Utah State basketball star Sam Merrill has all the makings of a March Madness legend

Utah State basketball star Sam Merrill hit the game-winning shot to take out San Diego State. Now, he’s poised to be a legend in March Madness.

With 10 seconds to play and their entire season hanging in the balance, Utah State knew exactly what play to call. They didn’t even need a timeout to draw it up. The play was called “four flat,” and coach Craig Smith implemented it for the first time this weekend. Though to be fair, it’s not a difficult one to learn.

Four Aggies camped along the baseline and watched as Sam Merrill dribbled near midcourt. They were spectators, just as much as the 10,000-plus standing on their feet inside the Thomas and Mack Center. All knew exactly what was going to happen next.

Merrill took two pacing dribbles with his left hand, smothered by San Diego State’s KJ Feagin, the conference runner-up for defensive player of the year. Then Merrill rose over an outstretched arm and fired from nearly 25 feet. A moment of brief silence followed, then pandemonium as the ball stroked the bottom of the net. Utah State 59, San Diego State 56.

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The shot earned Utah State a bid to the Big Dance and Merrill a permanent place in the program’s storied history.

“That’s what I’ve been reaching for my whole life,” the native of Bountiful, Utah, said after the game.

“I haven’t even seen that kind of stuff in movies,” adds teammate Justin Bean.

March is the time when the lore of legends is written. And this year, Cinderella’s shoe fits snug on Sam Merrill.

The 6-foot-4 senior scored 27 points in the Mountain West title game, after 27 points in the semifinal game and 29 points in the quarterfinal game. Down the stretch in all three, he put the entire weight of the Aggie offense in his hands, using an elite shooting touch off the dribble to set up a diverse offensive skill set.

“Sam Merrill. Sam Merrill. Sam Merrill. I’m going to see this kid in my … for a long time,” said New Mexico coach Paul Weir after Thursday’s quarterfinal. He rubbed his forehead and glanced down at the box score. “He kicked our ass. He kicked my ass. He’s a great basketball player.”

Merrill hit a shot almost identical to Saturday’s game-winner against New Mexico, a straightaway dagger out of “four flat” to put USU up three in the final minutes. The next night, he capped a personal 7-0 run in the second half with an impossibly off-balanced three coming off a ball screen, stretching the lead from four to 11.

His team-on-my-back swagger does not come naturally, says Smith, who calls him “the most unselfish star I’ve ever been around.” Throughout the season the coach had to coax Merrill constantly to shoot more, reminding him his bad shots were better than a good shot for anyone else. The lesson was reinforced during a three-game losing streak in early January, where Merrill posted just 10 points in two of the contests and took only six shots in a loss at UNLV.

This weekend, Merrill knew he had to put on his superman cape. He admits to studying the bracketology ever since the Aggies’ loss late in the regular season to New Mexico, realizing Utah State’s chances of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament were slim. The thought even came to mind on Saturday morning, he says, creating a “sense of urgency” that elevated his confidence to an extra level.

In the postgame press conference, tears formed in Smith’s eyes as described his star player.

“He’s just everything that a college athlete is all about,” he said, before taking a long pause. “He just … when he’s on the floor, there’s just so much confidence that he provides everyone else. He’s out there and guys just play better.”

Merrill has all the makings of a March darling. The narrative practically writes itself. He grew up a little over an hour from Logan, where his dad was born and his mom attended school at Utah State. He went to dozens of Aggie basketball games as a kid. He committed to play there as a sophomore in high school, never even considering the interest that poured in from larger programs across the country.

After high school, he completed a two-year mission as part of the Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints in Nicaragua, where he rarely touched a basketball. Merrill credits his maturity to many lessons learned while overseas, including one experience where he and a companion were robbed on the street. The assailant threw a rock and knocked out two of Merrill’s teeth.

Merrill returned to Logan in 2016, and by his second season in the Aggie uniform, his talent had blossomed into stardom. He averaged 16.3 points during a rocky 17-17 campaign in 2017-18. When head coach Tim Duryea got fired after the season, no one would have blamed Merrill for considering transferring to a larger program.

He stayed, leading Utah State on a magical ride last season. After being picked in the preseason to finish ninth out of 11 teams in the Mountain West, the Aggies posted a 28-6 record and beat out San Diego State in the conference championship to earn the school’s first NCAA Tournament bid in eight years. Merrill won conference player of the year honors after averaging 20.9 points per game.

“To see Utah State back on the map,” Merril said Saturday, “just to be a part of it and to see all those fans there … it’s unlike anything I could have imagined.”

Now Merrill will look to extend his brilliance onto the sport’s biggest stage. Last season Merrill powered the Aggies through the MWC tournament with similar numbers before posting just 10 points on nine shots in a first round NCAA Tournament loss to Washington. Admittedly, he was locked up by Matisse Thybulle, who is making a name this season as a defensive specialist at the NBA level with the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Aggies’ hopes of advancing in the Big Dance, something they haven’t done since 2001, rest squarely on Merrill’s shoulders. Almost certainly he will have the ball in his hands running “four flat” on some crucial possession late in the game with the entire sports world watching.

Yes, Sam Merrill is already a March hero, thanks to his dagger three to beat San Diego State. But when asked if that shot was to be his crowning achievement, his legacy, he didn’t hesitate in his response.

“I hope there’s a few more games to be played … and a few more big shots to be hit.”

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