Utah St. coach, star player set to break school records

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LOGAN, Utah (AP) -- Utah State's Stew Morrill is a win away from setting the school record for most victories by a coach. And his star player, Jaycee Carroll, needs 31 points to pass Greg Grant as the all-time leading scorer.

The records could start falling Thursday when the Aggies (12-5, 2-0 WAC) play Boise State (12-4, 3-1) in Logan.

"The good thing is maybe Jaycee will break the record at the same time and then we can just talk (about) him," Morrill said after a recent victory over New Mexico State.

His next victory will give him 226 at Utah State, passing E. Lowell Romney, who was coach from 1920-41. Morrill is 225-80 since 1998.

The Aggies were 15-13 in his first season, then followed it with eight consecutive seasons of 23 victories or more, reaching postseason tournaments each time.

"I think it's unbelievable," former Utah State coach Dutch Belnap said.

"I think he's done the best job of any coach that has ever been there since the beginning," Belnap said. "He's a great teacher and a great disciplinarian, and he does it his way and it works."

Morrill, who has coached at Montana and Colorado State, has a career record of 443-218. He is one of 27 active coaches with at least 400 wins at the Division I level and has just one losing season.

Grant, who played at Utah State from 1983-86, scored 2,127 points in his career. Barring injury, Carroll, who averages 21.2 points per game, will break the record.

"It's something that's come after a lot of hard work and team success, so it will mean a lot to me," the senior from Evanston, Wyo., said. ------ Information from: Deseret Morning News, www.deseretnews.com