Stew Morrill

Stew Morrill

Morrill at San Jose State in 2014
Sport(s) Basketball
Biographical details
Born (1952-07-25) July 25, 1952
Provo, Utah
Playing career
1970–1972 Ricks JC
1972–1974 Gonzaga
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1974–1978 Gonzaga (asst.)
1978–1986 Montana (asst.)
1986–1991 Montana
1991–1998 Colorado State
1998–2015 Utah State
Head coaching record
Overall 620–294 (.678)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards
  • 3× WAC Coach of the Year (2009–2011)
  • 2× Big West Coach of the Year (2000, 2002)
  • Big Sky Coach of the Year (1991)

Stewart V. Morrill (born July 25, 1952) is an American college basketball coach and the former head coach of the Utah State University men's basketball team. Morrill was an All-American at Ricks College and a two-time All-Big Sky selection for Gonzaga University. He started his coaching career in 1974 as an assistant at Gonzaga and later for the University of Montana under Mike Montgomery. In 1987, he became the head coach of the Grizzlies and led them to an NCAA berth in 1991. Morrill coached at Colorado State University from 1992 to 1998 before resigning and taking the coaching job at Utah State University.

Morrill and Utah State gained national attention in March 2001 for their upset overtime victory over Ohio State 77–68 in the NCAA Tournament.

On January 17, 2008, in an 82–78 victory over Boise State University, 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[1] (.729) with Utah State. His 500th win came in a victory in Moscow, Idaho, on January 23, 2010 over Idaho, which is coached by his former assistant, Don Verlin. He has also racked up an incredible home record of 193–13 (.937) in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum as coach of the Aggies. Following a March 8, 2009 victory over San Jose State University, Stew 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 has the second worst tournament record in NCAA history 1-9 (.111) for any coach that has made the NCAA tournament five or more times. He also has a record of 0-6 in the NIT tournament.

With Morrill at the helm, the Aggies were one of only three Division I teams to have won at least 23 games in each of the last twelve seasons. The other schools are Gonzaga and Kansas. Over the past eleven years under Morrill, Utah State (.764) had the fourth-best winning percentage in the nation behind Duke (.831), Kansas (.809) and Gonzaga (.799).

All of his former assistants have had immediate success as head coaches at their respective schools.

On January 9, 2015, USU announced that Stew would retire at the end of the 2014-2015 season.[2]

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Montana Grizzlies (Big Sky Conference) (1987–1991)
1986–87 Montana 18–11 8–6 3rd
1987–88 Montana 18–11 7–9 T–7th
1988–89 Montana 20–11 11–5 3rd
1989–90 Montana 18–11 10–6 3rd
1990–91 Montana 23–8 13–3 1st NCAA First Round
Montana: 97–52 (.651) 49–29 (.628)
Colorado State Rams (Western Athletic Conference) (1994–1999)
1991–92 Colorado State 14–17 8–8 T–8th
1992–93 Colorado State 17–12 9–9 5th
1993–94 Colorado State 15–13 8–10 T–5th
1994–95 Colorado State 17–14 7–11 T–8th
1995–96 Colorado State 18–12 11–7 4th NIT First Round
1996–97 Colorado State 20–9 10–6 4th (Pacific)
1997–98 Colorado State 20–9 8–6 4th (Mountain) NIT First Round
Colorado State: 121–86 (.585) 61–57 (.517)
Utah State Aggies (Big West Conference) (1998–2005)
1998–99 Utah State 15–13 8–8 4th (Eastern)
1999–00 Utah State 28–6 16–0 1st (Eastern) NCAA First Round
2000–01 Utah State 28–6 13–3 2nd NCAA Second Round
2001–02 Utah State 23–8 13–5 T–1st NIT First Round
2002–03 Utah State 24–9 12–6 3rd NCAA First Round
2003–04 Utah State 25–4 17–1 T–1st NIT First Round
2004–05 Utah State 24–8 13–5 2nd NCAA First Round
Utah State Aggies (Western Athletic Conference) (2005–2013)
2005–06 Utah State 23–9 11–5 T–2nd NCAA First Round
2006–07 Utah State 23–12 9–7 4th NIT First Round
2007–08 Utah State 24–11 12–4 T–1st NIT First Round
2008–09 Utah State 30–5 14–2 1st NCAA First Round
2009–10 Utah State 27–8 14–2 1st NCAA First Round
2010–11 Utah State 30–4 15–1 1st NCAA First Round
2011–12 Utah State 21–16 8–6 4th CIT Runner-up
2012–13 Utah State 21–10 11–7 T–4th
Utah State Aggies (Mountain West Conference) (2013–2015)
2013–14 Utah State 18–14 7–11 T–8th
2014–15 Utah State 18–13 11–7 T–4th
Utah State: 402–156 (.720) 204–80 (.718)
Total: 620–294 (.678)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Coaching tree

These former assistant coaches or players of Morrill later became head coaches at the high school level or higher:

References

  1. ↑ http://www.usustats.com/coaches/index.php?category=Years
  2. ↑ http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12141954/utah-state-coach-stew-morrill-retire
  3. ↑ http://www.utahstateaggies.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/tim_duryea_30289.html
  4. ↑ Obert, Richard (March 10, 2015). "Brophy Prep, Veritas Prep, Hamilton changing boys basketball coaches". Arizona Republic. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
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