In conjunction with the Golden State Warriors and Chase Center, the San Francisco Dons and Utah State are finalizing an agreement to play a neutral site game in December at the Chase Center in San Francisco, per multiple sources. The date is set for December 4th.
There is no timetable for an official announcement. The two schools have not met since 2003 in Logan. San Francisco leads the all-time series, six to two. The two schools will meet again at a neutral location to be determined during the 23-24 season.
USF Dons vs. Utah State all-time series.
This marks the third time that the USF Basketball program will play at Chase Center as the Dons became the first collegiate team to play in the arena in 2019 when they hosted Princeton. The Dons hosted Davidson in 2021 and the Chase Center hosted the NCAA West Regionals in 2022 that included Duke, Arkansas, Gonzaga, and Texas Tech.
Utah State is coming off of an 18-win season that resulted in a bid to the NIT in their first season under Head Coach Ryan Odom.
Rylan Jones and the USU Aggies will be in San Francisco this December.
The Aggies will return a nucleus of players including rising Junior Steven Ashworth, Sean Bairstow, Rylan Jones, and Max Shugla. USU also made noise in the transfer market by signing 7-footer Isaac Johnson, who comes over from Oregon, and adding three-point gunner Taylor Funk from Saint Joseph’s. This core and others make the Aggies a threat in a tough Mountain West Conference.
San Francisco’s program is in great hands with the promotion of Associate Head Coach (and Offensive Coordinator) Chris Gerlufsen. Coach Gerlufsen has already experienced success in the offseason by convincing Khalil Shabazz to stay for one more year, adding Marcus Williams from Texas A&M, and Ty Roberts from Washington State. The Dons also beefed up the frontline by adding Saba Gigiberia from Georgia Tech. and a standout Big West performer in 6-8 Toni Rocak from UC San Diego. Returning for USF is Julian Rishwain, a 6-5 wing player who made major strides down the stretch last year as a Sophomore. The 6-9 Zane Meeks is also in a great phase of his development and may be seeing an increased role. And the always valuable Josh Kunen is back in the fold to look to lead the Dons back to the NCAA Tournament.
Khalil Shabazz returns for one more run with the San Francisco Dons in 22-23.
The matchup figures to feature a battle of two Top 75 teams or better come December. The winner will boost their resume. Stay tuned for more details.