Logan • Jerrod Calhoun is used to a packed house at the Spectrum, but the one he returns to after leaving the office is a different kind of chaotic from time to time.

Between his three daughters — Kennedy, Kendall, and Quinn — and their rotating cast of sleepover guests, the Calhoun home has become a neighborhood hub. On any given night, 15 to 20 kids might be tearing through the hallways.

For Calhoun, a devout Catholic and family man, Cache Valley is the perfect place in many ways.

“It’s a very family oriented and driven place,” Calhoun told The Salt Lake Tribune. “When you have three young children, that is really important.

“It’s also very safe. You can leave your scooter at the bus stop all day long.”

And, when other schools came knocking last season, the community — and its values – were a big reason Calhoun ultimately stayed put.

“My college coach, Coach [Rollie] Massimino, always used to say, ‘Don’t mess with happiness,’” Calhoun said. “Right now, we’re pretty happy. So I think all things are lined up, and it was the best decision I made.”

But even Calhoun knows this: Off the court fit and happiness only go so far.

Utah State’s head coach wants to win, and he knows there is work to do to move the Aggies up from just knocking on the door of the NCAA Tournament to making consistent, deep runs in March Madness.

For Calhoun, that means getting more NIL and revenue-sharing funds from Utah State’s athletic department, he said.

In Utah State’s case, a big piece of its puzzle is also keeping its head coach around, fending off bidders from the Power Four.

“He knows we want him to be here,” new USU Athletic Director Cameron Walker told The Tribune. “He knows how special this place is, and I think that he’s committed to making us a winner.”

Walker has a vision that few mid-major programs — think Gonzaga and San Diego State — have been able to reach.

“There’s an opportunity for us to be able to change this from kind of a stepping-stone job to a permanent place,” Walker said. “It doesn’t just come down to the basketball coach. It comes down to ... alignment all throughout.

“I think that we’re in the process of building that.”

‘Took a big, big pay cut’

Mason Falslev said he shed tears while deciding to stay at Utah State last offseason.

“I was pretty much crying trying to figure out what to do,” the Aggies’ star guard told The Tribune. “It was hard, especially with how much money some programs are willing to throw at some players.”

USU’s second-leading scorer ultimately decided to stick around because of his ties to the community, his wife, Elle, and the opportunity to play for Calhoun another season.

“I took a big, big pay cut to be here,” he said. “I’m happy about it. I’m willing to sacrifice it. I’d rather be happy with my friends and family.”

He’ll have to make a similar decision sometime soon after Utah State’s 2025-26 season ends.

Falslev has established himself as a hometown hero in the Logan community. He said USU fans will pull him aside in the grocery store for pictures. Calhoun has even heard tales of Logan barbershops getting requests for the “Falslev cut,” so patrons can mimic his curly mullet.

“I think when he puts the uniform on, he inspires a lot of people in the community,” Calhoun said. “You cannot put a price tag on that. It was my mission to make sure that he didn’t leave.”

While Calhoun knows the Aggies can pitch the hometown star on his USU ties and legacy, Calhoun doesn’t want to leave anything up to question this upcoming offseason.

And that starts with money.

In 2024, Utah State had $800,000 in NIL funding for its basketball program, Calhoun said. This season, the Aggies had a $2.4 million budget from the Blue A Collective.

Utah State’s head coach said he was the program’s second-largest donor to the Blue A Collective, after he donated $150,000 last year.

Calhoun also said USU’s basketball program has not received any revenue-sharing money since the House v. NCAA settlement, which has allowed schools to pay their athletes up to $20.5 million annually.

“College basketball has changed, so you have to change with the times,” Calhoun said. “The way you do that is by retaining your players and paying them.

“I feel like at this point, the school should pay 75% of the rev share, and then the donors should come up with about 30 to 35% of what we also need.”

Utah State’s head coach has a number in mind.

“The Power Four, I think they’re all going to have $10 million and up,” Calhoun said.

“I think if we got a little bit over half of what they got, it would be really good. So if we get to $5.5 million to $6 million, I think we can not only retain our team, but I think we can thrive in the portal.”

In the last several weeks, Calhoun has had talks with Walker and other members of the USU administration to find the funding necessary to keep Calhoun in town and also allow the Aggies to be competitive in the open market.

But “that’s yet to be determined,” Calhoun said.

“It’s one thing to say certain things, ‘Hey, we want to be like this. We want to be like that.’ But at the end of the day, we’re operating as one of the worst budgeted teams in the league,” the coach said. “If you want to attract and operate like a team that goes to Sweet Sixteens … there’s got to be a financial piece.”

He put it even more simply when comparing USU to future foes like Gonzaga.

“Gonzaga has decided to go all in financially,” Calhoun said. “That is, to me, the missing piece. Will that happen here at Utah State? We’ll see.”

Finding the cash

Standing in front of a U-State backdrop and donning a navy suit, Cameron Walker delivered a confident statement in his first remarks as USU’s athletic director last September.

“We must not only compete to secure greater resources,” Walker said, “but also to manage them and spend them more wisely.”

For months, Walker and his team have been working to deliver on that promise.

“I think what we’re trying to do is we’ve called our Show Me Initiative,” Walker said. “We have a six-month plan to prepare for the Pac-12, and then an 18-month version that takes us through the first year of the Pac-12.

“I think we’ve punched above our weight class, but I think at some point we have to say, ‘OK, we can’t just be the place that does more with less.”

So what does that entail?

New USU Chief Revenue Officer and Deputy Athletic Director Carter Young said it comes to pulling different levers to find revenue in new places.

“With football season tickets in areas that we have extremely high demand, our club areas, our suites that have been sold out for years, and we have wait lists,” Young told The Tribune. “The prices went up in those areas for football, the prices that aren’t selling well in our upper east part of the stadium — where we have a lot of tickets left — those prices went down significantly.”

The same approach is being taken with basketball, Young said, to find areas where they can adjust price points for tickets at the Spectrum.

Utah State is also looking for more “robust engagement” with local sponsors and donors.

“Donors are one way, but donors come and go, and hopefully we can sustain that,” Young said. “But we also need to find ways to sustain sponsorships and partnerships.”

USU is already seeing the fruits of its labor pay off, as well. This month, the athletic department received a $2.5 million anonymous donation, which will count toward the Aggies’ goal of reaching $20 million raised by Aug. 1.

Young is also projecting that the basketball program will have more NIL funding for next season’s roster.

“We’re making progress to where we want to be, and our recruitment, our funding, our NIL for next year, will be higher than what it is for this year’s team,” Young said.

“We’re not going to catch Gonzaga and San Diego State’s NIL budget next year. But can we be smart enough that we can compete with these teams? That’s the goal.”

And if it’s enough, Utah State could inch closer to where it wants to be when it enters the Pac-12 in July.

“I think the sky’s the limit,” Calhoun said. “I don’t think you can really put a cap on how good this program can get. Obviously, the underlying thing is usually money.’

‘Building something special’

Kaiya Burr, a junior veterinary science major at Utah State, is among the many students who regularly camp outside the Spectrum for games.

This year, the Aggies’ student section, the HURD, has called it “Camp Calhoun,” a nod of support to their head coach.

Like many in the community, Burr is happy to see the Aggies projected to make the NCAA Tournament, but she’s ready to see the program take that “next step” and keep a coach around long term.

“I think it would show that they really do see the potential of Utah State to be more than just a mid-major stepping-stone school that it seems to be at the current moment,” Burr said of Calhoun and other players sticking around for another season.

“I think it would just show how much the community means to the athletes and to Coach Calhoun.”

Jason Murdock, another member of the HURD, thinks continuity could take the program to new heights.

“I just think they’re building something special right now,” Murdock said.

“We’re doing better than we were last year. I mean, it’s just gonna keep getting better.”

What’s always been clear, especially for students like Murdock and Burr, is that Utah State has never lacked fan and community support.

It was enough to keep Calhoun and players like Falslev in place this season.

“You don’t take those things lightly,” Calhoun said of the Logan community. “You don’t take them for granted. All of that plays a part in happiness, and I think it’s a big selling point for our recruiting.”

But, with a move to the Pac-12 on the horizon, Calhoun wants more. The program, now led by Walker, wants more. And even the fans are ready for more.

Will that happen?

Time will tell.

“I want to see the commitment from the school,” Calhoun said. “I want to see them take the steps that it takes to win a championship.

“I think this is a place that needs to continue to do it together, and I fully anticipate that will happen again.”

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