Jan. 21, 2008

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State men's basketball player Jaycee Carroll has been named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week it was announced by the league office on Monday. Carroll was also named the America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week, which is voted on by a state media panel, for the period ending on Sunday, Jan. 20.

It is the second time this year and fifth time in his career Carroll has been named WAC Player of the Week and he is now tied with former Aggie greats Nate Harris and Spencer Nelson for the second-most player of the week honors in school history, trailing Greg Grant who won six Big West Conference Player of the Week honors.

Overall, it is the seventh time that a Utah State player has received the weekly honor from the league office in the past three years.

Carroll, a 6-2 All-American guard from Evanston, Wyo., (Evanston HS) led Utah State to a pair of home wins against Boise State (82-78) and Idaho (79-64) last weekend. Against the Broncos, Carroll scored a game-high 29 points as he was 9-of-14 from the field, 5-of-9 from three-point range and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Carroll, who scored 19 of his points in the second-half, also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals in the game. Against Idaho, Carroll became Utah State's all-time leading scorer as he had 21 points in the contest on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 from three-point range and 2-of-2 from the foul line. He also added six rebounds and three assists against the Vandals.

For the week, Carroll averaged 25.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists, while shooting 60.7 percent from the field (17-28), 61.5 percent from three-point range (8-13) and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line.

On the season, Carroll is averaging 21.6 points and 6.0 rebounds and is shooting 53.5 percent from the field, 51.7 percent from three-point range and 93.6 percent from the free throw line. Thus far this year, he has scored in double-figures in all 19 Utah State games, and has 12 20-point games and three 30-point games. Overall, he ranks first in the WAC in scoring, first in free throw shooting, first in three-point shooting and seventh in overall shooting. Nationally, he ranks third in free throw shooting, sixth in three-point shooting and 15th in scoring.

Utah State is 14-5 on the season and in first-place in the WAC with a 4-0 league record. Overall, USU has won nine straight games and 11 of its last 12 after starting the season with a 3-4 record. The Aggies return to action this week with a pair of road games at Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Jan. 24 beginning at 6 p.m. (MT), and at New Mexico State on Saturday, Jan. 26. The game against NMSU will be televised nationally on ESPN2 at 4 p.m.

Nominees from other sports for USU's weekly honor included:

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - Senior guard Jamelah Brown (Phoenix, Ariz.) recorded a career-high 24 points in Utah State's 85-77 loss at Boise State on Thursday as she was 9-of-18 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. She also recorded 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists in USU's 70-64 overtime loss at Idaho on Saturday.

GYMNASTICS - Freshman Chelsea Marquardt (Centennial, Colo.) posted season-highs in all three events she competed in against Sacramento State on Friday as she received the Most Outstanding Gymnast award for the dual. Against the Hornets, she tied for first on the vault (9.800), placed third on the bars (9.700) and was sixth on the beam (9.675). Utah State lost the meet, 192.575-191.050.

MEN'S TENNIS - Freshman Jakob Asplund (Stockholm, Sweden) helped Utah State post a 1-1 record over the weekend with a 4-3 win against Montana State and a 6-1 loss at Boise State. In singles play, Asplund recorded a 1-1 record at No. 1 singles as he defeated MSU's Kyle McDonald in straight sets (7-6, 6-1) and lost to BSU's Steve Robertson in three sets (6-3, 3-6, 11-9). In doubles competition, Asplund teamed with Jonas Tyden to defeat the Bobcats duo of Jakub Dybala and McDonald, 8-1, at No. 1.

MEN'S TRACK - Junior Nick Karren (Duchesne, Utah) won the 400m at Utah State's own Wilson Motor Invitational on Friday with a time of 49.11. He then won the 60m hurdles on Saturday at the Snake River Invitational hosted by Idaho State with a personal-best time of 8.23, which is the sixth-fastest time in USU history.

WOMEN'S TENNIS - Sophomore Bridgette Strickland (Orem, Utah) lost in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) to Chio Hayasaka at No. 4 singles in Utah State's 7-0 loss at No. 28 Brigham Young on Friday.

WOMEN'S TRACK - Junior Krista Larson (Kaysville, Utah) had two of Utah State's top seven throws in school history this past weekend as she won the weight throw in two different meets in back-to-back days. In Friday's USU Wilson Motor Invitational, Larson won the weight throw with a distance of 55-00.75, logging a personal-best and recording the fifth-best mark in school history. On Saturday at the Idaho State Snake River Open, Larson won the weight throw with a mark of 52-8.50, which is the seventh-best distance in school history.

2007-08 Utah State Athlete of the Week Winners
Sept. 4 - Dana Peart, Soccer
Sept. 10 - Amanda Nielson, Volleyball
Sept. 17 - Dana Peart, Soccer
Sept. 24 - Kevin Robinson, Football
Oct. 1 - Melissa Osterloh, Volleyball
Oct. 8 - Kevin Robinson, Football
Oct. 15 - Seth Wold, Cross Country
Oct. 22 - Amanda Nielson, Volleyball
Oct. 29 - Seth Wold, Cross Country
Nov. 5 - Lauren Hansen, Soccer
Nov. 12 - Danielle Taylor, Volleyball
Nov. 19 - Rob Myers, Football
Nov. 26 - Stephen DuCharme, Men's Basketball
Dec. 3 - Jaycee Carroll, Men's Basketball
Dec. 10 - Danyelle Snelgro, Women's Basketball
Dec. 17 - Tai Wesley, Men's Basketball
Dec. 24 - Jaycee Carroll, Men's Basketball
Dec. 31 - Gary Wilkinson, Men's Basketball
Jan.  7 - Tai Wesley, Men's Basketball
Jan. 14 - Gary Wilkinson, Men's Basketball
Jan. 21 - Jaycee Carroll, Men's Basketball