Stewart Morrill (born July 25, 1952) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach and the former head coach of the

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

men's basketball team. Morrill was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n at

Ricks College Ricks may refer to: People * Andre Ricks (born 1996), American basketball player * Bob Ricks (21st century), American police chief * Christopher Ricks (born 1933), British literary critic and scholar * Doug Ricks, American politician and member ...

and a two-time All-Big Sky selection for

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the univ ...

. He started his coaching career in 1974 as an assistant at Gonzaga, and continued at the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

under

Mike Montgomery Michael John Montgomery (born February 27, 1947) is a retired American basketball coach. He is best known for his 18-year tenure at Stanford (1986–2004), where he led the program to 12 NCAA Tournaments, including a Final Four appearance in 199 ...

in 1978. In the spring of 1986, he was promoted to head coach of the Grizzlies, and led them to an NCAA berth in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

. Morrill coached at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

from 1991 to 1998 before resigning to go to Utah State. Morrill and Utah State gained national attention in March 2001 for their 77–68 upset of

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

in overtime in the NCAA tournament. On January 17, 2008, in an 82–78 victory over Boise State, Morrill logged his 226th Aggie victory, passing E. Lowell Romney to become the winningest coach in Utah State basketball history. Morrill has a record of 602–281 overall (.682), and 384–143 (.729) with Utah State. His 500th win came in January 2010 at

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

, coached by his former assistant,

Don Verlin Donald Gene Verlin (born June 15, 1965) is an American college basketball coach who was most recently the head coach at the Idaho Vandals men's basketball, University of Idaho from 2008 to 2019. Prior to Idaho, Verlin was an assistant coach at Col ...

. He has also racked up an incredible home record of in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum as coach of the Aggies. Following a victory over

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

on March 9, 2009, Morrill became the only coach in Utah State history to have back-to-back undefeated seasons at home, extending the streak to 34 straight home wins. He is also the only Utah State coach to win thirty games in one season, a feat he accomplished in the 2008–09 season, and the 2010-11 season. During the 2009–10 season, he became the only Utah State basketball coach to win three straight regular season conference championships. The next year, he won his fourth straight regular season conference championship. Although he has a very impressive regular season record, he did not find success in the NCAA tournament, posting the second worst record, for any coach that has made the NCAA tournament five or more times. He also has a record of 0–6 in the NIT. With Morrill at the helm, the Aggies were one of only three Division I teams to have won at least 23 games from 1999-2011. The other schools are Gonzaga and Kansas. All throughout the 2000's and early 2010's under Morrill, Utah State (.764) had the fourth-best winning percentage in the nation behind Duke (.831), Kansas (.809) and Gonzaga (.799). On January 9, 2015, USU announced that Morrill would retire at the end of the 2014-2015 season.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrill, Stew 1952 births Living people American Latter Day Saints American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Utah Basketball players from Utah Brigham Young University–Idaho alumni College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Colorado State Rams men's basketball coaches Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Montana Grizzlies basketball coaches Sportspeople from Provo, Utah Utah State Aggies men's basketball coaches

Head coaching record

See also

References