The bizarre story of David Collette's quest to leave Utah State has finally reached its conclusion. Collette is transferring to Utah, where he'll pay his own way for his first year of school, according to multiple reports.
Utah State made its best player pay his own way to transfer to Utah
The ugly standoff between Utah State and David Collette has ended.
Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Collette and Utah State have been caught in a standoff since the sophomore big man announced his intention to transfer two days before the start of the Aggies’ season. Utah State didn’t appreciate the timing and promptly put a full block on Collette’s transfer request.
The full block meant Collette couldn’t have contact with other basketball programs and would have to pay his own way for his first two semesters at a new school. It didn’t stop there: Utah State also immediately pulled his financial aid for the rest of the semester and allegedly changed his listed size on the school website from 6’10, 235 pounds to 6’8, 220 pounds.
Utah State coach Tim Duryea hinted that collusion with another program might have been the reason Collette transferred with such little notice, according to Yahoo! Sports. Collette is insisting the reason he left is because he didn’t feel comfortable playing under Duryea, who became head coach at Utah State after long-time coach Stew Morrill retired following last season.
Collette was bothered with Duryea’s use of the phrase “you might as well shoot yourself in the back of the head” while addressing the team, according to Yahoo! Sports. Collette also alleges that Duryea tried to cover up a fight in practice in which one teammate punched another in the back of the head. Collette said Duryea wouldn’t even let players tell family members about the incident out of fear the media would find out.
Collette said he’s transferring to Utah because it has cheap in-state tuition. Collette is married to another full-time student who will also be attending Utah.
Collette averaged 12.8 points and five rebounds per game for Utah State last year. He will be eligible to start playing for Utah in December 2016, when he'll likely help replace Jakob Poeltl in the middle.
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