BYU Notes

BYU is still a serious contender for the No. 1 player in the country in Jabari Parker. How so? Parker made an unofficial visit to Provo on Thursday and met with coach Dave Rose, according to multiple sources. Parker, who is Mormon, has made multiple unofficial visits to various schools. The 6-foot-8 forward out of Simeon High in Chicago has a laundry list of program that would take him in a second: BYU, DePaul, Duke, Florida, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina and Stanford. But getting Parker on campus for the Cougars is still a major coup. The Cougars have quite a weekend ahead after the football team blasted Washington State in its home opener Thursday: Point guard Nick Emery and center Eric Mika, committed 2013 top-100 players out of Highland (Utah) Lone Peak High, are making official visits

New-look BYU ready to make noise in WCC

BYU actually lost three times at home -- to Baylor, Saint Mary's and Gonzaga -- but split the road games against the latter two. Dropping a home game to Loyola Marymount 82-68 on Jan. 19 was a stunner but also showed the depth of the conference…..

"The most important thing is for our guys to have a sense of urgency,'' said Rose. "We need to improve and to get better talent. The bottom line is that there are more good teams at the top [in the WCC]. The fact that Gonzaga won this thing for 11 straight years is amazing (before Saint Mary's snapped the streak in '12).''

PilotNut wrote:Katz messed up the results... (you can tell he struggled with that part based on how he clumsily phrased it). BYU lost at home to Baylor, LMU & SMC. BYU beat Gonzaga in Provo, 83-73.

LINK

Had Harrison been able to begin his mission this fall as he originally planned, he likely would have resumed his basketball career at BYU when he returned. Instead the church decided last month he needed to delay his mission a full year, sending him scrambling to find a way to avoid putting his education and basketball career on hold.

Expectations remain high in Provo and they should be. Despite the loss of some key players, BYU remains one of the best teams in the WCC and should contend for the regular season championship.

They may have the best NBA prospect in the conference in Brandon Davies. They have one of the more electric guards in WCC in Matt Carlino. And they sure have one of the best coaches in Dave Rose.

This is a team that has won at least 25 games every year for the last six years. Let’s see if it could happen again.

Outlook
No Noah Hartsock. No Charles Abouo. There is going to be a transition, especially in the frontcourt for the Cougars but this is not to say they do not return a ton of talent.

BYU should be a better shooting team than they were a year ago and cause a number of mismatches in the backcourt. They return three starters and look to extend their NCAA Tournament appearance streak to seven, a streak that was nearly broken a year ago after being selected as a 14-seed.

“I think all of us have an urgency to step up and do a little better this year than we did last year,” BYU guard Brock Zylstra said. “It goes with me, goes with all the wings, goes with Brandon as well. It’s something we all feel. I’m really excited about this year’s team”

Backcourt
The backcourt really struggled last season due to its inexperience. But now they return a ton of talent and all of it with experience. Matt Carlino returns for his sophomore season. Zylstra is back. The most important addition is the return of Tyler Haws, who is back from his mission the last two years.

BYU was seventh in the WCC in three-point shooting at 34 percent. Haws in his one season two years ago shot 36 percent from three and others have made improvements as well.

“We’ve got a lot better, I think, shooting the ball this offseason,” Carlino said. “Obviously, I can shoot the ball but I’m going to be a playmaker for the team. There are going to be so many options, they all have to collapse. There are so many guys on our team that can flat out stroke it.”

Frontcourt
Even though the shooting looks to be improved, even the guards know the success of this team comes from the inside. More specifically, it starts with Brandon Davies.

“I think our offense is directly focused on the inside guys, Brandon and Nate [Austin],” Zylstra said. “But the good thing about that it gives open shots for the outside guys, the wings. Every game Brandon’s probably going to get double teamed… Two guys guarding him, somebody will be open.”

Davies is the best post player in the WCC and that is on the defensive and offensive side. The 6-foot-9 senior has seen his stats improve incrementally every season with it peaking last year by averaging 15 points and nearly eight rebounds per game.

Austin will have some big shoes to fill with Hartsock now graduated. The 6-foot-11 center was productive in his limited time last season. He averaged a mere 12 minutes per game but was able to collect four points and three rebounds per contest.

Notes
BYU was also hoping to have a bit more depth than they will have this year, but both Chris Collinsworth and Stephen Rogers have both called it a career after suffering setbacks with their recoveries from injury.

The change in the minimum age, the first since 1960, already has sent ripples across Mormon culture, affecting college enrollments, and likely how young people date, marry and start families. The effects are most evident in Utah, where 1.9 million Mormons live and the home of the church's worldwide headquarters.

It completely alters the landscape for Mormon college athletes, giving them another option as they consider their own physical and mental maturity and try to optimize playing time......

DoubleDipper wrote:

As I recall, BYU will have only one senior this year after the transfer of Raul Delgado.

PilotNut wrote:  I mean if nothing else, I can foul really well!    
 

“17.2.8.3 Varsity Squad Size Limitation—Championship Segment. An institution shall declare a varsity squad of a maximum of 35 student-athletes by the day prior to its first scheduled contest in the championship segment of the playing and practice season. Only those student-athletes who are declared as varsity squad members at that time shall be eligible to participate in countable athletically related activities with the varsity squad during the remainder of the championship segment. Declared varsity squad members shall not participate in countable athletically related activities with an institution’s subvarsity team (e.g., freshman, junior varsity). A student-athlete who is a counter (per Bylaw 15.5.1) must be included in the varsity squad limit. (Adopted: 4/26/07 effective 8/1/08, Revised: 10/22/07)”

Excerpt From: NCAA. “2013-14 Division I Manual.” iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.

PROVO, Utah – BYU coach Dave Rose announced today that guard Frank Bartley IV and forward Isaac Neilson will transfer from the program.

Bartley, a 6-3 sophomore from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, played two seasons for the Cougars. As a freshman, he averaged 3.9 points and 2.1 rebounds. In 33 games this past season, Bartley posted averages of 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds and assisted on 39 baskets.

Neilson, a 6-10 freshman from Mission Viejo, California, appeared in 34 games in 2014-15 and made five starts. He averaged 3.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and blocked 10 shots.

“I appreciate all the contributions Frank and Isaac made to our program,” Rose said. “We wish them both the very best going forward.”

@GoodmanESPN wrote:BYU transfer Jake Toolson told ESPN he will play for Mark Pope at Utah Valley.

up7587 wrote:

@GoodmanESPN wrote:BYU transfer Jake Toolson told ESPN he will play for Mark Pope at Utah Valley.