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Former Utah State forward David Collette intends to enroll and play out his final two years of eligibility at Utah, Collette's father, Jeff, confirmed to The Tribune on Tuesday.
Collette left the Aggies two days before the team's season opener, and USU head coach Tim Duryea declined to release him from his scholarship. He will have to pay his own way for a year, per NCAA rules, and would be eligible to play for Utah after the conclusion of fall semester, 2016.
Because he was not released from his scholarship, Collette may not contact or be contacted by other schools, and has not, his father said, spoken to coaches at the U.
"He wanted to stay in state, since he's not going to get any aid, and obviously in-state tuition is cheaper than out-of-state," said Jeff Collette, adding that his son will also save money by living with his parents.
The Murray High grad averaged 12.8 points and five rebounds as a redshirt freshman and played in two exhibition games this season, scoring 22 points against Cal State-Monterey Bay.
Duryea said at the time that he was "shocked" by his departure, and that he "[didn't] like how things transpired."
Following Utah State's win against Idaho State on Tuesday night, Duryea said he had "no reaction whatsoever" to the news.
"That's just so far out the rear-view mirror that we spend zero time thinking about it," he said.
Collette told ESPN that he'd had issues with the conduct of Duryea.
Jeff Collette said Tuesday that his son doesn't regret the decision, even though he will cost him this season and a third of the next one, "because of the way things were at Utah State."
But it's been tough on him, nonetheless, Jeff Collette said. "He would obviously like to play."
The Tribune's Christopher Kamrani contributed to this report.
Twitter: @matthew_piper