LOGAN, Utah (AP) Stew Morrill is retiring as Utah State's basketball coach at the end of the season.
Morrill announced the decision Friday.
The 62-year-old Morrill is in his 17th season with the Aggies and 29th as a college head coach.
''I know it's the right time to make this decision,'' Morrill said. ''I am looking forward to some new freedoms and bugging my wife, Vicki, on a daily basis. ... I am looking forward to the remainder of this season, but then I believe the Utah State basketball program will benefit by having a new `voice' as its head coach.''
Athletic director Scott Barnes said the school will immediately begin the search for a replacement and will have no other announcement until a coach has been hired after the completion of the season.
Morrill is 393-149 at Utah State and 611-287 overall. He was 97-52 in five seasons at Montana and 121-86 in seven seasons at Colorado State. He played at Gonzaga and was an assistant coach at his alma mater and Montana.
''It is never easy when a coach and a person who has built a program to greatness retires, but I am proud to have worked with him,'' Barnes said. ''We will miss him and I wish him nothing but the best in the next phase of his life, whistle-free.''
Utah State is 9-6 overall and 2-1 in the Mountain West Conference this season.
''This is a good group, this group that I'm finishing with,'' Morrill said. ''They're trying hard. They're trying hard. We're young, we're inexperienced, and it's just as I told them, I'm just so pleased to be finishing with this group of kids. I don't know how they'll finish the rest of the way, but we're going to have fun, we're going to play hard and we're going to see what we can do.''
