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BIOGRAPHY |
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 Entering
his 24th season as a collegiate head coach and 12th year at Utah
State, Stew Morrill has established himself as one of the most
respected coaches in the country. He is also the school’s
all-time winningest coach as he passed the legendary E. Lowell
Romney’s 225 career USU wins on Jan. 17, 2008 with an 82-78 win
against Boise State. Morrill is also the second-longest tenured
coach in school history behind Romney.
In 11 years as Utah State’s head coach, Morrill has taken the
Aggie Basketball program to unprecedented heights leading USU to
an incredible 267-91 (.746) record, including a 138-46 (.750)
conference mark in the Big West and WAC.
While at Utah State, he has guided the Aggies to 10 straight
20-win seasons and 10 straight postseason appearances (6-NCAA,
4-NIT), both of which are school records. Prior to Coach
Morrill’s current run, USU had never posted more than three
straight 20-win seasons and participated in more than three
straight postseason tournaments.
During the last 10 years, Utah State is also one of just three
teams in the nation to win at least 23 games in each of those
seasons, along with Gonzaga and Kansas.
Morrill has also led Utah State to the fourth-best winning
percentage in the nation during the last 10 years at 76.4
percent with an overall record of 252-78. Against conference
opponents, Utah State has a 159-52 record with five regular
season league championships and five tournament titles during
that time, including appearances in its league’s tournament
championship game eight times in the last 10 years.
Under Morrill, Utah State has notched 10 of the top 12 seasons
in school history as the Aggies set a school record with 28 wins
during the 2000 season, tied that record with 28 wins during the
2001 season and set a new school record with 30 wins in 2009.
During the 2008-09 season, Morrill guided Utah State to its
second-straight Western Athletic Conference regular season
championship, including its first outright title with a 14-2
record, its first WAC Tournament championship, and the school’s
18th NCAA Tournament appearance. USU also won 24 of its first 25
games for the best start to a season in school history, tied the
school record for consecutive wins with 19, and was ranked in
the top 25 for three straight weeks during the month of
February, marking just the second time in the last 31 years that
a USU team has been nationally ranked.
Furthermore, the 2008-09 Aggie basketball team led the nation in
overall shooting at 49.6 percent and became just the eighth team
in the history of the NCAA to lead the nation in field goal
shooting in consecutive seasons, and the first since UCLA
accomplished the feat in 1996 and 1997. The Aggies also ranked
among the top 18 in the nation in eight other statistical
categories including fifth in winning percentage (.857), sixth
in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.44), and 10th in fewest turnovers
committed per game (11.2).
For the 10th straight year, USU had at least one player earn
first-team all-league accolades as senior forward Gary Wilkinson
became just the fifth player in school history to earn
conference player of the year honors. Wilkinson was also named
the Most Valuable Player of the 2009 WAC Tournament, and also
earned honorable mention All-American honors by the Associated
Press.
Morrill was also honored during the 2008-09 seasons and was
named the WAC Coach of the Year, as well as being named the
District VIII Coach of the Year by the United States Basketball
Writers Association.
All-time, Morrill has been named Coach of the Year three times
(2000 BWC, 2002 BWC, 2009 WAC) in his 11 years at USU, along
with winning the Big Sky award while the head coach at Montana
in 1991.
Overall, Morrill has coached 11 first-team all-league players at
Utah State who have won the award a total of 16 times.
Morrill has also taken full advantage of the home court at USU,
the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. In Morrill’s 11 years, USU is an
amazing 159-12 (.930) at home, which includes a 84-8 (.913)
record in league play.
As for Morrill, he has won 20 or more games on 14 different
occasions during his career, and he has won at least 17 games 20
times.
Overall, Morrill ranks 22nd in the nation among active coaches
and 88th all-time with his 485 career wins, while his career
winning percentage of 67.9 percent ranks 27th among active
coaches and 96th all-time. He is also one of 22 active coaches
with 450 career wins at the Division I level and one of just 13
active coaches to notch at least 14 20-win seasons. His current
streak of 10 straight 20-win seasons ranks tied for eighth among
active coaches and is tied for the 11th-longest streak ever at
the Division I level.
Academics and community service have been of top priority to
Morrill and his staff as all of the team members are involved
with USU’s CHAMPS/Life Skills Program within the community. In
his 11 years, Morrill has graduated better than 80 percent of
his players, and over the past seven years, Utah State has had
17 academic all-conference honorees.
Morrill, who was born in Provo, Utah and attended Provo High
School, owns a career record of 485-229 in 23 years of
collegiate coaching, including a 267-91 record at Utah State in
11 years, a 121-86 record in seven years at Colorado State
(1992-98) and a 97-52 mark in five campaigns at Montana
(1987-91).
“There are several reasons that I was attracted to Utah State,”
Morrill said when he was hired. “The first was being a Utah
native so that it is a homecoming of sorts for me. My mom,
brother and sister all live within an hour and a half of Logan.
“I am very familiar with the tradition of Utah State basketball
and can name the greats as well as any alumni could,” Morrill
added. “It is a good basketball situation and the premier job in
the Big West Conference. My family will love the quality of the
community of Logan. It is a great place to live and that is very
important to me and my family. It just made sense to us.”
The 57-year old ranks second on the CSU victory list and second
in winning percentage. He guided the Rams to back-to-back 20-win
seasons the last two years in Fort Collins, with identical 20-9
marks. During the 1997-98 season, CSU made its second trip to
the NIT in the last three years.
Morrill guided CSU to two of its six all-time 20-win seasons and
won at least 17 games five times in his seven years. In fact,
Morrill-led CSU teams own three of the top seven winning seasons
in school history.
During his tenure at Colorado State, he coached three first-team
all-WAC selections, one second-team pick and six honorable
mention choices. Three of his players were named to the WAC
all-tournament team.
After his collegiate playing career, which included being named
an All-American at nearby Ricks (Idaho) Junior College and a
two-time all-Big Sky selection at Gonzaga, Morrill played
professionally in Europe.
His coaching career began as an assistant at Gonzaga from
1975-78 and then to Montana where he was an assistant from
1979-86 working for Mike Montgomery, who spent 17 years as the
head coach at Stanford and is now the head coach at Cal.
Montgomery worked under Jim Brandenburg and Jud Heathcote, who
retired after a successful career, which included a national
championship at Michigan State.
Morrill took over the Montana program in 1987 before moving to
Colorado State in 1992. He is known for his deep-rooted values,
consistency, hard work, dedication, honesty, integrity and
concern for the welfare of his student-athletes.
Morrill earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Gonzaga in
1974. He was born July 25, 1952 in Provo, Utah.
He and his wife Vicki have four children; sons Jesse (31) and
Allan (29) and daughters Nicole (26) and Tiffany (23).
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