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Logan • A Utah State committee Tuesday upheld basketball coach Tim Duryea's decision not to release former player David Collette from his scholarship.

Collette left the Aggies two days before this season's opener, telling Duryea he wanted to transfer.

Duryea later informed Collette he would not be released from his scholarship, setting the stage for the appeal.

As a result of the committee's decision, Collette may not contact or be contacted by other schools. He can enroll at the school of his choice, but he will not be able to receive athletic aid for one year. It is not known where Collette plans to enroll and play next season.

A statement released by the Aggies' sports information department read, "Utah State University has followed all applicable NCAA procedures and applied consistent internal practices in declining the request for release.

"David Collette chose to leave Utah State two days prior to its season opening contest, which hamstrung the team in terms of recruiting a new player to that position or even practicing with other players [in] that position. The timing of David's decision to leave the team is the reason Utah State is handling his release this way."

On a conference call Tuesday morning, hours before the committee reached its decision, Duryea was asked about the Collette situation.

"As as administration and as a basketball program, we were very unified feeling it was the right decision," he said. "If you deal with us fairly and in a timely manner, we're going to do everything we can do to accommodate you. But I don't think we were dealt with fairly. We are not a junior college. We are not a feeder program. We don't view ourselves that way, and we don't want to be dealt with that way."

Given a same set of circumstances in the future, Duryea said, "As an administration and basketball program — if it happened the same way — we would deal with it in the exact same way."

Collette told Duryea he wanted to transfer 48 hours before the Aggies' opener at Weber State on Nov. 11.

After an 81-55 win over Utah Valley on Nov. 24, the Tribune reported that Collette had not been released from his scholarship.

Collette, the Aggies' No. 2 scorer from a year ago, quickly appealed the decision to a Utah State committee headed by athletic department facility rep Ed Heath. The committee reviewed the situation and made the final decision on the matter.

Through a representative, Collette has declined to field questions from the Tribune about his decision to transfer, the failure of Utah State to release him from the scholarship or his appeal.

Collette has told ESPN he had numerous issues with Duryea, a long-time Utah State assistant who was hired as head coach in April, after veteran coach Stew Morrill retired.

Collette's departure has been contentious from Day 1. In a statement released by the school immediately after his intent to transfer was reported, Duryea was upset.

"I was shocked when he came into my office … and said he was going to quit," he said. "I think there were a lot of factors in play that, unfortunately, have become a trend in college basketball — schools poaching other school's players. I don't feel good, and don't like how things transpired. But we will move on."

Coming into the season, Collette was one of five returning starters at Utah State, which finished 18-13 overall and 11-7 in the Mountain West last season.

A graduate of Murray High School, Collette averaged 12.8 points and five rebounds per game as a redshirt freshman.

Collette played in Utah State's two exhibition games this season — an 87-48 win over Panhandle State and a 77-60 loss to Cal State-Monterey Bay. He had 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting against Panhandle. He scored 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting against CSMB.

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