; it's called coaching! Yes you've got scoreboard this year. No you don't have a better overall program.

Ute/Aggie game | 1:05 p.m. April 1, 2008

Ute fans need to realize that their win against us was a good one. However, it was only one game. They also need to realize that we returned a total of 3, count them 3 players from last year. How many did Utah return?

Also, we've traded off wins for years now. The home team has won for the last 4-5 years. The last team to win on the road in the series was the Aggies. Try not to be so blind and ignorant to the facts Ute fans!

scoreboard | 1:26 p.m. April 1, 2008

isn't the only thing that matters the scoreboard?

Playing in that weak conference, USU was able to be ahead on the scoreboard at the end of most of their games...The NCAA knows its a weak conference, so they didn't show USU any love, and the NIT cant pass up any teams with that kind of record...

Utah won the head-to-head battle, will always win the war (NCAA tournament victories - which really tell what a program is like), but USU feels justified when they fight weak opponents in lesser battles...

remember though, that a program is not a team...a program is all the teams put together and what they have accomplished...a team is who plays that year, and Utah's wasn't that great this year...

But we still beat Utah State, so nothing can be said by USU fans...

wow | 1:36 p.m. April 1, 2008

what do they put in the water up in the cache valley? to say that USU has a better overall program than the U is like saying Kraft single's is better than Cache valley's cheese! The truth is , just like the cheese analogy, they aren't even in the same class! Not only do we own scoreboard, but when were you last in a sweet sixteen, elite eight, national champion, heck the second round of the NCAA tourney? When was your last number one overall pick? Congats on not winning the wac and getting smoked in the NIT. Sure our YEAR wasn't much better, but overall? Cmon ag's.

WOW WOW | 2:26 p.m. April 1, 2008

What have the Utes done since the fat man left the UTES high and dry to take on a better program at is it? St Louis?
I believe it was the fat man that started the schedule the weak sisters of the poor and now both the WAC and the MWC schedule that way and now there is not a school in the intermountain west that get any respect nationally.
I guess that its fun to be a UTE fan and have tunnel vision!

BOW WOW | 3:06 p.m. April 1, 2008

What has BYU or USU done since the fat man left? Oh, just lose when it counts. You gotta love the fifteen year drought BYU has in not winning an NCAA Tourney game. Would you rather win the lame MWC Championship or win in the Big Dance like UNLV? I would take the latter.

Last USU win | 6:23 p.m. April 1, 2008

The last time Utah State won an NCAA game was in an overtime game with Ohio State in 2001, and yes it was eight long years ago.

Reason | 7:19 p.m. April 1, 2008

Listen to the voice of reason, the Utes have fallen since Majerus left and they can't get up. Is the MWC better than the WAC? I think it is, but Utah isn't a very good team. Hopefully they can turn things around because they used to be great. USU is in a weaker conference, but they have a better coach and are very tough at home. I'd pick Utah over the past 100 years but I'd pick USU over the past 10.

Great Dane | 7:35 p.m. April 1, 2008

USU = 9 straight 23+ win seasons, 9 straight post-season appearances, 5th best winning percentage over past 9 years in Division I. This year they had the best team field goal percentage and team free-throw percentage in the country. They also had the best 3-point shooter in the land and the 2nd best free-throw shooter in the nation (AP All-American Jaycee Carroll). Fans will take consistency over sporadic play anytime, and USU has consistently won since Stew Morrill has been at the helm; not just with wins, but also with quality players (Carroll, Spencer Nelson, Nate Harris, etc). Sure Utah had #1 pick Andrew Bogut and a national runner-up finish, but what else since then?

RE tunnel vision | 10:04 p.m. April 1, 2008

Next time you are in the huntsman center (should you be so lucky)please take an opportunity to look up. What you will see is national prominance, tradition and success. We are sorry that we cant be on top all the time but the truth is "the fat man" was only at utah for a short time compared to the success we have experienced for over 100 years.We WILL be back. WE ALWAYS HAVE. YOU have little brother syndrome. What bugs you is that we don't even consider you a rival! Utah State??? HA it's laughable! GREAT DANE you take your 10 years with stewie and I'll take my hundred with the UTES! Check scoreboard! We'll see you in the fall. How is utah state high school doing so far in football anyway? Poor Merlin Olsen and Kevin Curtis. How embarrasing for them

Great Daner | 10:10 p.m. April 1, 2008

Congrats, you have one tourney win since 01, but how many sweet sixteen games? Utah is just four years out from a sweet sixteen appearance. It comes down to wins in the Big Dance, that is all anybody cares about.

Crystal Ball | 10:26 p.m. April 1, 2008

Chris Jones saw the writing on the wall, and got out of SLC 3 years before Boylan. You can't blame a guy for wanting a little job security.

Insecure | 11:57 p.m. April 1, 2008

If Ute fans don't care about USU then why do they read the USU article blogs all of the time? Why do they try to belittle USU's success? Great you're a bigger school, so what? Stew is 10 times the coach that Boylen is and USU runs a great program. Be happy with mediocrity in the MWC and leave the WAC alone if you supposedly don't care about the "small" conferences.

RE insecure | 12:59 a.m. April 2, 2008

Insecurity is anyone who defends USU's inferiority complex and doesn't want to be picked on. boo hoo

not insecure....just better | 1:02 a.m. April 2, 2008

If you don't rattle the cage then the dog won't bite

Rivals an history | 10:30 a.m. April 2, 2008

If USU isn't a rival why all the smack talk? It's hard to believe that you really believe USU isn't a rival based on your remarks. If you really don't care start bypassing any article with USU and don't post. The day I no longer see a BYU or Utah post is the day I believe no rivalry exists.

Now a history lesson. Long, long before BYU and Utah rivalry another rivalry existed and that was between USU and the U of U. BYU was a joke when it came to athletics. Historically speaking the Utes and the Aggies go way back and I think it is a shame if your so willing or even want it to go away.

History Lesson | 12:07 p.m. April 2, 2008

Here is a history lesson for tunnel-vision Utes. Since it really is all about the SCOREBOARD as one Ute fan put it, here are the results of the USU-UU games since 2000:

SLC (07-08) USU 48 U 72
Logan (06-07) USU 60 U 57
SLC (05-06) USU 66 U 67
Logan (04-05) USU 71 U 45
SLC (03-04) USU 45 U 56
Logan (02-03) USU 59 U 54
SLC (01-02) USU 78 U 65
Logan (00-01) USU 58 U 57

That makes it 5 wins for USU and 3 wins for Utah. SO, you are right Ute fans! The scoreboard shows a lot about a program!

Scoreboard baby! | 12:16 p.m. April 2, 2008

Since Ute fans like to point to the scoreboard, here is a history lesson about our match-ups since 2000:

07-08 Utah wins 48-72
06-07 USU wins 60-57
05-06 Utah Wins 66-67
04-05 USU wins 71-45
03-04 Utah wins 45-56
02-03 USU wins 59-54
01-02 USU wins 78-65
00-01 USU wins 58-57

So USU has won 5 and the Utes have won 3 in our last 7 meetings. Ute fans are right! The scoreboard does say a LOT about our programs!

since 2000? | 2:18 p.m. April 2, 2008

I don't usually get involved in such ridiculous banter but cmon man. Since 2000? I am a Cougar and I HATE everything red, but you can't be serious?! Why start at 2000? Cause that's when you started making it a little competitive? Or because that's as far back as your team's website chooses to go? The scoreboard is 125 UTAH to 86 USU. NOT EVEN CLOSE. According to your website you should be thanking the Utes for the donations that their Alumni (the Huntsmans) are making to keep your school around so that the utes (and cougars) can "practice" on you every year. Go away

Validated | 3:19 p.m. April 2, 2008

It looks like the utes and aggies are a rivals after all I can see that by this string, but the reality is neither the utes or aggies are anywhere near the "Y" when it comes to sports programs, just think National Champions

Why? | 4:17 p.m. April 2, 2008

Why did I choose to back to 2000? Because Mr. Jones is joining Stew Morrill's staff. Stew has been here since about 1999, and is 6-4 against the Utes. If you know sports at all, the mantra has always been, "what have you done for me lately."

USU Postseason
07-08 - NIT
06-07 - NIT
05-06 - NCAA - AT LARGE bid - L to Washington (Brandon Roy is good)
04-05 - NCAA - L to Arizona - (Salim Stoudamire/Channing Frye excellent)
03-04 - NIT - Ranked as high as #18

Utah Postseason:
07-08 CBI
06-07 NONE
05-06 NONE
04-05 NCAA - Advanced to Regionals (Very nice run, I'll admit)
03-04 NCAA - L to Boston College, first round

Oh yeah, and National Champions? How come you get to choose the year(s) of when to judge a program and I don't? Don't even get me started about our dominance of BYU basketball over the past decade. It's worse than the Utes!

re: Great Dane | 5:24 p.m. April 2, 2008

So, if you had the best this and that in the country, why can't you make the NCAA tournament? If you're not invited, why can't you beat a team called Illinois State? A team so good like that should throttle teams. Your fellow USU fans are making their case why they are better than Utah. Put it all together, and you shouldn't have been dominated by Utah, and you should prove your that good to the nation but didn't.

In basketball, people judge how good a program is by how far they go in the NCAA tourney and how often they get there. Who cares what your stats are, if you can't beat the big dogs when it counts, nobody thinks your team is worth anything. I'm not a fan of either school, but Utah is levels above USU overall, and don't think they're not just cause they are struggling right now. Utah is the basketball program of the state, and everyone knows it (again, I don't even root for that school, but I acknowledge it.)

Thought Provoking | 5:49 p.m. April 2, 2008

Think about how many assts that have gotten head jobs from the MWC. Not many. Wilson has put himself in position to do that. Jones is leaving because he cannot handle the pressure of not getting the 3 2009 kids that will go to BYU. He could not handle working long hours and not being able to play golf. He could not handle the pressure that JB puts on the staff. He cannot keep his mouth shut and JB knows that he has been talking behind his back in the community. Jones is his own worse enemy because he talks TOO much. He has all the answers. Why would Morrill hire him. That should be a red flag that a guy leaves a program to step down when Webers coach did the opposite not too long ago. THINGS TO MAKE YOU SAY HHHUUUMMMMMM!

Koo-koo | 6:38 p.m. April 2, 2008

Utah is not the basketball program of the state. They now appear to be in third behind BYU & USU. If Majerus came back, I'd vote them in 1st but he isn't coming back and the U is destined to continue declining. It's too bad but they aren't anywhere near what they once were. Will they have another Keith Van Horn, Michael Doleac, Andre Miller, Alex Jensen, Andrew Bogut, etc? I will be very surprised if they produce anyone nearly as good with the current staff.

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