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Ex-Montana coach Stew Morrill to have name adorn basketball court at Utah State

Stew Morrill
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(Editor's note: Information provided by Utah State Athletics.)

PROVO, Utah — Former Montana head men's basketball coach Stew Morrill will have the basketball court at Utah State named in his honor.

Utah State University vice president and director of athletics Diana Sabau announced Wednesday that the basketball court inside the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum will be named in honor of Morrill, also a former USU men's basketball head coach. The ceremony will take place on Saturday, Feb. 10, when the Aggies host Boise State at 8 p.m.

Morrill, who was hired as Utah State's 17th head coach on Aug. 7, 1998, guided the men's basketball program to 14 straight seasons with at least 21 wins from 2000 to 2013 and 13 straight postseason appearances from 2000 to 2012, both of which are school records.

During that time, USU played in eight NCAA tournaments in 12 years. Prior to Morrill's run, USU had never posted more than three-straight 20-win seasons and had never participated in more than three straight postseasons.

Morrill led Utah State to seven conference championships (2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), including four-straight in the Western Athletic Conference from 2008-11, and six conference postseason titles (2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011), while posting 12 of the top 13 seasons in school history in terms of wins.

Morrill was named conference coach of the year five times during his Utah State tenure, winning the Big West honor in 2000 and 2002, while being named the WAC's Coach of the Year in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Morrill, who is the Aggies' all-time winningest coach with 402 victories, is also the school record holder in career games coached at 558, and ranks as the second-longest tenured head basketball coach in school history.

During his 17 years at Utah State, Morrill's teams recorded a 402-156 record, which included a 204-80 conference mark.

Morrill served as head coach at Montana from 1986-91, posting a 97-52 overall record and a 49-29 mark in the Big Sky Conference. He led the Grizzlies to the NCAA tournament in 1991.