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Biography
Sam Merrill (born May 16, 1996) is an American college basketball player for Utah State and is currently a senior.
Early life and high school
Merrill is the son of John and Jenny Merrill and has an older sister Molli. He grew up in Bountiful, Utah and attended Bountiful High School. He became a starter as a sophomore at the midpoint in the season and averaged 6.5 points per game and 2.6 assists. As a junior, Merrill averaged 18.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game and was named first-team all-state by the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune. He posted 15.8 points, 7.4 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game as a senior and led Bountiful to a 4A state title. Merrill was recruited by Stanford and Princeton but committed to Utah State.
College career
Merrill went on a two-year Latter-Day Saints mission to Nicaragua before his freshman year at Utah State. When he returned, head coach Stew Morrill retired and was replaced by Tim Duryea. Merrill posted 9.4 points per game as a freshman.
In his sophomore season, Merrill averaged 16.3 points per game. He was named to the Third–team All-Mountain West. Merrill married soccer player Kanyan Ward in May 2018.
As a junior, Merrill averaged 20.9 points, 4.2 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. He shot 46.1 percent from the floor, 37.6 percent from behind the arc and 90.9 percent from the free throw line. Merrill led Utah State to a Mountain West Tournament championship, securing the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. He was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Year and Mountain West Tournament MVP as well as AP Honorable Mention All-American. Merrill had a career-high 38 points on March 5, 2019, in a 100-96 overtime victory over Colorado State.
In the season opener of his senior year, Merrill had 28 points to help the Aggies defeat Montana State 81-73. On February 11, versus Colorado State, Merrill eclipsed the 2,000 point mark for his career and passed Wayne Estes for third on the school’s all-time scoring list. He finished with 32 points and five assists in a 75-72 win.