HB Arnett's COUGAR SPORTSLINE 801 372 0819 hbarnett@fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission <mailto:hbarnett@xmission.com> .com 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 30, Issue 23 - January 11, 2010 Click <http://www.cougarstreet.com/products/index.php?type-450&PCID=450:0:0:0:0> Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions Check out my new blog on Cheerios, Carne Asada and Cleaning Churches www.AllAboutHB.blogspot.com <http://www.allabouthb.blogspot.com/> WHEN IT COMES TO BYU BASKETBALL, YOU CAN NOW USE SPLEEN AND SCREEN IN THE SAME SENTENCE For Cougar fans, the fact that a spleen is now more discussed than a screen is an indication of just how good Jimmer Fredette and BYU basketball are. If Fredette hadn't lit up Arizona for 49 points and wasn't leading the MWC in scoring, the size of his spleen would be the last thing on anybody's mind. Now that the junior guard has been diagnosed with mononucleosis and an enlarged spleen is a sign of its severity, Fredette's spleen is front page sports news. The good news is that his spleen isn't enlarged. The bad news is that while he could play without any danger, he still doesn't have the stamina or strength to play like his old self. The physical status of Fredette may still be in question. The fact that he put in a sub-par cameo appearance in BYU's 77-73 win over UNLV in Provo last Wednesday and didn't even dress in the 83-77 Cougar win against UTEP in El Paso later in the week says even more about the medical condition of the rest of this current Cougar basketball team. High Fever Our diagnosis is that they have an extremely high fever. They are on fire, even without Fredette. Jackson Emery is very good. Jonathan Tavernari has proven he can play during the last three years. In the last three games he has regained his star status and shot. It has been years since we have used the phrase good post play and BYU basketball in the same sentence. Good post play is what BYU is getting with the performances of Chris Miles and Brandon Davies. Noah Hartsock is consistent and the bench play has been encouraging and essential. Tyler Haws won't be an all-conference selection this year, but he certainly has played like one, especially when he put the Cougars on his back in El Paso and carried them to an impressive road win with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Now here is the scary good part for BYU fans and just the scary part for the rest of the Mountain West conference. As well has BYU has played, they can be much better. UNLV Good UNLV is a very good and talented team and gave the Cougars all they wanted in Provo. Rebel fans are drooling about the prospect of getting the Cougars on their home court in Las Vegas in February. If the Cougars can shoot the ball like they have shown they can from the perimeter in other games this season, we don't see why they can't run away and hide from UNLV in Las Vegas or against any other team on their home court. BYU is showing that they really are that good. While Dave Rose is hoping his team's current fever doesn't go away, he and the BYU medical staff will continue to monitor Fredette's status and spleen. The worst case scenario is that he could be out of action for the rest of the season. The best case scenario is that he will be back healthy and in form when the Cougars hit the road later this month for games at San Diego State and New Mexico (See Television Timetable below). The next two weeks, BYU will get Air Force at Colorado Springs this coming Wednesday, host Colorado State in Provo on Saturday and then venture to Wyoming the following Wednesday. THE FUTURES MARKET Listed below are BYU's most recent signees and future prospects and how they fared during the last week. All except recent signee Anson Winder, are LDS. Kyle Collinsworth, 6-6 guard/wing, Provo HS...Collinsworth hit the game-winning shot with seconds left in a 48-46 win over Lehi HS at Lehi last Friday night. Collinsworth ended the game with 20 points. He is currently averaging almost 21 points per game. Nick Emery, 6-0 freshman guard, Lone Peak HS...After sitting out of action two weeks ago with a minor neck injury. Emery roared back to action with 21 points against Timpanogas and then this past week he had two two terrific games. He scored 31 against Alta HS in a 66-57 win over the Hawks on Friday night at Lone Peak. Previously, against Brighton HS on the road, his team lost 69-66, but Emery had 26 points. In 10 games played, Emery is averaging 20.3 points per outing. Lone Peak has another possible D-1 recruit in junior Jordan Hamilton, if he continues to grow. He is 6-7 and looks to be a rebounding machine. His older brother, Justin Hamilton is a sophomore starter at Iowa State. He is listed on the Cyclone official roster as being 6-11, 260 pounds. His father played football for the Cougars and his mom played volleyball for BYU. Anson Winder, 6-3, guard, Bishop Gorman HS...Winder and his team have yet to lose a game since dropping its opener against national prep school powerhouse Findlay Prep. Last week Winder had 9 points in BG's 81-44 win over Pahrump Valley. He had 6 against Sierra Vista in a 89-51 win. Speaking of Sierra Vista, they have a 5-11 guard named Viko Noma'aea. BYU is starting to show some interest as Noma'aea told the Las Vegas Sun last week that he received a recruiting letter from his "dream school", BYU last week. He is averaging 30 points per game and has had a 41 point performance this season against Arbor View and 39 points against Pahrump Valley. Against Winder and Bishop Gorman, he had 18. His dad, Vico Noma'aea is a former college player at Cal State Dominquez and then played and coached with the American Samoa national team for six years. He is now a local AAU coach. He is looking for a growth spurt soon for his son. He has a sophomore son at SV that is 6-1 and a younger son in the sixth grade who is already 6-foot. Jabari Parker, 6-5, wing, Simeon HS, Chicago...The frosh LDS phenom finally made some apperances in box scores recently for Chicago powerhouse Simeon HS. He scored 11 points, had seven rebounds and seven assists to lift the Wolverines to a 67-28 win over Fenger HS last Friday. Previously, he scored 8 points in a 54-48 win over Morgan Park. In a 59-51 loss to Waukegan, Parker led his team with 18 points and 4 rebounds. He was instrumental in leading a late-game comeback that came up short when he scored 7 of his 18 points in the last 50 seconds of the game. DeMarcus Harrison, 6-4, guard, Christ School, Arden, NC... We couldn't find any record of Harrison scoring in the first two games coming back from the Christmas break, but he certainly showed up in the 99-60 win over Cannon School last Saturday. Harrison exploded for 29 points. Jordan Chatman, 6-3, guard, Skyview HS, Ridgfield, WA...The sophomore guard scored 20 in Skyview's 59-54 win over defending league champ Mountain View. He is the son of former Cougar basketballer, Jeff Chatman. Jordan Smoot, 6-10, center, Crown Point HS, Crown Point, IN...BYU sent a coach to watch this LDS player perform against Merrillville HS on Dec 29. This kid is 6-10, but he has the wing span of someone 7-4. He came to the game late and didn't start playing until he was in the eighth grade. He didn't do much as a frosh and sophomore, but is currently averaging 5-plus points per game, 6.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per outing. Schools besides BYU are starting to take notice. Minnesota's Tubby Smith has called to inquire, Purdue's Matt Painter as gone to watch Smoot practice. Valparaiso, Western Michigan, Nevada and Butler have also been in to watch him play this winter. You can read about and see Smoot by clicking here <http://mormontimes.com/people_news/sports/?id=12667> . FOOTBALL FLUFF AND STUFF Here are some ramblings and rumblings about the BYU football program as the New Year begins. Bronco Mendenhall has confirmed that two former juco transfers, Bernard Afutiti and Jesse Taufi, are no longer part of the program. Both had academic issues. When it comes to juco recruiting and this was baseball, BYU would be hitting sixth or seventh in the batting order with its .266 average. The Cougars under Bronco have signed or brought in 15 juco recruits. Four have been starters and or serious contributors. The four are Sete Aulai at center, Justin Robinson at corner, Andrew Rich at safety and most recently, Brian Logan at corner. The other juco signees during the last five years of the Mendenhall era were Mosese Foketi, Matt Johnson, Tico Pringle, Andre Saulsberry, Aveni Leung Wai, Levi Mack, Bernard Afutiti, Jesse Taufi and most recently, Lee Aguirre, Jordan Atkinson and Corby Eason. After the first week of the NFL playoffs here are the BYU and or LDS players still involved in the playoffs. Indianapolis - Austin Collie, BYU; Aaron Francisco, BYU; Fili Moala, USC Baltimore - John Beck, BYU, Todd Heap, ASU; Paul Kruger, Utah; Haloti Ngata, Oregon Arizona - Duece Lutoi, USC San Diego - Brandon Manumaleuna, Arizona; Ryon Bingham, Nebraska; Eric Weddle, Utah NY Jets - Sione Pouha, Utah Minnesota - Fahu Tahi, BYU; Garrett Mills, Tulsa Dallas - Travis Bright, BYU (on the practice squad) Harvey Unga is still enrolled in school, but will have to make a decision this week on whether he will declare for the NFL. This is a big deal for BYU because if Unga does declare, the Cougars are left with a running back stable that is anything but spectacular. Returning tailbacks include Malosi Te'o, J.J. DiLuigi, Bryan Kariya and Mike Hague. Joshua Quezada, a freshman tailback with great prep credentials is already enrolled in school, but has yet to prove he can produce at the next level. We think he can, but he still is unproven. The bottom line for BYU is that if Unga does go early, BYU will not be as good as they have been the last couple of seasons in the running game. BYU finished with its highest rankings in the AP and Coaches polls since 1996. Both polls had the Cougars at No. 12. In all star games, the BYU program was represented nicely, by Jake Heaps and Ross Apo in the Army All American Bowl that was played last Saturday in San Antonio. It featured the top tier of prep recruits in the country. Apo saw limited action, but Heaps did get to show some of his talents. Both players are currently enrolled in school at BYU and will participate in sprig drills. Speaking of spring practice, it will get underway beginning March 15 and end with the spring game set for April 10. SIGNING DAY JUST AROUND THE CORNER With national letter of intent day just around the corner and set for Wednesday, February 3, here is another look at the players BYU expects to sign. With Jake Heaps, Ross Apo and Joshua Quezada already signed, sealed and enrolled in school, we will not include them on the list of commitments. Since the last time we printed this list, there has been a mutual parting of the ways between defensive lineman Hauoli Jamora, a 6-3, 235 pounder. He is now considering, Washington, Hawaii, Oregon State and Boise State. He is not LDS. Here is the list of players expected to sign with the Cougars in February. Current Cougar Commits Jordan Afo, DL, 6-4, 300, Cottonwood HS, UT Jordan Black, OL 6-7, 235, Alta HS, UT Algernon Brown, RB, 6-1, 205, Skyline HS, UT Tayo Fabuluje, OT, 6-5, 255, The Oakridge School, TX Alani Fua, LB 6-5, 210, Oaks Christian HS, CA Kori Gaines, DB, 5-9, 170, Grayson HS, GA Toloa'i Ho Ching, LB, 6-0, 225, Alta HS, UT Jacob Hanneman, DB, 6-1, 190, Lone Peak HS, UT Jordan Johnson, DB, 5-10, 175, Brooks School, MA Tuni Kanuch...DL, 6-1, 285, Bingham HS, UT Bronson Kaufusi, DL, 6-6, 225, Timpview HS, UT Teu Kautai, LB, 6-1, 200, The Oakridge School, TX Collin Keoshian, LB, 6-2, 225, Santa Clarita Christian, CA A.J. Moore...RB, 5-10, 190, Murrieta Valley HS, CA Manu Mulitalo, OL, 6-3, 305, Granger HS, UT Joey Owens, LB, 6-2, 215, Pleasant Grove HS, UT Drew Phillips, RB, 6-0, 185, Boaz HS, AL Graham Rowley, OL, 6-4, 270, Waialua HS, HI Bryan Sampson, TE, 6-4, 210, Pleasant Grove HS, UT Kona Schwenke, DL, 6-5, 210, Kahuku HS, HI Zac Stout...LB, 6-2, 220, Oaks Christian HS, CA Sae Tautu, LB, 6-3, 215, Lone Peak HS, UT Travis Tuiloma, DL, 6-3, 290, Washburn Rural HS, KS Blair Tushaus, OL, 6-2, 270, Notre Dame Prep, AZ BYU still has an offer on the table for Ricky Heimuli, a 6-3, 290 pound defensive lineman from Brighton HS in Utah. He participated in the Army All Star game this past weekend with BYU enrollee Heaps and Apo. He is being courted by BYU, Utah, Washington, the Oregon schools and USC. The USC recruitment is now shaky because of Pete Carroll headed off to the Seattle Seahawks. With most of the mystery of this current recruiting class gone, BYU has already secured commitments for next year's 2011 recruiting class. They include Austin Heder, LB, 6-2, 215, Pleasant Grove HS, UT; Baker Pritchard, DL, 6-2, 240, Bingham HS, UT; Manoa Pikula, LB/RB, 6-0 205, Bingham HS, UT. They have also offered a scholarships to Harvey Langi, RB, 6-2, 210, Bingham HS, UT. He is the big fish of this next class. BYU also just recently offered Troy Hinds. He will be in the 2012 recruiting class and is a sophomore defensive lineman at Davis HS in Utah. He is 6-5, 230 pounds. TELEVISION TIMETABLE BYU vs. Air Force Wednesday, Jan 13 at Colo Springs Tipoff: 6:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn BYU vs. Colorado State Saturday, Jan 16 at Provo Tipoff: 4:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn 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 Check out my new blog: www.AllAboutHB.blogspot.com <http://www.allabouthb.blogspot.com/>