Logan • Of all the offensive wizards roaming around college basketball, Jerrod Calhoun might be best defined by who he isn’t.

He’s not like Alabama’s Nate Oats, the former math professor who describes offensive sets like he’s unpacking a complex calculus equation. He’s not like Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, either, whose bravado can trick you into thinking he’s running for office rather than running an offensive buzzsaw. And he’s not even like Kentucky’s Mark Pope, an overenthusiastic former med student who can’t help himself from diving into analytical rabbit holes.

No, Calhoun isn’t like any of them. Ask him why his team torches nets for 82 points per game, and he’ll tell you in stunningly simple terms.

“Got guys that can pass, catch, shoot,” he says, shrugging.

C’mon, it has to be a little more than that. Right?

“I want five guys on the floor that can take and make threes,” he said, insisting there isn’t some grand secret.

If Oats is the professor and Pearl is the politician, Calhoun is the unassuming neighbor you go to church with on Sundays, without realizing he’s one of the most gifted basketball minds in the game.

Quite literally in this case. When he first came to Logan, he rented an AirBnB right down the street from his Catholic church. As he was building his Utah State roster, he’d take a short break on Sunday to slide into the pews and blend in with the crowd. Nobody even noticed.

“Literally in the backyard of my church,” he says.

But don’t let the modesty fool you, Calhoun is every bit the elite coach even if he doesn’t act it. At one point this year, Utah State was one of just three teams in the country with 19 wins: Duke and Alabama were the others. They were dispatching opponents by 10 points per night and effectively shooting 55%. He was lapping the field with players one year removed from the A-SUN and the WAC.

And while there has been a parade of winning coaches coming through Logan — three different leaders have taken the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament in the last four years — Calhoun feels different. Those past coaches all put together talented rosters. They were single-use, disposal constructs of talent.

But this is a sustainable offensive system, not needing five-star recruits, led by maybe the most modest mastermind in the game. And because of it, he’s dreaming like no other Aggies coach has.

“I think you can win a national championship here,” he said. “I think we can build something special.”

Into Calhoun’s unique world we go.

Living like college

When Calhoun was hired by Utah State, moving across the country from Ohio, he didn’t even attempt to look for housing.

He told his director of basketball operations to find a temporary workspace where he and his staff could hit the ground running.

So they rented the basement floor of a north Logan home. It was furnished with three bedrooms, two couches and a bathroom. For 42 nights, he and his handful of assistants lived like college roommates cut off from their families.

But it was worth it. Calhoun was on a strict schedule that didn’t allow for realtors and open houses.

The first few days were spent figuring out the landscape of Utah State. He was working with around $700,000 in name, image and likeness funds to recruit. That was good for sixth in the Mountain West, but significantly behind the league giants like San Diego State that bankroll up to $4 million.

He called past Utah State coaches to get their scouting report for the league’s style of play. He talked to Washington coach Danny Sprinkle, former Utah coach Craig Smith and VCU coach Ryan Odom. Calhoun brought his own system, but he needed to see the battlefield he was introducing it in.

And once he had an idea, he started the recruiting sprint. For two weeks, he worked out every player on the current roster and hosted family style dinners at night to get to know their personalities.

He told them his philosophy plainly: They were going to shoot more than they ever had in their careers. With a combination of spacing and versatility on offense (at any given time four or five shooters might be on the floor) they’d get plenty of open looks.

He explained how his teams at Youngstown State and Fairmont State thrived on this model. It took players who were once 30% 3-point shooters and made them all-league scorers. Youngstown averaged 82 points a game with Calhoun. In 2023, the Penguins were the fifth-best offense in the country.

“We were always some of the best offenses in Division I,” he said. “I recruited two kids at Youngstown State that really never shot a lot of threes, and now they both are playing overseas, making a lot of money. And they made threes.

“I think a lot of players don’t make threes because they feel that pressure from the coach. I let our guys take, and make, the reads. At all five positions.”

He added a sweetener: the players who stayed could help mold the roster. Calhoun listens to podcasts about Gen Z and different theories of leadership. “They want to know the why,” he said.

So he opened the floor. Current players interviewed potential signees along with the staff. If they said no, Calhoun wouldn’t sign them.

“We asked everyone after players would leave, ‘What do you think?’ And there were a couple guys [who didn’t fit] and we didn’t take them,” he said.

The process continued until the middle of June. With Calhoun looking for one more shooter, he finally landed on a journeyman guard from Oregon State and Marquette. He hadn’t shot it very well, a 25% 3-point shooter as a sophomore. But Calhoun thought that would change in his system.

So Utah State signed Dexter Akanno. The roster was set.

Calhoun moved out of the basement, ready to show the world his work.

An offensive revival

Mason Falslev has been through the wringer with coaches. In the three years he’s been at Utah State, he’s seen three different administrations. Remarkably, he’s been to the NCAA Tournament three times.

But even with the success, change wears on you.

“Obviously, it’s hard,” he said. “But it’s been a blessing, too. I’ve learned a lot.”

Last year in particular was a grind. Sprinkle played Falslev as a fourth option and ran the group into the ground with an intensity that’d make even Danny Hurley blush. It worked. Utah State won 28 games and sprung an upset in the first round of the tournament against TCU.

But when Sprinkle left for the Big Ten, many were ready for a change. Falslev entered the transfer portal, waiting to see Sprinkle’s replacement.

When Calhoun was announced, he hopped on board and immediately worked on his shot. He’d have opportunities to score, and a coaching staff that wouldn’t dictate terms.

“Different system,” he said.

Falslev’s growth has been indicative of a team-wide offensive reformation.

He’s gone from shooting 30% from three to 41%. His scoring is up 15 points per game. And he’s doing it rather simply. Calhoun is bringing him off of wide pin-downs and ball screens.

“His confidence has just grown like I’ve never seen a player,” Calhoun said.

His running mate, Ian Martinez, also upped his scoring to 17 points a night. He’ll likely be an all-league player by the end of the year.

But it isn’t just those two. Akanno, once a dismal shooter, is the third-leading scorer and knocking down 46% of his threes. Calhoun took Drake Allen, a former Utah Valley guard who was barely recruited out of high school, and turned him into a sixth man of the year contender. He shot 23% from three last year. Now he’s in the 30s.

Even a guy like Karson Templin, who was unplayable in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, is chipping in eight points a game.

They’ve created a juggernaut with players from the A-SUN and the WAC.

“We have a lot of guys moving up two weight classes,” Calhoun said after beating San Diego State. “There is a big difference between the Atlantic Sun and the Mountain West.”

The system is working.

Past bedtime

A few hours before Utah State played Colorado State in February, Calhoun looked around at shootaround and made the bold proclamation he can win a national title here.

He pointed to Mountain West teams that flirted with it. SDSU was in the Final Four in 2022 and other contenders have come close.

With a system that tends to elevate players beyond their means, why not USU, too?

None of the past Utah State coaches have said that. Sprinkle left because he didn’t think he could get to the mountain top in Logan. Smith bolted to USU’s in-state rival and was fired because of his gamble.

But Calhoun doesn’t think that way.

“I’m different,” he said. “I still feel like you can win it all here. I mean, Florida Atlantic almost did. I truly believe you can win a title from here. And that’s the only reason I got into this.”

Even this year, he’s hoping USU can break through to the Sweet 16. They sit at 25-6 and could be a 10-seed in March.

And for a coach who sees USU going to the highest level, he still doesn’t act like it.

Hours after he talked about winning a national title, his team won in a 93-point onslaught. USU was up by 20 points in less than 10 minutes. Yet, his first thought as he walked to the locker room was about his kids’ sleep schedules.

“There were a lot of little kids here [at the game]. I don’t know if they are going to school tomorrow,” he said. “I know my three girls are going in late to Providence.”

Just like the unassuming mastermind he is.

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