HB Arnett's COUGAR SPORTSLINE 801 372 0819 hbarnett@fiber.net 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 32, Issue 21 - December 12, 2011 Click <http://www.cougarclicks.com/products/index.php?type=450&PCID=450:0:0:0:0> Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions YEAR END NAMES AND NUMBERS 12...As in 12 days of Christmas, which is three days more than BYU will be practicing in preparation for the Armed Forces Bowl game in Dallas. Bronco Mendenhall and the boys will not begin practicing for the Dec. 30 game against Tulsa until Monday, Dec. 19. Gary Crowton...The former head coach at Louisiana Tech and BYU and offensive coordinator at Oregon, LSU and currently at Maryland, is openly pursuing the head coaching vacancy at his alma mater, Colorado State. Jake Heaps...BYU's backup quarterback announced last week that he is transferring in search of greener pastures and a new start towards his dream job of NFL quarterback. He punctuated his exit with profuse praise of his former teammates and coaches, but there was no mention this time of his public relations director. Taysom Hill...We call him Riley Nelson on steroids. The incoming true freshman will be enrolled at BYU in January. He is 6-2, 220 and runs a 4.5 forty. He will be returning from a mission in Australia and originally signed with Jim Harbaugh and Stanford out of Highland HS in Pocatello. Because he never enrolled at Palo Alto, he will be a true freshman. He has what we call the spit-in-yur face football mentality (in a unique returned missionary way), similar to what Nelson and Max Hall have. Like Nelson and Hall, competiveness and toughness won't be an issue for Hill.

From a general manager point of view, BYU has just pulled off a 2-1 personnel move. They have given up Heaps to a team to be named later, and get two quarterback prospects in return.

Heaps, in hindsight, was just a prospect also. He never developed into a polished player in his two years at BYU. Besides Hill, in January, BYU will also be bringing in Ammon Olsen, a 6-5 pure passer from Alta HS in Sandy, UT. Olsen can sling it. He signed with Southern Utah out of high school and saw part time action with SUU as a freshman. He will be returning from an LDS mission in Mexico and will be a sophomore in eligibility. He was the 5A MVP in Utah in 2008 and led his Alta Hawks to the state title. In his senior season, he completed 193-of 306 passes for 3209 yards and 36 touchdowns. He also ran for 860 yards and an additional 11 TDs. Coming out of high school he was 6-4, 205 pounds. Mike Leach...The BYU alumnus and former head coach at Texas Tech will be making his Washington State coaching debut next September in Provo against the Cougars. BYU and WSU formally announced that the two schools have signed a home and home agreement in football. Leach and Bronco Mendenhall are two of the most eclectic coaches in college today. They are both unique in their styles of coaching and approach to the game. Both like to brag about their eclectic reading habits and books they have read. Part of the BYU-WSU contract stipulates that in case the games end in a tie, instead of going to overtime, the winner will be determined by which coach can give the best book report on subjects such as pirates, surfing, or organizational behaviors. Bonus points will be given according to which fan base can stand listening the longest to those reports. Robert Anae...The former assistant coach for Leach, survived the recent coaching change at Arizona. Anae was re-hired by Rich Rodriquez at Arizona. He will be retained as the offensive line coach for the Wildcats. 6 or 5...Those are the numbers at which Baylor will be ranked nationally in basketball when they face BYU this Saturday in Provo. 3 to 5 will also be the point spread by which Baylor should be favored over the Cougars in this game. The last time BYU faced a top ten ranked team in basketball in Provo, Wake Forest defeated Dave Rose and his squad. There is a similarity between WF and Baylor and it isn't their rankings or point spread. It is the number of future NBA players Wake Forest had on their roster and the number of current future NBA players Baylor has on its roster. Both had and have at least two. Unless Brandon Davies improves play both in consistency and production, BYU has no NBA players on its roster. Noah Hartsock...No question that Hartsock is BYU's best and most consistent player so far this season. What has been a surprise to us is that he is now producing points while playing with his back to the basket. He has some legitimate low post moves. He has always been a nice face up player because he can hit the mid-range shoot, but he now has added the low block arsenal to his game. Can't prove it yet, and it may just be anecdotal evidence, but it looks like Mark Pope, the new BYU assistant coach, may already be paying dividends for the Cougars. Hartsock's low post game and the development of Nate Austin right out of the gate from missionary service has been impressive. Speaking of Austin, it's time announcers doing BYU's televised games quit referring to the roster and start actually looking at Austin. Most of those announcers still say that Austin is 6-10, 190 pounds. That may be what he was in high school, but anyone with eyes can see that Austin is now at least 230 pounds. Jamaal Williams...It is no secret that BYU has no big-time running back on its current roster. Other than Adam Hine moving from a redshirt year to active duty next season, the only other hope for a major breakthrough at running back for the Cougars is Jamaal Williams. The BYU commit from Summit High School in Fontana, Calif. had a very productive year. He was instrumental in leading his team to the CIF Easter Section Championship last week in a 24-17 win over Heritage HS. Williams had 17 carries for 181 yards in the championship game. For the season he finished with over 1000 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns. Iona Pritchard and Ryker Mathews...Most BYU football fans will have their eyes glued to the recruiting list of signees that the Cougars will release on Feb. 1 of 2012 during letter of intent signing day. They would be better served to keep their eyes on the return from injuries of these two current members of the team. Pritchard, a fullback and Mathews, an offensive tackle, will both be back for next fall. Pritchard was supposed to be the next Manase Tonga, a power back who can catch the ball coming out of the backfield. Mathews was vying for a starting job in fall camp. He probably will be the heir apparent as a redshirt freshman to departing left tackle Matt Reynolds. Both Pritchard and Mathews will be major additions to the starting lineups this coming season. Pritchard broke and dislocated his ankle and Mathews had surgery on his foot. Bronco Mendenhall...According to published reports last week, Bronco Mendenhall removed his name from consideration for the head coaching vacancy at UCLA. In other published reports, I announced that I withdrew my name from consideration for the Presidency of the United States. Sadie Brijs...The five-year old granddaughter of my brother was in the same room with her grandpa and dad. The BYU vs. Utah women's basketball game was on television in the background. Neither of them was watching. After a few minutes of Sadie looking at the television to see what was on, she turned to her dad and grandpa and asked, "Why do boys want to watch girls playing basketball?" I have been asking that same question for the last 30 years. 16...The Sweet Sixteen is what BYU will have to return to in basketball this year if Dave Rose is to have any kind of chance of landing Jabari Parker next fall. Parker is considered the top junior recruit in the nation. He plays at Simeon HS in Chicago and is being pursued incessantly by the college basketball heavy weights of Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and others.

From our vantage point the other factors that will all have to work in BYU's favor are Mormons, Marriage and Mom.

The Mormon factor is becoming more wide known. Parker was featured last week in a very flattering and complimentary piece about Parker and his Mormon faith. It followed him and chronicled his regular attendance at early morning seminary at the Hyde Park Ward in Chicago. The story ran in the New York Times, along with other major newspapers across the country. Most stories also included a photo of Parker giving the opening prayer at seminary. The consensus among scouts who work for the NBA is that Parker will be a sure fire lottery pick after he plays the required one year of college basketball. If he is as good as advertised, he will still be a lottery pick after just one year whether he plays that year at Kentucky or BYU. That is where marriage comes in. We don't advocate any 18-year old getting married at that age. But if Parker is a lock for the NBA, it's not too early to be thinking long range about marriage. Let's be real. The NBA lifestyle doesn't champion chastity. A good marriage relationship for Mormons or other NBA players is a good first step in surviving the off court culture of professional basketball. It certainly isn't fool proof, but it is better than nothing. If Parker is as advertised as a faithful member of the LDS Church and is as advertised as a sure fire NBA player at the early age of 18 or 19, it is not too early to start at least thinking about future partners of the female persuasion to help him endure the NBA culture and climate. Even if it is too early for Parker himself to think about it, it is not too early for his parents to be thinking about it. His mother and the rest of his siblings are active LDS. His dad is not a member of the Church. In our opinion, BYU should be pitching future marriage prospects for Parker as part of their recruiting pitch. Let's be honest, there are more LDS prospects in this pool at BYU for Parker than anywhere else. In our opinion, the only hope for BYU in this recruiting race will have to rely on a sweet sixteen re-run, marriage and mom. Matt Carlino...Here's hoping that the UCLA transfer is as good a shooter as advertised. BYU needs another consistent shooter from the guard line in general and at the point in particular. Carlino will finally be eligible to play this Saturday against Baylor. Depending on how the Bears defend the Cougar guards, Carlino could see from a few minutes to significant minutes against Baylor, especially if he can knock down open shots when they come to him. Despite committing to Indiana and then signing with UCLA and transferring to BYU, Carlino has not played a minute yet at this level of basketball. It will very, very interesting to see how he does during the remainder of December. Nick Emery...The BYU commit, who is only a junior at Lone Peak HS, opened his season last week by scoring 39 points against Cottonwood HS. T.J. Haws...Another BYU commit, but only a sophomore, also had a nice season debut in the same game at Lone Peak. He scored 22 points in the win over Cottonwood. Jordan Chatman...A BYU signee, the senior played two games last week. He scored 31 and 7 points in a win and a loss. He is getting plenty of defensive attention with teams double and triple teaming him. Cory Calvert...The 6-4 guard, who signed in November with BYU out of Chaparral HS in Parker, CO., scored 32 points last week in a game against Overland and then added 21 points against Smoky Hill. Both Calvert and Chatman will serve LDS missions before enrolling at BYU. 1...That is what the BYU men's volleyball team was ranked nationally in preseason picks. BYU TELEVISION TIMETABLE BYU vs. Baylor Saturday, Dec 17 at Provo Tipoff: Noon Mountain Time TV: BYUtv BYU vs. Buffalo Tuesday, Dec 20 at Provo Tipoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time TV: BYUtv BYU vs UC Santa Barbara Thursday, Dec 22 at Provo Tipoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time TV: BYUtv BYU vs. Cal State San Marcos Tuesday, Dec 27 at Provo Tipoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time TV: BYUtv BYU vs. St. Mary's Thursday, Dec 29 at Moraga Tipoff: 9:00 pm Mountain Time TV: ESPN2 BYU vs. Tulsa Friday, Dec 30 at Dallas Kickoff: 10:00 am Mountain Time TV: ESPN BYU vs. San Diego Saturday, Dec 31 at Provo Tipoff: 4:00 pm Mountain Time TV: BYUtv