Utah St. player who collapsed hopes to play again

December 7, 2012 RSS Feed Print

Morrill said he nearly lost it when Berger was regaining consciousness.

"He thanked me for coming," Morrill recalled. "That one about got me. Yeah right, like it was a big deal for me to come. He's just an awfully, awfully good kid."

Danny Berger was born in Fort Collins, Colo., and went to high school in Medford, Ore. He played basketball at Chemeketa Community College in Oregon before coming to play for Utah State. The junior is a starter at forward and averages 7.6 points and 3.6 rebounds.

Berger's family has been with him at the hospital since Tuesday. Evidence of his improvement was visible in a photo a friend tweeted Thursday showing Berger flashing a "thumbs up" sign while surrounded by family members.

Aggies students have organized a campaign to send Berger get-well cards and should be in full force to show their support for the team Saturday night, even if Berger remains hospitalized.

Morrill said getting back to practice has been "therapeutic" for the team and coaches after they witnessed the incident.

"The fact that Danny's doing better has made it seem like it's time to go back to the practice floor," Morrill said.

He said it's been 10 days since the team last played and that it will be interesting to see how players respond in a game considering all that has happened.

They returned to practice Thursday.

"The kids were a little rusty, but in good spirits and had about as good a workout as you could expect," Morrill said.

Utah State, meanwhile, continues working with Brigham Young officials to find a suitable date to reschedule the rivalry game that was postponed Wednesday because of what happened to Berger.

"As I've said, they've been great in this situation," Morrill said. "It's just a dilemma right now with conference play around the corner and both of us having full schedules. Finals week is next week and that was looked at. We're trying to look at all the options, but that's the stage we're in right now. We have not found a date that works yet."