For Jordan Loveridge, it all comes down to relationships. And conference affiliation.

For those two reasons, Utah State didn't make the top four in the chase of Loveridge, the highest rated recruit in Utah's high school class of 2012.

Arizona, BYU, Utah and Weber State are the four schools who made the cut. And not even the prospect of playing with David Collette, Marcel Davis and Quincy Bair, his AAU buddies, were enough to save the Aggies.

"We just didn't have the connection with the Utah State coaches that we did with the other schools," said Bill Loveridge when contacted by the Tribune.

"It was nothing bad about Utah State, but the relationship with the coaches wasn't there, and the WAC isn't what it used to be."

Loveridge visited the Aggies unofficially this summer, a good visit.

He called Utah State assistant Chris Jones with the bad news this morning.

Now, the Aggies move on. USU will try to fill the scholarship that Loveridge would've taken up. They have offers out to a pair of high school power forwards, although who is unknown at this point.

Plus, with Kyisean Reed, Ben Clifford and Collette being ready to play in three years, the Aggies seem to have a bit of talent and depth at that position in the years to come.

Tony Jones