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  • Utah State Head Coach Danny Sprinkle Adds Assistant Chris Haslam To Aggies Staff

Utah State Head Coach Danny Sprinkle Adds Assistant Chris Haslam To Aggies Staff

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Basketball

Utah State head men's basketball coach Danny Sprinkle announced the hiring of Chris Haslam as an assistant coach.

Haslam joins the Aggies after spending the previous nine seasons on the Montana State coaching staff, including four seasons as part of Sprinkle's staff.

During the 2022-23 campaign, Haslam helped lead Montana State to a 25-10 overall record and its second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. It marked the first time the Bobcats had back-to-back 20-win seasons since 1994-96. Three Bobcats earned all-conference honors, while two players garnered individual accolades (Defensive Player of the Year and Top Reserve). Two Montana State players earned all-tournament honors, including Big Sky Tournament MVP RaeQuan Battle.

The Bobcats finished the 2021-22 campaign at 27-8 overall with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. MSU claimed both the Big Sky Conference regular season and conference tournament titles, signifying just the second time the program has ever achieved the feat and the first time in 26 years.

Haslam played a large role in the development of Jubrile Belo, who earned three-straight all-Big Sky Conference selections. Belo was named the 2022 Big Sky Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. He ranks among the top 10 all-time in program history in field goal percentage and ranks second in career blocks. Haslam also worked in developing MSU's forward's play and the improvement of freshman Great Osobor, who finished the year averaging six points and 4.2 rebounds, including scoring double digits in three-straight games leading to the conference title game.

Haslam recruited a plethora of international talent to the MSU roster, which was made up of 40% of student-athletes from outside the United States in 2019-20, including all-Big Sky First Team selection and captain of the Norwegian national team Harald Frey. In 2020-21, MSU's six international players accounted for 44 points per game, the second most in all of Division I basketball. The 2021-22 team ranked 10th in international scoring in Division I basketball averaging over 42 points per game.

The veteran coach was recognized by his peers during the 2020 offseason as he was voted as one of the Big Sky Conference's top five assistant coaches by a selection of the league's assistants for Stadium Basketball.

Haslam attended Wyoming during his collegiate career and started during most of his sophomore and junior seasons before injuries limited him to 18 games as a senior. After completing his career as a Cowboy in 1997, Haslam enjoyed a 13-year professional career in Greece, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Great Britain. Haslam played for the British national team for 10 years. He coached at Lamar (Colorado) Community College from 2010-13, helping that program to a Region IX title in 2010-11, and was a player-assistant for the professional Everton Tigers (2008-10) and head coach for Everton Academy (2009-10). Haslam earned his bachelor's degree from Wyoming in 2010. He has two daughters, Kaitlin (19) and Charlotte (15).