BYU Basketball

Frank Jackson, a highly recruited player out of powerhouse Lone Peak High School has committed to play his college basketball at Duke. Jackson had originally committed to BYU early on. However, he got better and better as his high school years progressed and more schools began to take notice. He had also been recruited by the University of Utah.

You can check out the full story in the link below from Brandon Gurney of the Deseret News. Congratulations to the young man as he’s gonna play for one of the best programs in the country.

Frank Jackson Commits to Duke

The state of Utah is producing more and more big time D1 athletes in football and basketball. Some locals may be bummed about another in-state kid not going to Utah or BYU, or BYU losing another LDS recruit. However, I think the story should be how many top notch athletes the state is producing. I’m happy for the kid and his family. It’s up to the local schools to make their programs more attractive so they can keep more in-state players. As BYU has learned, it’s not enough to just ...

Check out this link regarding BYU’s tournament appearances since 2000. Aside from the Jimmer years, there’s been a whole lot of futility. This was put together by Jay Yeomans of JMONEY SPORTS. He does a lot of BYU coverage. And for those interested, he does a game-by-game recap of every Jimmer/New Orleans Pelicans game.

A look back at the BYU Cougars’ most recent trips to the dance

As for the Cougars in the 2015 dance – I guess they got what they deserved. They got in by the skin of their teeth. A play-in game against Ole Miss is not ideal but winnable. And so would the second game be against Xavier. I see them going no further than the round of 32 though.

You gotta figure Dave Rose will tell Tyler Haws and Kyle Collinsworth to go for broke. They can and will have to carry the team. I expect the same style of play we’ve seen all year. Get up and down, and let’r fly on the 3 point shot.  BYU could be a lot of fun to watch. ...

If you’d told me the all-time leading scorer for BYU basketball would be on the free throw line late in the game to ice a win against the #3 team in the country – and miss both free throws – I would have told you you’re crazy. And that BYU would go on to win anyways, I’d say you’re even crazier.

That’s precisely what happened. BYU hung on to beat #3 ranked Gonzaga in Spokane, despite two uncharacteristic misses from Tyler Haws with under a minute to go. The triumph was clearly one of BYU’s best wins in a long time. The win also gave Cougar fans something to cheer about again this year.

It remains to be see if the Gonzaga upset is enough to propel BYU into the NCAA tournament. The win does at least give the Cougars some momentum heading into the WCC tournament. BYU needs to likely advance to the final of the WCC tournament (in which they would presumably rematch Gonzaga) to keep their tournament hopes alive. Whether they need to win that rematch or not is an unknown. Regardless, it’s safe to say BYU is certainly playing some good basketball right now.

Kyle Collinsworth continues to be ...

Not a great game to watch but it sure was a dominating performance by Ohio State on Monday night. 33 million people tuned it for it. It was the largest audience for a cable program ever. Not a shocker as #’s 2 and 3 on that list were the semi-final games 10 days ago. A few thoughts on the game:

• I think it’s safe to say the line for the best college coach now starts behind Urban Meyer. Saban is not far behind but he is now #2.

• I heard a good comment on a radio show the other day – can’t remember who it was or I’d give them credit – When Urb and Florida rolled Ohio State in the BCS championship back during Tebo-mania, Ohio State had tons of big strong guys and a great run game. The difference now at Ohio State is that Urb has those same big strong guys, but he also now has big, strong FAST guys. It’s not just 3 yards and a cloud of dust anymore with Ohio State – it’s 3 yards and a gust of wind as they break through into the secondary and take it to the house! Ohio State looked really ...

• What Really Needs to Happen for BYU to Get Into the Big-12

  Here’s a link to a well thought out article from Lafe Peavler in The Deseret News regarding BYU potentially moving to the Big-12. It’s not as automatic as some Cougar fans think. He makes some very good points about the options the Big-12 has to avoid another college football playoff snub going forward. Expansion is just one of those options. And there is no guarantee BYU is even on the list. Don’t forget Sunday play. That will be an issue for BYU sports other than football.

  Peavler: The Big 12 has a problem; can BYU be part of the solution?

• What will BYU Basketball look like in 2012-13?

  Good read hear from Brett Richens of Deeps Shades Of Blue. He breaks the team down, player by player:

  BYU Hoops: Looking Ahead to Next Season

   

• BYU Basketball Early Departure from NCAA Tournament

  The Cougars bowed out of the NCAA tournament in a blow-out loss to Marquette this past Thursday. Their performance in the game was reminiscent of many a tournament games past. With the exception of Jimmer’s Jr. and Sr. seasons – BYU has mostly been a one and done team for the past two decades. Prior to 2010, Jimmer’s Junior year, BYU had not won a tournament game in 7 attempts since their last win in 1993.

  You might protest – what about the incredible Iona miracle on Tuesday night? – Yes I know the Cougies won that play-in game thriller. Iona was actually a pretty good ball club. However, BYU has no business ever being down 25 points to any team that before the tournament started -you had no idea where in the country the team is from. BYU should be better than that.

  So the Iona game aside – BYU had a tall order – a 14 seed vs. a 3 seed. And that 3 seed, Marquette, was the 2nd place team from the 2nd best league in the country, the Big East. Certainly BYU was not picked to win the game. However, it would have been nice for them to actually show ...

• BYU Gonzaga Round 2 Preview

  BYU is in the home stretch of their season. They go to Spokane this week to play Gonzaga on Thursday night. It should be a fantastic college basketball game. The game will be televised on ESPN 2. BYU handled Gonzaga rather easily a few weeks ago in Provo. It should be a much more competitive contest this go round.

  Both teams are still technically fighting for the WCC regular season title as well as an NCAA tournament bid. Though St. Mary’s will likely win the conference this year, Gonzaga is widely regarded as the king of the WCC and has been for the past decade. It will be the wildest WCC road crowd BYU has seen this year.

  An interesting tidbit is that Gonzaga built a brand new arena in 2004 after they rose to national prominence. Only problem is, the new barn still only seats 6000, and it’s been filled for every game this season. The enrollment at the school is only 7500 but the team is followed by everyone in the Spokane area. Kind of interesting that they did not build a bigger arena. It is however, a beautiful facility. I’ve seen it in person.

  As for the WCC conference race ...

• BYU Road Games Not the Same

  I posted last week about the reality of the WCC schedule setting in for BYU basketball. A string of WCC road games has driven that reality home even more. BYU is playing in gyms not much bigger than those found in local high schools. See what Jay Drew of the Salt Lake Tribune has to say about it:

  West Coast Conference road hoop games just not the same for BYU

  All that said – the Cougars are winning and taking care of business against these lesser teams. You just wonder how it will effect them when they have to step it back up to play big-time opponents.

  Also keep in mind – the move to the WCC for basketball was essentially collateral damage from the Football independence move. When the football program left the Mountain West Conference and the terrible TV contract, the remainder of the BYU sports had to go as well. BYU originally intended to place their non-football sports in the more nationally recognized, Western Athletic Conference. That plan was thwarted when MWC commissioner, Craig Thompson, threw a counter-punch ...

• WCC Showdown: Saint Mary’s Gonzaga Review

  I’ve now watched Saint Mary’s play twice this year. Last night against Gonzaga and 2 weeks ago against BYU. Both times the Gaels had too much offense for the opposition to handle. BYU and Gonzaga are both good teams and Saint Mary’s ran both of them right off the court