December 17, 2024
How new Utah State head coach Wesley Brooks looks to turn around the program
Mia Tarver: 'His drive and his vision drove me to come here'
Recent seasons for the Utah State Aggies have not resulted in much celebration. In fact, only nine wins were produced in the past two years combined, and the program has never reached the NCAA Tournament in its history. While the 2024-25 edition is off to a rocky start (1-10), first year head coach Wesley Brooks is optimistic things will change in the near future.
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“I know we have a hill to climb,” Brooks told The Next, “but I know we will get it done.”
Brooks came to USU in April, following a successful three-year stint as an assistant at Ohio State. He found his start serving as a student manager for John Beilein’s men’s team at West Virginia. His career would take him to assistant roles on the women’s team at several schools, including North Texas and Michigan.
“I always wanted to be a head coach,” Brooks continued. “And, you have to take that opportunity when you have it. Being a first-year head coach, it’s going to be hard to get a job with an established program, so you take the opportunity when given.”
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He inherited a team that went 5-25 and 2-16 in the Mountain West under former coach Kayla Ard. Half of the roster bolted for the transfer portal, and Brooks was faced with creating a new lineup.
“The biggest challenge is coming in so late,” Brooks added. “I got the job April 1. When you get the job April 1, there were only six kids on the roster. When [that] happens, recruiting becomes a huge challenge. Also, going into the portal becomes a challenge because you have to be an attractive option for people. We were not that attractive option at that point in time. With recruiting, you feel like, ‘How do I get what I need?’ Then you realize that the people you are going to be competing against probably signed their kids back in November. We’re getting better.”
Transfers liking the new system
Junior guard Mia Tarver is scoring 9.4 points per game after transferring from Salt Lake Community College.
“His drive and his vision as a team and what he wanted to bring just drove me to come here more and wanted to be coached by him,” Tarver told The Next. “I just love him as a coach and what he is trying to do. Everything in his vision, I can see an end result in the future. He does everything he can to win — his planning as a coach and his motivation as a coach, everything overall, his enthusiasm he has within his team.”
Tarver noted that the main difference from playing on the junior college level to Division I is that the team is more in sync and disciplined.
“The level and environment and the teams we have been playing is higher,” Tarver continued. “So being able to play at this level has been a learning experience for me. You have no choice but to share the ball, and everyone has the same drive.”
Sophie Sene was averaging between four and five minutes per game in two seasons with Rhode Island. The 6’3 center has found a starting role since transferring to the Aggies.
“My role really changed because when I was at Rhode Island, I didn’t play that much,” said Sene, who is a former member of the French Under-16 team. “I decided to transfer somewhere where I could have a major role on the team and be one of the major players. We are looking forward to winning and playing together. We are a brand-new team, so obviously it was going to be difficult, but we need to keep trusting each other.”
While there are so many new faces on the team, one familiar one from last season is Cheyenne Stubbs. After two years at Canisius, she was fourth in the Mountain West last season with more than 16 points per game. This year, Stubbs is scoring 12.6 but has missed some recent games with an injury.
“She provides us playmaking ability,” Brooks said of Stubbs. “She can score the ball. That does help when she is out there. Our goal for her is to help her play after this, because I know she is a good basketball player if she wants to play after this.”
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Tough non-conference schedule
The Aggies have not shied away from playing power conference teams. They played at Colorado and Utah. Plus, there was the meeting with Brooks’ former team — No. 11 Ohio State, ending in an 87-51 OSU win in Daytona, Fla., on Nov. 29.
“It was fun,” Brooks said of playing the Buckeyes. “I know the score doesn’t look like it, but we had our moments and had spurts. It was a learning experience. The better teams you play, the better you are going to get because they raise the level of your play and where you are going. Once we play better, we raise the level of the program. You don’t raise the level of the program playing teams that aren’t good.
Even though we are not getting the results we want right now, we are going to continue playing a hard schedule because people take you seriously when you do.”
Brooks noted that when the conference season begins next week, the Aggies should not be intimidated. He emphasized that none of the teams in the Mountain West this season are in the caliber of Ohio State, Utah, Colorado or some of the other mid-majors USU met, such as Grand Canyon and Stetson. The team’s lone win came over Cal State Bakersfield, 67-51.
“If we can play with those teams for 20 to 30 minutes,” he said of the power conference teams, “we should be able to play with anybody in our conference for 40 minutes and execute. It should give us some confidence. Everybody’s program is ahead of us right now, but we will catch up, we will continue to develop our kids, and we will continue to fight, and our goal is to not finish last.”
Tarver also believes that the tough schedule brought out the best in her team.
“All of the teams we have played instill growth in our team, and we can see that,” she added. “We are learning to get a grip on what we are trying to get together. I am looking forward to proving everyone wrong. We feel like we have nothing to lose, so we are progressing slowly in practice, and it’s starting to show more on the court.”
Written by Scott Mammoser
Scott Mammoser covered the Paris 2024 Olympics for The Next. He has also covered major international events for FIBA, World Athletics and the International Skating Union. He has attended six other Olympics and traveled to more than 90 countries.
