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BIOGRAPHY |
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 Entering
his 26th season as a collegiate head coach and 14th 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 wins on Jan. 17, 2008 with an 82-78 win
against Boise State.
In 13 years as Utah State’s head coach, Morrill has taken the
Aggie Basketball program to unprecedented heights leading USU to
an incredible 324-103 (.759) record, including a 167-49 (.773)
mark in the Big West and Western Athletic Conferences.
While at Utah State, he has guided the Aggies to 12 straight
23-win seasons and 12 straight postseason appearances (NCAA-8,
NIT-4), 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 12 years, Utah State is 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 12 years at 77.4
percent with an overall record of 309-90. Against conference
opponents, Utah State has a 192-56 record with seven regular
season league championships and six tournament titles during
that time, including appearances in its league’s tournament
championship game 10 times in the last 12 years.
Under Morrill, Utah State has notched 12 of the top 13 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, set a school record with 30 wins in 2009 and tied
that record with 30 wins in 2011.
During the 2010-11 season, Morrill guided Utah State to its
fourth-straight regular season WAC Championship, including its
third-straight outright title with a 15-1 record. USU also won
its second WAC Tournament title in the past three years and
advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 20th time in school
history.
Under Morrill, Utah State has appeared in the NCAA Tournament
eight times, including each of the last three years marking only
the second time in school history that USU has appeared in
three-straight NCAA Tournaments joining the 1962, ’63 and ’64
teams.
Furthermore, the 2010-11 Aggie basketball team was nationally
ranked for the last nine weeks of the season and finished the
year ranked No. 25 in the country in final ESPN/USA Today
Coaches’ Poll, marking the first time since the 1978 season and
only the eighth time in school history that an Aggie team was
nationally ranked at the end of the year.
For the 12th straight year, Utah State had at least one player
earn first-team all-league accolades as senior forward Tai
Wesley and junior guard Brockeith Pane were both named
first-team all-WAC. Wesley also became the third Aggie in the
last four years to be named the WAC’s Player of the Year,
joining Jaycee Carroll (2008) and Gary Wilkinson (2009), and the
third player in the last four years to earn Associated Press
honorable mention All-American honors joining Carroll (2007,
2008) and Wilkinson (2009).
Utah State also had two other players honored by the WAC in 2011
as senior guard Brian Green was named to the league’s
second-team, while senior guard Tyler Newbold was named to the
league’s all-defensive team. Along with being named first-team
all-WAC, Pane was also named to the league’s all-newcomer team.
Pane was also named the Most Valuable Player of the 2011 WAC
Tournament, while Wesley and fellow senior forward Nate Bendall
were both named to the all-tournament team.
Overall, Morrill has coached 14 first-team all-league players at
Utah State who have won the award a total of 20 times.
Morrill was also honored during the 2010-11 season and was named
the WAC Coach of the Year for the third time in as many years.
He was also named the 2011 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year
by CollegeInsider.com and the National Association of Basketball
Coaches District 6 Co-Coach of the Year for the second-straight
season.
All-time, Morrill has been named Coach of the Year (2000 BWC,
2002 BWC, 2009 WAC, 2010 WAC, 2011 WAC) five times in his 13
years at USU, along with winning the Big Sky award while the
head coach at Montana in 1991.
Morrill has taken full advantage of the home court at USU, the
Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. In Morrill’s 13 years, USU is an
amazing 193-13 (.937) at home, which includes a 100-8 (.926)
record in league play.
As for Morrill, he has won 20 or more games on 16 different
occasions during his career and has won at least 17 games 22
times.
Overall, Morrill ranks 18th in the nation among active coaches
and 57th all-time with his 542 career wins, while his career
winning percentage of 69.2 percent ranks 26th among active
coaches and 80th all-time. He is also one of 19 active coaches
with 500 career wins at the Division I level and one of just 12
active coaches to notch at least 16 20-win seasons. His current
streak of 12 straight 20-win seasons ranks tied for sixth among
active coaches and is tied for the 11th-longest streak 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 13 years, Morrill has graduated better than 80 percent of
his players, and over the past nine years, Utah State has had 25
academic all-conference honorees.
Morrill, who was born in Provo, Utah and attended Provo High
School, owns a career record of 542-241 in 25 years of
collegiate coaching, including a 324-103 record at Utah State in
13 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 brother
and sister both 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 59-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 grown children; sons Jesse and
Allan, and daughters Nicole and Tiffany, and five grandchildren.
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