Utah State basketball receives its first transfer commitment of the offseason

In another offseason full of attrition amid a coaching change, Utah State basketball has gotten its first transfer commitment.

Former Queens University of Charlotte guard Deyton Albury announced Sunday that he is transferring to play for the Aggies and first-year coach Jerrod Calhoun.

In his lone season playing for Queens, Albury started 28 games and played in 32 while averaging 17.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and a team-leading 3.6 assists per game for the Royals.

The 6-foot-2 Albury, a native of Nassau, Bahamas, made 48.2% of his shots from the field while also shooting 36.4% from 3-point range and 75% at the free-throw line.

He was named the ASUN Newcomer of the Year and also earned third team all-conference honors at the Charlotte, North Carolina, school.

One of Albury’s top games in his lone season at Queens was a team-high 23-point effort in a loss to blueblood program Duke.

Albury shot 11 of 17 and added five rebounds and a steal, though he turned the ball over seven times against the Blue Devils.

He scored 20 or more points in 11 games this past season.

Albury, who started his college career at Chipola College, a JC in Florida, said his decision to transfer revolved around finding a better position to reach the NCAA Tournament.

“I want to find a better position for me to reach my end goal and to put myself in a better position to play in the tournament and to take advantage of the opportunity to play professionally,” Albury told The Tribune.

“It was a difficult decision because I had already built up a relationship with my coaches and teammates, so it was sad to leave and to go into a new program and building that relationship all over again. But basketball-wise, it wasn’t a bad decision.”

Utah State beat TCU in this year’s NCAA Tournament, its first NCAA win since 2001, before losing to eventual national runners-up Purdue, though that came under former USU coach Danny Sprinkle.

Sprinkle left Logan after just one season — when the Aggies went 28-7 and won the Mountain West regular-season championship — to become the head coach at Washington.

Calhoun spent the past seven seasons as the head coach at Youngstown State, and Albury is his first transfer addition.

Standout freshman guard Mason Falslev entered the transfer portal before deciding to stay to Utah State.

Six other Aggies — among them MWC Player of the Year Great Osobor, Ian Martinez and Javon Jackson — have also entered the transfer portal.

Only one, forward Dallin Grant, has committed to another school thus far. Grant is headed to Utah Tech.