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Logan • Shane Rector's road to Utah State has been a long one.

He's from the Bronx, started his college basketball career at Missouri, transferred to Miami Dade College in south Florida and finally landed at Utah State.

Coach Tim Duryea has high hopes for Rector, who makes his debut for the Aggies in Saturday night's exhibition game against Panhandle (Okla.) State at the Spectrum.

Asked about his new six-foot point guard, Duryea said, "Shane is one of those kids, when he's on the floor, he just produces. He's quick with the ball, so he's good at drawing fouls. He can score in the open court and make plays for his teammates. Defensively, he gets his hands on a lot of balls. So when you look up at the end of the day, he's usually got some stats in every category, which is what you're looking for."

Rector was a three-star recruit coming out of high school. He originally committed to Rutgers but switched to Missouri. In 2013-14, he played sparingly in 23 games for the Tigers before moving on to Miami Dade.

Last season, Rector averaged 17.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 30 junior college games.

"He's a naturally competitive kid and he's aggressive," Duryea said. "He's doing really well. He's making a strong push and is going to be a big part of our plans."

Considering the Aggies return all five starters, Rector's ability to quickly jump into the playing-time picture is telling.

"He'll definitely be in the rotation and he's making a push to be where he probably wants to be, which is a starter," Duryea said. "We've had two intra-squad scrimmages and he's been very productive in both of them."

At this point, the biggest flaw to Rector's game shows up on the defensive end of the floor.

"He's just got to get more interested when his man doesn't have the ball," Duryea said. "… Off-the-ball defense has always been an area when he's kind of used to resting a little bit. We're trying to break that habit and make him a little more consistent defender, off-the-ball."

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Storylines

• Utah State opens its season Saturday with an exhibition game against Panhandle (Okla.) State.

• Last season, the Aggies finished 18-13 overall and 11-7 in the Mountain West Conference.

• Junior college transfer Shane Rector, a point guard, makes his debut against Panhandle.