In the West Stadium Center of Maverik Stadium, a group of Utah State Aggie faithful gathered and quickly filled up the seating of the decently-sized room. With 10 minutes until the scheduled 9 a.m. start time, the size of the crowd overflowed into standing room only areas. The man everyone gathered to see, the newly-hired men’s basketball head coach Ben Jacobson, arrived in due time. He sported a suit and tie he’s become far more familiar with in the last few days as he’s attended far more meetings, interviews, photoshoots and press conferences. “I’ve had this suit on three times in the last six days in this same tie,” Jacobson quipped. “I haven’t had it on that many times in the last six years.” Jacobson’s opening comments took up nearly a quarter of an hour, offering his thanks to family, friends, former coaches and administrators. But chief among the topics he covered in that span was the simple question. A question he put well in his own words. “Why? After 20 years, 25 years, what is it? What are we so excited about and why am I standing here right now?” At 55 years old, with more than half of

Utah State is hiring Northern Iowa’s Ben Jacobson as the Aggies’ 23rd men’s basketball head coach in program history, the university announced Monday morning. The hire comes five days after the departure of USU’s former head coach, Jerrod Calhoun, to Cincinnati. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to join Utah State as it enters its next chapter in the Pac-12,” Jacobson said in a press release. “I’m grateful to [Utah State Athletics Director] Cameron Walker for trusting me to lead such a historic program and to continue its tradition as one of the top men’s basketball programs in the West. I look forward to getting to know Aggie Nation and the HURD, and for my family to become part of the Cache Valley and Logan community.” The news was first reported earlier in the morning by from Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68, and Pete Thamel of ESPN. Per the report from Thamel, Jacobson signed a five-year contract. Financial terms of the contract have not been publicly released or reported at this time. Cache Valley Daily has submitted a public records request for the offer sheet sent to Jacobson. Jacobson spent 25 years at Northern Iowa, serving as its head coach since 2006 and amassing

According to reports from Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68, and Pete Thamel of ESPN, Utah State is expected to hire Northern Iowa’s Ben Jacobson as the Aggies’ 23rd men’s basketball head coach in program history. These reports come five days after the departure of USU’s former head coach, Jerrod Calhoun, to Cincinnati. Per the report from Thamel, Jacobson signed a five-year contract. Financial terms of the contract have not been publicly released or reported at this time. Cache Valley Daily has submitted a public records request for the offer sheet sent to Jacobson. Jacobson spent 25 years at Northern Iowa, serving as its head coach since 2006 and amassing a record of 397-259 in that time and is the winningest coach in the program’s history. Under his guidance, UNI won four regular season titles in the Missouri Valley Conference, plus five conference tournament titles. His two most memorable seasons were in 2009-10 when the Panthers went 30-5 and made a run to the Sweet 16, including an upset of the one-seed Kansas. In the 2014-15 season, UNI went 31-4 and earned a five seed in the NCAA Tournament but lost in the second round to four seed Louisville.