LOGAN, Utah-Tuesday, Utah State men’s basketball senior guard Sam Merrill was named to the Jerry West Award watch list. This award annually honors the top shooting guard in Division I men’s basketball.
Of the 20 candidates for the award, Merrill, a sharpshooter out of Bountiful High School, is the only representative of a Utah university.
Merrill is the reigning Mountain West Conference player of the year and Mountain West Conference tournament MVP.
His 20.9 points per game paced the Aggies en route to both Mountain West regular season and conference tournament titles for Utah State.
He had team highs in points (731) and assists (147) as he averaged 4.2 assists per game
Last season, Merrill earned third-team All-American honors from Stadium, honorable mention All-American honors from The Associated Press and first-team All-Mountain West and first-team all-District 17 honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Merrill spent part of his off-season participating in the CP3 Elite Guard Camp as one of only 15 collegiate point guards invited to the camp hosted by current NBA player, Chris Paul of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Merrill and his Aggies teammates commence the season October 30 as they host NAIA foe College of Idaho in an exhibition game. Their first game against a fellow Division I opponent is a home game against Montana State November 5
