HB Arnett’s

COUGAR SPORTSLINE

801 372  0819

hbarnett@fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission.com

1391 West 800 South – Orem, Utah 84058

Vol. 30, Issue 24 – January 18, 2010

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THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT BYU KEEPS WINNING…THE BETTER NEWS IS THAT PREVIOUS VICTIMS KEEP WINNING

Watching BYU defeat Colorado State 91-47 last Saturday afternoon in the Marriott Center was like going to the movies. You had to sit through too many previews before the real entertainment started.

The Cougars let CSU have their preview moment for a good portion of the first half as the Rams kept it close and were in contention. At around the eight minute mark of the first half, BYU turned down the lights at the theatre and turned up the points on the court. The score was BYU 26 CSU 20. At the half it was BYU 38 CSU 22.

It got worse in the second period. CSU came into this game tied with the Cougars for first place in the MWC. They went from a decent preview, with a few good parts, to a pretender in less than a half of basketball.

It was a scene BYU fans saw earlier in the week when the Cougars were previewing their press clippings against Air Force at Colorado Springs. It was 36-31 BYU at the half. The Cougars then built a 20-plus point lead in the second half before settling for the 67-49 win.

BYU was led by Jackson Emery's 21 points and freshman Brandon Davies' 11 points and 10 rebounds in the win against the Falcons. Jimmer Fredette led all scorers in the CSU contest. He had 21 points. Next up for the Cougars will be Wyoming in Provo on Wednesday, and then a big road trip to San Diego State on Saturday.

An added boost of good news for BYU and their hopes for a good seeding in the NCAA tournament is that teams that the Cougars have already defeated are continuing to win games. That helps BYU's RPI and other seeding numbers. Arizona State is currently leading the Pac 10 standings with a 4-2 record and is 14-5 overall and UTEP is 2-1 in CUSA and 11-5 overall.

SLEEVELESS IN SEATTLE...But Spokane is Close Enough

At the rate BYU is winning basketball games, Jimmer Fredette could actually be sleeveless in Seattle. Okay, technically it would be sleeveless in Spokane. That is one venue where they are hosting NCAA first round games in March.

Fredette, the BYU scoring machine, has been wearing a long sleeve shirt under his uniform since coming down with mononucleosis three weeks ago. He is rapidly returning to health and says that the sleeves should be shucked anytime now. Hence, sleeveless in Seattle or Spokane.

Barring a colossal Meg Ryan meltdown of Fredette's health and BYU's current season, the Cougars should enter NCAA post season play with their highest seed in decades, if not ever. ESPN bracketologist, Joe Lunardi, has BYU currently pegged as a 4 seed in Spokane against Pacific, a 13 seed out of the Big West Conference. This week he also has fellow MWC teams New Mexico as a 10 seed and UNLV as a 9 seed.

Of course all that is premature with so much more of the season left to play out, but the excitement and accolades to date have been great. This week BYU is ranked No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches poll. They come in at No. 14 in the AP poll. In Jeff Sagarin's ratings, he has BYU at No. 7.

We Have Cranked Up the Cougar Sportsline Blog Again

We are still doing some work on it, but it will give subscribers a chance to see more video and news clips and what we think will be other interesting items.

It is up and running now www.CougarSportsline.blogspot.com

THE FUTURES MARKET

  Listed below are how BYU's most recent signees and future prospects fared during the last week. All except recent signee Anson Winder, are LDS.

Kyle Collinsworth, 6-6 guard/wing, Provo HS...Collinsworth scored 24 points in a 70-33 mauling of Mountain View HS on the road. Provo will have two games this coming week with match ups against Orem on Tuesday and Westlake on Friday. There is no question on Collinsworth's talents and abilities. The question in our mind is where he will play for BYU next year. Jimmer Fredette returns at the point and if Michael Loyd Jr. continues to improve, he should see all of the backup minutes behind Fredette. Nick Martineau also returns from his mission and should get mop up minutes.

The most likely spot for the incoming freshman to see time would be where Tyler Haws is now playing. Haws will be leaving on an LDS mission, probably sometime in May. On the other hand, at the point, Collinsworth is a major mismatch for opponents because of his 6-6 size and abilities to pass the ball and get to the rim. He is not exceptionally quick, but it still amazes us that he has proven over the last two years that he can get deep in the paint whenever he wants against all comers in high school and on the AAU circuit.

Nick Emery, 6-0 freshman guard, Lone Peak HS...Just one game last week for Lone Peak. It was a loss on the road to Pleasant Grove in overtime. The final was 55-47. Emery had 18 points. This will be another one-game week for Lone Peak with a home tilt against American Fork. Last week we mentioned that Jordan Hamilton could be a potential D-1 possibility if he can grow as big has his older brother Justin who currently plays at Iowa State. We also said that his parents both played at BYU. That would be former football player and wrestler Larry Hamilton. Tami, the mother, was a two-time all conference volleyball player for the Cougars.

Anson Winder, 6-3, guard, Bishop Gorman HS...Winder didn't show up in last Friday's boxscore of Gorman's 93-64 win over Clark HS. We don't know if he didn't play or rested when the game got out of hand. Even without scoring or playing, Winder still leads his team in scoring with 20.2 points per game. He also cranks out 7.2 rebounds per game.

His teammate, sophomore Rosco Allen, had 12 points. Allen is 6-7 and being compared to Lee Cummard. BYU is already on him when it comes to recruiting, but so are plenty of other big-time programs. We will see if Winder plays Monday afternoon and how he does when BG heads to Riverside, California for a game against Colony HS in the Martin Luther King Classic. The team then heads right home for another game the following day, Tuesday, against Bonanza.

We also mentioned last week that BYU is watching and showing some interest in Viko Noma'aea, a 5-11 guard from Sierra Vista HS in Las Vegas. His team last played on Jan 8 and won't play again until Tuesday, Jan 19. He leads his team in scoring with 30.4 points per game and also is third in rebounding with 5.6 an outing.

Jabari Parker, 6-5, wing, Simeon HS, Chicago...The frosh LDS phenom was on the road last week. When we say on the road, we mean really on the road as Simeon flew to Springfield, Mass to take on St. Neumann Goretti of Philadelphia. Goretti is the top-rated team in Philly. The final was Goretti 54 Simeon 50. Parker led his team in scoring with 16 points. The previous day Simeon beat Harlan 59-43, but we couldn't find a box score on that game.

DeMarcus Harrison, 6-4, guard, Christ School, Arden, NC... Interesting past week for Harrison. He led his team with 16 points against Providence Day School of Charlotte, NC. Roy Williams, the coach of North Carolina, was in attendance watching the game. He was there to see Marshall Plumlee, a big post player and teammate of Harrison. Plumlee has two brothers who attended Christ Church school and both are currently playing for Duke.

Christ School then trekked to Ohio for a couple of games against Wilmington and St. Vincent - St. Mary's High school of Ohio. Harrison didn't show in any of those two box scores. Because Harrison left his old high school after his junior year and enrolled at the prep school, he is listed as a junior. That means that he can't sign a national letter of intent, at the earliest, until November of this year. That would be after he starts his senior season at the North Carolina school.

Jordan Chatman, 6-3, guard, Skyview HS, Ridgefield, WA...The sophomore guard had a quiet week of scoring. He had 6 points in a 59-58 win over Evergreen and then added 7 more points in a road loss in overtime to Mark Morris. The final was 57-53.

Jordan Smoot, 6-10, center, Crown Point HS, Crown Point, IN...BYU is watching this LDS prospect to see if he can develop into a player. He got a late start in the game, but he has great size and wingspan. In the only game CPHS played last week, Smoot had 4 points and 8 rebounds in a 57-47 road loss to Lake Central.

Our take on the kid is that even if he can't play now, you might as well sign him. BYU has always had big men that can't play sitting at the end of their bench, but we would rather have a big man with a wing span of a 7-4 guy who has some athletic ability, than someone else. Besides, it would give you more street cred in recruiting when prospect see your team on television.

We saw David Foster play on the AAU circuit several years ago. In our opinion, he was a stiff, but BYU and Utah coaches were at all of his games watching. After five years of a grayshirt, redshirt and LDS mission, Foster is a legitimate shot blocker for Utah and a contributor on their team. Give Smoot five more years under the same scenario and who knows.

BYU's timeline for post players for next year and beyond looks like this. Brandon Davies will return for his sophomore season. James Anderson returns as a backup for his junior season. Unless Dave Rose and company sign a juco big man this spring, Davies and Anderson are your post options for next year.

BYU can go small if forced to or needed defensively next year with Noah Hartsock playing the post. That has happened in a few games and matchups this season. The only other size coming in for next year, barring a juco recruit, is Chris Collinsworth. He comes back from his mission in Australia. He was listed at 6-9 as a freshman.

BYU has two big men in the missionary pipeline. They both signed last year and won't be back until the 2011-2012 season. That would be Ian Harward, 6-10, from Orem HS and Nate Austin, 6-10, from Lone Peak HS. Davies and Tyler Hawes were part of that recruiting class.

Lamont Morgan, 5-10, guard, Diamond Ranch HS/Saddleback JC...We are including Morgan here because he obviously scored and contributed much more on the court in high school and junior college than he has since signing with BYU. We had a discussion recently with someone who said that Morgan probably had to be disappointed with how his time at BYU has played out. Our response was, "How could he possibly be disappointed. Here is a guy who has parlayed a 5-9 body into three years of a free education at a very good university, is liked and respected by his coaches, teammates and community and also has been able to produce his own TV commercials, in which he has a starring role. What is not to like about his BYU experience”.

FOOTBALL FLUFF AND STUFF

Holding Down the Heap Hype...We don't know who will emerge from BYU spring football practice in March as the starting Cougar quarterback. It could be Jake Heaps, the new incoming freshman, or Riley Nelson, the retuning backup QB of this past season. Frankly, we don't care who it is because the winner of this battle will be a very good quarterback.

Especially now, since the starting QB will not only have almost the entire starting offensive line returning, but also because he will have Harvey Unga, the BYU running back returning for his senior season. Unga didn't file the papers for entering the NFL draft early and consequently will be back with the Cougars as their proven and prestige back.

Regarding the hype for Heaps, from what we have seen of him, most of it is deserved. We throw this tidbit out, however, to try and keep some measure of rational thought intact. It could be comparing apples and oranges, but a few years back, when BYU was recruiting and signed Ben Olson out of Thousand Oaks HS in California, he was rated and considered the top prep QB prospect in the nation.

In hindsight, his prep performance looks to have been helped out considerably by his Thousand Oaks teammate and wide receiver David Anderson. BYU didn't show any interest in Anderson and he signed with Colorado State where he became an all conference performer. He is now playing in the NFL with the Houston Texans. It turns out that for Olson, the best receiver he ever threw to was his high school receiver Anderson.

It might turn out to be the same scenario with Heaps. It could very well be that the best receiver he ever throws to is his high school wide receiver. Kasen Williams is a 6-2, 195 pound wide out that will be a senior next season. He also will be one of the premier pass catchers in the nation. Unlike the lack of recruitment of Dave Anderson, BYU has already offered Williams. They are banking on the Heaps-Williams connection and bond. It won't be an easy get for the Cougars. Williams has offers and will get more offers from the best programs in the nation. Who knows, but if BYU strikes out with Williams, it is not unlikely that the best receiver Heaps ever threw to was his high school teammate.

Coaching Shuffle...Bronco Mendenhall said a week ago that he could lose as many as three coaches from his staff before the start of next season. The three most likely coaches to head elsewhere if job offers pop up are Jaime Hill, the defensive coordinator, Patrick Higgins, the wide receiver coach and Mark Weber, the offensive line coach. They are the three non-LDS coaches on the staff. Of the three, Hill is the most likely to leave, in our opinion. There have been some rumblings about Texas A&M showing interest. We will see.

LDS Playoff Ranks Thin...With just four NFL teams remaining; the ranks of LDS players participating have been scaled back. They include Fahu Tahi and Garrett Mills of Minnesota; Austin Collie, Aaron Francisco and Fili Moala of Indianapolis and Sione Pouha of New York.

TELEVISION TIMETABLE

BYU vs. Wyoming

Wednesday, Jan 20 at Provo

Tipoff: 6:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: The Mtn

BYU vs. San Diego State

Saturday, Jan 23 at San Diego

Tipoff: 8:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: The Mtn

BYU vs. New Mexico

Wednesday, Jan 27 at Albuquerque

Tipoff: 8:00 pm Mtn Time

TV: The Mtn

BYU vs. Utah

Saturday, Jan 30 at Provo

Tipoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: The Mtn