By Julie Ann Grosshans

For the first time in more than 15 years, Utah State University will sponsor women's basketball beginning in the 2003-04 season.

USU President Kermit L. Hall and athletics director Rance Pugmire announced the reestablishment of the NCAA Division I sport Tuesday in Salt Lake City, calling it one of the worst kept secrets in America. "It's the right thing to do," Pugmire said. "Not to have the sport in this day and age is embarrassing. I want to stress this is not an issue about equality, it's about doing what's right." With the new team, the Aggies leave The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute as the only Division I programs in the country who support men's basketball but not women's.

Utah State will join the Big West Conference, the same affiliation as the USU men's team, and will be eligible to compete in both conference and national tournaments immediately.

Aggie head basketball coach Stew Morrill said, "To be recognized as a legitimate Division I athletic program we need women's basketball." Morrill said he enjoyed his relationships with coaches and players from women 's teams during his tenures at Montana and Colorado State. The addition of women's basketball is also a positive factor for the football team, which is currently without a conference, Pugmire said.

Originally discontinued due to statewide budget reductions following the 1986-87 season, women's basketball, as well as men's cross country, was cut. The university will use student fees and department-wide sponsorship revenues to fund women's basketball, Hall said. Utah State will not use any general education funds because of an arrangement the university signed with Coca-Cola earlier this year.

Associated Students of Utah State University President Steve Palmer was also a critical element in working to bring women's basketball to USU. "This will do more for the national reputation of Utah State right now than possibly anything else we can do," he said. Pugmire said the Aggies will beginning searching for a head coach immediately and hopes to have one in Logan soon.

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