Aggie men's basketball schedule still in works | USU Sports | hjnews.com - The Herald Journal

Nothing is official and won't be for at least a month or perhaps a little longer.

However, several national sources have been announcing some games Utah State will be a part of in the upcoming men's basketball season. The Aggies have announced they will be playing in a tournament in Conway, South Carolina, and there are four dates on the USU website under the 2021-22 schedule.

The Mountain West Conference will announce the league schedule in the near future, according to a spokesman in the USU athletics department.

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USU has struggled to find opponents, especially ones that are willing to come play in Logan. Having reached the Mountain West Tournament championship game three straight years, as well as making the NCAA Tournament three straight seasons, plus the reputation of fans at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum has made it a challenge.

First-year Aggie head coach Ryan Odom and his staff are working with players right now in the practice gym, plus trying to put the schedule together for the upcoming campaign. Two starters return from a team that went 20-9 last season.

Of the dates listed so far on the schedule, USU will be playing Richmond in a neutral site game on Nov. 12, at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, as part of a doubleheader in the 2021 Veterans Classic. The second game will be Virginia Tech at Navy.

"We are thrilled to be invited to compete in the Veterans Classic," Odom said in a press release. "It's an honor to visit Navy and it will be an incredible experience for our players, coaches and Aggie supporters."

The game against the Spiders will mark the first time the teams have faced each other on the hardwood. Last season, Richmond finished the year with an overall mark of 14-9 and advanced to the second round of the NIT.

In addition to action on the court, participating teams will immerse themselves in the inner workings of the U.S. Naval Academy through guided tours held on the day before the games.

Almost a week after facing Richmond, the Aggies will be in action again on the east coast at the 2021 Myrtle Beach Invitational. They were supposed to play in this tournament last season, but COVID-19 changed that.

It was announced in late May that the Aggies were once again invited to the event that is owned and operated by ESPN Events.

USU is one of eight schools participating, joining Oklahoma, Davidson, East Carolina, New Mexico State, Old Dominion, Penn and Indiana State. Games will be held on Nov. 18, 19 and 21. All of the games will be played inside the HTC Center on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. Matchups will be announced later this summer.

Two other games have announced on Twitter, but USU could not confirm them Wednesday afternoon. Rocco Miller reported that it will be an all-Aggie affair in the season opener for USU and the debut for Odom. He tweeted recently that UC Davis would play at USU on Nov. 9, in the Spectrum in the first regular season game for USU.

According to Jon Rothstein, the Aggies will be returning to South Dakota for a neutral site game this year. They played in the Bad Boy Mower Crossover Classic last year to open the 2020-21 season at the Sanford Pentagon. Rothstein said USU and Iowa would meet in December at the same facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. No exact date was announced.

Utah State has also announced the Spectrum will be back to full capacity for the upcoming season. That is if all tickets are sold and the student section is filled.

NOW A REDBIRD

Former Aggie Liam McChesney has landed in the Land of Lincoln. The 6-foot-10 forward has signed to play for Illinois State and is listed as a redshirt freshman on the Redbirds roster.

McChesney, a native of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada, spent two years at USU. He ended up redshirting his first season in Logan after getting sick and missing most of training camp. He saw action in three games last year for the Aggies for a total of 11 minutes before suffering a season-ending leg injury.

McChesney entered the transfer portal after the 2020-21 season came to an end. He was a three-star recruit out of high school by 247 Sports and a top college prospect in Canada.

QUETA UPDATE

Former USU center Neemias Queta is busy this week at the 2021 NBA Draft Combine in Chicago.

Jonathan Givony, an NBA draft analyst for ESPN, tweeted out a 50-second video of the 7-footer during a scrimmages where he made a long-range shot, some nice passes and was solid on defense.

"Utah State's Neemias Queta had an awesome first day at the NBA Combine, shooting the ball well, making some nice passes and showing terrific timing and instincts defensively," Givony tweeted. "Definitely one of the standouts of the day."

Following his junior season at USU, Queta declared for the NBA draft and hired an agent. He had tested the professional waters in 2019 after a stellar freshman season with the Aggies, but returned to USU and bulked up some, while also improving his game. He dealt with some injuries during his sophomore year, but was solid as a junior a year ago.

Many projections have him going in the second round of the draft.