Half an hour after suffering their season-ending loss to Arizona, four Utah State seniors — Kolby King, Zach Keller, Garry Clark and Drake Allen — climbed the steps to the podium for the post-game press conference. Head coach Jerrod Calhoun followed closely behind and opened the presser with praise for his players, not just for Sunday’s effort against one of the top teams in the nation, but for the season as a whole.
“Proud of our guys. All year long to do some of the things that this group was able to accomplish is not easy,” Calhoun said. “One of the most connected teams I’ve ever been a part of, from our managers to our staff.”
Utah State’s season concluded as one of the best in recent memory, with multiple markers to back up the assertion. For one, the 29 wins, the _-most in program history and highest single-season tally since 2011. Or, there’s the outright regular season and conference tournament title sweep, the first of the Mountain West era. You could also point out the competitive fire against the No. 2 team in the country that far exceeded the team’s last attempt at taking on a one seed, which ended with a 39-point loss.
The Aggies’ seniors were the backbone of this highly successful campaign.
“To our players, the most important guys in the program, they truly loved one another,” Calhoun said. “Wearing the Utah State uniform truly meant something to these guys.”
All four of the assembled players were asked to reflect on their time with Utah State in Logan and playing in front of Aggie Nation.
Their words speak for themselves:
I asked the four Utah State players at today’s post-game press conference — seniors Kolby King, Zach Keller, Garry Clark and Drake Allen — what this season playing for the Aggies and in Logan meant to them.KING – “It meant a lot. I appreciate Aggie Nation and Calhoun for… pic.twitter.com/t7EGrAyj1O
— Jason Walker (@jwalker_sports) March 23, 2026
Kolby King
“It meant a lot. I appreciate Aggie Nation and Calhoun for taking me in, especially all the sacrifices we made as a group. It’s probably been like the best team I’ve been on so far in my career. And I appreciate what Logan has done for us.”
Zach Keller
“From the time I got on campus this summer, I understood it was a standard and expectations that I wasn’t used to. Dealing with the returners, they got us in tune with how things are ran. And they did a great job. We understood how things should be run and how we gotta handle things. I just want to thank the returners for embracing us new guys as much as they did.”
Garry Clark
“The culture at Utah State is the best part about what’s going on from the fan bases to the culture we have on the basketball team, a brotherhood a great community and if you don’t want to play for a great community, then I don’t know why else would you play college basketball. From the day we all stepped on here, we were welcomed with open arms and it’s been a blessing to play in this uniform.”
Drake Allen
“It hurts. I don’t want to take the uniform off. Knowing it’s going to be my last time wearing it it means so much. And it really just feels like family, everybody in Logan, it feels like one big family. I really want to give glory to God just because I feel like nothing — everything happens for a reason. I think that these group of guys were put together for a specific reason, a special reason, not only these group of guys but these coaches as well. I think that everything happens for a reason. I think God has put us here. It’s all according to His plan. I’m just very grateful that we’ve been able to experience this in Logan, being Aggies. It doesn’t get better than that.”
