HB Arnett’s 801 372 - 0819 <mailto:hbarnett@fiber.net> hbarnett@fiber.net 1391 West 800 South – Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 35, Issue 27 – January 26, 2015 Click Here To Order or Renew Your Subscriptions <http://cougarclicks.com/product/Order-Cougar-Sportsline?ID=3173> Do the BYU Basketball Math 5>4>3.5=5-4 =w/c/c/=10-8n/c/a/a I always wanted to graduate from BYU with a degree in mathematics. Instead I settled for a major in Cougareat mint brownies from which I ultimately graduated magna cum lard. My regret in not pursuing mathematics keeps haunting me every time I see the movie “Good Will Hunting” and was exacerbated this past week after viewing the very good flick “Imitation Game”. I would have gladly given up mint brownies for math grad assistants like Minnie Driver and Keira Knightley. This past week, I also watched BYU get beat by the San Diego Toreros on the road 77-74. I hated the game, but loved how it rekindled my love of math. To show those math skills, I came up with the equation in the headline above. In my opinion, it describes perfectly BYU basketball this year. For those not as mathematically inclined or ignorant as me (you be the judge on that one), I will explain the formula. The first part of the equation describes how the Cougars are playing this season. On the court, having five players is always better than four. And four is also better than 3 ½. In most games this season, BYU is playing with just 4 or 3/12 players while their opponents get to use 5. 5 to 4 Advantage With no post player to guard or defend or pose an offensive threat, opponents have a 5-4 player advantage. And as good as Kyle Collinsworth is, when he has the ball in his hands beyond the three point line, he is just ½ a player because he can’t shoot from there and defenses don’t have to worry about him being an offensive threat from distance. To his credit, when he gets inside the key he is the real deal. Hence the 5>4>3 ½=BYU’s current 5-4 league record. The middle part of the equation is the recipe for BYU mint brownies. The final part of the equation is BYU’s projected final league record which assumes remaining losses to Gonzaga, Portland and Pepperdine on the road and St. Mary’s at home in Provo. That would give the Cougars a 10-8 WCC record at best, which doesn’t equal an NCAA tournament invitation. There’s certainly no mint in BYU’s basketball brownies this year. This appears to be a magna cum loss year for Dave Rose. Is it time to start gearing up for next season? The prospect of Nate Austin magically appearing to solve all of BYU’s rebounding and post defense problems are getting dimmer by the day. With BYU no longer a league or NCAA tournament contender, it may be time to stick Corbin Kaufusi and Issac Neilson on the floor and let them play their way to either legitimate prospects or recruiting mistakes. Post Mistakes Speaking of post mistakes, am I the only one to see the correlation between recruiting mistakes and Utah State? The Aggies have a post player that is head and shoulders above any BYU post guy on the Cougar roster. He is a redshirt freshman and returned missionary name David Collette. Out of high school he wanted to go to BYU. The Cougars passed on him. Based on his play and BYU’s post play it was a mistake. The same mistake was made with Tai Wesley. BYU passed and the Aggies didn’t. The same can be said for current redshirt Cougar Kyle Davis. The Utah high school player of the year was bypassed by BYU, eventually ended up at USU and is now waiting to play for the Cougars next season. This is my opinion. Either BYU can’t properly evaluate LDS post players, or when they do and get them on campus, they can’t develop them as well as Utah State has. Again, this is my opinion, and it is probably worth as much as a stale BYU mint brownie, but here is another one anyway. With this season over for all intents and purposes, why not play guys like Jake Toolson and Frank Bartley now to see if they will fit into the future. Dalton Nixon is headed on an LDS mission in June. Toolson isn’t going on a mission. Why not see what he can do now and if he can produce, he will be further along for next year. Downside to Tossing Towel The only downside to throwing in the towel and playing for the future is Tyler Haws. He has given his heart, soul and body to BYU basketball. He deserves to get the all-time scoring leader title and has earned all accolades that will come with that honor. For that to happen, he still needs BYU’s other players on the court to be competitive and occasionally take the defensive pressure off him. As much as I would like to see BYU look to the future now, I would prefer Haws to get the record. He deserves it. That is why I don’t see any changes mathematically or physically on the court for the remainder of the year. Years ago, when one of my daughters was young, she made pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. They looked great and delicious. We all dug in and started to eat them. Nobody said anything. Finally, one brave soul looked up and said, “This taste terrible.” Turns out the daughter forgot to add sugar to the pies. We all had a good laugh and looked enthusiastically forward to the next Thanksgiving pumpkin pies…with sugar. That’s how I view this basketball season. I am anxiously awaiting for the next team…only this time with a real pumpkin pie post presence. That will make things much sweeter for Dave Rose and BYU basketball fans in the future. Salivating over the Sugar When is the last time you saw a BYU post player use an up and under move close to the basket? You will see that and much more next season with both Jamal Aytes and Kyle Davis on the court. And what if Kyle Collinsworth moves to the 3 to ply his crafty inside and post game from that spot? Moving Collinswoth becomes a possibility with the return of Nick Emery to possibly run the point. Here are some sugar snippets to salivate over for next year. Jamal Aytes #40 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV-R6cJQpD0> Nick Emery <https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10204679457839874&set=vb.1038786864&ty pe=2&theater> Kyle Davis #23 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awZmxmIZ4vs> HEAR AND THERE WITH FOOTBALL LEGACY RECRUITS This is what I hear on BYU football legacy recruits. Gabe Reid will most likely sign with Stanford. Mike Empey cancelled his visit to BYU and looks like a sure signee for Utah. Britain Covey was at Utah State last week and will visit BYU this coming weekend. I will never say never when it comes to BYU and Coveys, but the Cougars have done nothing to endear themselves in the recruiting process. The Aggies and Matt Wells are reportedly telling Covey that despite his size, they see him as a “Wildcat” QB for them and also a receiver. Utah is telling him that he will be their kickoff and punt returner and a shifty slot receiver. From what I have heard, BYU has reportedly said that they want a bigger type receiver for their offense. I learned a long time ago that unlike taxes and death, nothing is certain in recruiting, so we will just have to wait and see how it all shakes out. Now you can hear what BYU’s recruiting coordinator, Geoff Martzen had to say last week about the Cougars’ football efforts. Starts at the 30:45 mark. <http://www.byutv.org/watch/event/30f0c8ed-7db0-4be6-b267-b0d288b299f7> Click Here. Meanwhile The Cougars added another commit to their class last week when running back Charles West, a 5-10, 185 pound running back from Coppell, Texas announced last week that he would be signing with the Cougars on Feb. 4. By all reports, he sounds like a good one. So did Jake Heaps, Ross Apo and Ofa Mohetau. You never know, but it’s worth taking a look see on you tube at West. Click Here <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElNV2C8Eezc> . He wears #1. Here he is announcing for the Cougars <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qkg4VdbsP3E> . Recruits in school and ready to sign in February <http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1040989/highlights/35601382> Squally Canada, RB, 5-10, 195, transfer from Washington State… <http://www.hudl.com/athlete/679894/highlights> Kamel Greene, DB, 5-11, 180, transfer from Washington State <http://www.nmstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1900&ATCLID=2051253 85> Jackson Kaka, TE, 6-4, 215, transfer from New Mexico State (After LDS Mission)… <http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1743044/highlights/185040376> Eric Takenaka, DB, 5-10, 205, transfer from Snow College (Prepped at West HS SLC)… Returned Missionaries now enrolled in school <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0EE_ZcWeJ4> Matt Hadley, DB 6-0 191 So. Connell, Washington/Connell HS <http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1060765/micah-hannemann> Micah Hannemann, DB 6-1 190 So. Alpine, Utah/Lone Peak HS <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i3Sm7Z_yb8> Austin Hoyt, OL 6-7 268 RFr. Ione, California/Argonaut HS <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY9OtdYVgZQ> Moses Kaumatule, DL 6-1 254 RFr. South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2pkQ6F63Tg> Sawyer Powell, DB 6-1 203 RFr. West Richland, Washington/Richland HS <http://www.hudl.com/athlete/38579/rhett-sandlin> Rhett Sandlin, LB 6-2 220 RFr. Sandy, Utah/Alta HS <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KutLEEAuY0g> Josh Weeks, WR 6-4 200 Fr. Show Low, Arizona/Show Low HS Others committed Jeremiah Ieremia, LB, Hurricane HS, UT…Video <http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1863159/highlights/84826376> Tevita Mounga, DL, Vista Murrieta HS, CA…Video <http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1293944/highlights/119105380> Akile Davis, WR, DeSoto HS, TX…No Video Available Riley Burt, DB, Box Elder HS, UT…Video <http://www.hudl.com/athlete/848926/highlights/95372375> David Lui, DL, Pittsburg HS, CA…Video <http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1424082/highlights/82185379> Khari Vanderbilt, DB, San Jose City JC, CA…Video <http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3108985/highlights/167989385> Devin Kaufusi, DL, Timpview HS, UT…Video <http://www.hudl.com/athlete/622101/highlights/136284376> Will Sedgwick, LB, Laguna Hills HS, CA…Video <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zFDDeuY9kU> Mika Tafua, DL, Kamehameha HS, HI…Video <http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2763798/highlights/99893383> *Dayan Lake, DB, Northridge HS, UT…Video <http://www.hudl.com/athlete/522957/highlights/193797376> This highly touted prospect, said last week that he was going to look around at all of his options. He tripped to San Diego State this past week, but will trip to BYU this coming weekend. We shall see how it shakes out. I Feel Bigger, Stronger and Faster Just Watching This Video BYU unveiled their new football strength and conditioning coach last week via an interview on BYUtv. I don’t know if he can make BYU football better, but if he was recruiting for the Army, I would sign up now. See how you feel by clicking here <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lAWFTTR3NU> . Fluff and Stuff BYU split two matches with UC Santa Barbara in volleyball last weekend. The Cougars dropped the match on Friday in straight sets 25-21, 25-18 and 25-22. The Cougars came back to take the match on Saturday, 25-20, 25-19,-25, 19-25, 15-3. BYU will return to Provo for matches against UC San Diego on Friday and Saturday. In Women’s basketball, the Lady Cougars ran their WCC record to 7-2 with a win at home against San Diego to the tune of 54-50. BYU is now 15-5 overall. Next up will be gams on the road against San Francisco and Santa Clara on Thursday and Saturday. Television Timetable BYU vs. San Francisco Thursday, January 29 at Provo Tipoff: 9:00 pm MST TV: ESPNU BYU vs. UC San Diego (Men’s Volleyball) Friday, January 30 at Provo Start: 7:00 pm MST TV: BYUtv BYU vs. Santa Clara Saturday, January 31 at Provo Tipoff: 7:00 pm MST TV: BYUtv If you also want a PDF copy of this issue, email and request it.