BOISE - The Boise State men's basketball team has filled its lone coaching vacancy.
The Broncos hired longtime Utah State coach Tim Duryea to serve as the right-hand man to head coach Leon Rice, according to a source.
Duryea spent the last 17 years at Utah State - the first 14 as an assistant and the last three as a head coach.
Duryea was promoted to head coach on March 30, 2015, after legendary Utah State head coach Stew Morrill announced his retirement. The Aggies combined to go 47-49 in three seasons under Duryea and never finished higher than seventh in the Mountain West standings.
During his time at Utah State, the Duyrea-led Aggies did have some success against Boise State, especially this past season. They handed the Broncos one of their five losses in conference play, then bounced them from the Mountain West Men's Basketball Tournament following a double-digit comeback in the quarterfinals.
Despite coming within one game of playing for the Mountain West Tournament Championship, it was not enough to save his job. Utah State fired Duryea on March 11, and (according to The Salt Lake Tribune, a contract discrepancy could prevent him from receiving $379,000 he expected).
Duryea was seen on campus at Boise State last week, and he was even wearing Bronco gear.
Even though the Aggies struggled the last three seasons, Duryea was a highly successful assistant coach. In 14 seasons, Utah State won five conference titles and qualified for the NCAA Tournament six times.
