Utah State head coach Danny Sprinkle looks on during overtime of an NCAA college basketball game against Fresno State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
LOGAN, Utah – No. 18 Utah State men’s basketball head coach Danny Sprinkle has been named a 2024 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year semifinalist, it was announced on Friday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
Sprinkle led a Utah State squad that returned zero points and welcomed 13 newcomers to its first-ever outright Mountain West regular season title.
The Aggies have been ranked in the AP Poll eight times this season, which is the second-most in program history. Utah State’s 27 wins are tied with the 2009-10 team for the sixth-most in school history. USU’s 14-4 record in Mountain West play was its third best in its 11 years in the conference trailing the 2018-19 team that went 15-3 and the 2020-21 team that went 15-4.
Those 27 wins by Sprinkle are the second-most in the nation this season under a head coach in his first year at the school, trailing McNeese’s Will Wade and the second-most by a first-year head coach in school history.
Multiple Aggies earned Mountain West honors under Sprinkle as junior wing Great Osobor was named the MW Player and Newcomer of the Year, along with first-team all-conference. Junior guard Josh Uduje was the Co-Sixth Man of the Year, while graduate guard Darius Brown II earned first-team all-MW accolades and was named to the defensive team. Senior guard Ian Martinez was an honorable mention all-MW selection.
Utah State ranks in the top 50 in the nation in several categories, including defensive 3-point field goal percentage (.284, 3rd), field goal percentage (.496, 7th), assists per game (16.6, 21st), scoring margin (+10.3, 28th), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.48, 36th) and points per game (80.1, 43rd).
Brown is ninth in the nation in both assists per game (6.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.43), and ranks 28th in minutes played per game (36.03).
Osobor is seventh in the nation in free throws attempted (265), 19th in double-doubles (15), 24th in free throws made (169), 37th in rebounds per game (9.3) and 41st in defensive rebounds per game (6.47).
Utah State will now play in the semifinals of the Mountain West Championship for the sixth time in the last seven years as it will face fifth-seeded San Diego State on Friday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m. (MT).
Utah State men’s basketball news and information is available on Facebook (facebook.com/usumensbasketball), on Twitter (@usubasketball) and on Instagram (@usubasketball). Fans can also get USU men’s basketball highlights on YouTube (youtube.com/utahstateathletics). Aggie fans can follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter (@usuathletics), on Facebook (facebook.com/usuathletics) or on Instagram (@usuathletics).