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

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach and the former head coach of the

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

men's basketball team.

Biography

Morrill was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n at Ricks College and a two-time All-Big Sky selection for

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges ...

. 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, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

under Mike Montgomery 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 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

. Morrill coached at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

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 (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

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 landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, coached by his former assistant, Don Verlin. 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 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 to 2011. The other schools are Gonzaga and Kansas. All throughout the 2000s and early 2010s 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 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 Basketball players from Provo, Utah Utah State Aggies men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen

Biography

Head coaching record

See also

References