UtAgs won’t fly under the radar anymore

Editor’s note: This is the 10th in an 11-part series previewing UNM men’s basketball opponents for the 2019-20 season. The series includes articles and capsules on all Mountain West opponents published in the reverse order of the league’s preseason poll and concludes with capsules for each nonconference opponent.

Sam Merrill looked across the table at last month’s Mountain West media summit and into the eyes of a group of reporters and told them, rather graciously, just what he thought about his team being the first unanimous preseason champion pick in the 21-year history of the league.

“I was surprised that was the first time it ever happened,” said Merrill, the senior guard of the defending champion and nationally-ranked No. 17 Aggies. “... but we know first hand from last year that these polls don’t really, with all due respect to the voters, don’t really mean anything.”

One year ago, the Aggies had a new coach (Craig Smith), a freshman center from Portugal nobody knew (Neemias Queta), and Merrill left on a roster that went 17-17 the previous season, leading to a fired coach and the transfer of star Koby McEwen.

The result was that same media panel picking Utah State to finish ninth. Instead, the Aggies swept the league’s awards with Merrill running away with Player of the Year honors as the team shared the MWC title with Nevada and won the MWC Tournament.

“It accelerated at a quick rate, but at the same time, we knew that we had a good group of guys in our program,” said Smith.

The Aggies return just six players from last year’s roster, but they include four starters and sixth-man Diogo Brito, who was as versatile as anyone down the stretch last season.

“Diogo was one of seven players in the Mountain West Conference last year that played 30 games, that averaged eight or more points, averaged four or more rebounds, averaged two or more assists and averaged one or more steals,” Smith said. “And of those seven players, four of those guys are now on NBA rosters . ... That’s some pretty heavy hitting company to be associated with.”

Merrill (20.9 points, 4.2 assists per game) is the star, but it was Queta that was the catalyst for changing the Aggies fortunes last season, especially defensively. USU ranked 208th in 2018 in opponent’s 2-point field goal percentage (50.7). With Queta last season, they ranked fourth nationally (42.2%).

But Queta still hasn’t returned to practice after injuring his knee in the FIBA Under-20 European Championships in July. Smith expects him back soon, but the concern is mounting as the USU nonconference schedule is brutal.

The Aggies still boast experience in Merrill, Brito, Abel Porter, Brock Miller and Justin Bean, but newcomers in the frontcourt will have to emerge.

One intriguing newcomer is 6-foot-6 freshman guard Sean Bairstow, the younger brother of former UNM Lobos star forward Cameron Bairstow.