Best Player in Utah is Leaving

The transfer portal is doing it again.

The best college basketball player in the state of Utah this past season, Steven Ashworth, is leaving Utah State.

Ashworth gained national attention this year because he was arguably the best three point shooter in the country. He lead the Aggies to a surprisingly great season and to a bid in the NCAA tournament which was remarkable in a season where expectations were low for the Aggies. 

This wasn’t supposed to be a year in which Utah State got to the tournament. They were coming off a lackluster season in Coach Ryan Odom’s first year with the Aggies in 2021, and they had some disappointing losses early in the season including a home loss to Weber State. But the Aggies rallied behind Ashworth and transfer star Taylor Funk to finish in the top 3 of the Mountain West, and go all the way to the Mountain West Conference Championship game where they lost to San Diego State.

Unfortunately for Aggie fans, the success of the season has decimated their prospects for next season.

Coach Odom has taken a new job at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Max Shulga and Sean Bairstow, two of Utah State’s best players aside from Ashworth, have also jumped into the transfer portal, the Aggies have still not hired a new face of the program to help slow down the flow of players leaving or to start working on replenishing the roster by way of the portal or other means.

Then yesterday, Ashworth announced he is going to leave.

The question is will he stay in the state? BYU has hopes of landing the sharp shooter because of his natural connections to the school. Ashworth went to Lone Peak high school and his wife was a cheerleader at BYU. But getting Ashworth could be wishful thinking for BYU. There are bound to be many prestigious programs around the country vying for his services heading into next season.