Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 32, Issue 37

2 Apr 2012

      HB Arnett's

COUGAR SPORTSLINE

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hbarnett@fiber.net 

1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058

Vol. 32, Issue 37 - April 2, 2012

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Basketball Recruiting

In a radio interview last week, Mark Pope, a BYU assistant basketball coach,
said that the coaching staff was very excited about their team for next
season.

He also said that the Cougars are recruiting a couple of guys who can help
them at the four spot next year. That screams junior college to us.

If BYU does indeed bring in another four from either the high school or most
likely the juco ranks, it also says tons about what the feeling is about
what is currently on the roster.

If Chris Collinsworth was healthy, there is no way that we see BYU beating
the bushes for a juco four man. If Collinsworth somehow does get healthy and
can play next season, that would be a bonus, but with BYU actively
recruiting another four to sign this month, it sounds like they are taking
out added insurance against Collinsworth's knee.

It also is a pretty good indicator that the staff doesn't think that Nate
Austin can consistently play the four either...at least not at this point in
his Cougar career. BYU looking for another juco front court player also says
that they are not totally sold on the status of Stephen Rogers' knee or his
consistent production value.

Again, coaches have not said that, but in my opinion, actions speak much
louder than words.

If anything, it appears to us that any minutes that Rogers gets next season
will have to come at the three spot. That looks like it will be minimal time
on the court with the return of Tyler Haws from his LDS mission. Haws should
see most of the action next season at that spot.

It was " Deep Throat"  who told Woodward and Bernstein to follow the money.
In BYU's junior college recruiting cases, it involves following the
connections and history.

Since Steve Cleveland and Dave Rose arrived on campus, they have brought in
some productive juco players. Most of them came from a very limited
pipeline.

Cleveland brought in some guys from Fresno City College where he coached
previously to coaching at BYU. His best get was Terrell Lyday. He is still
cashing checks playing overseas. He recently signed a two year extension
with UNICS Kazan, a Russian team.

Cleveland and Rose also brought in some local jucos in Trent Whiting and Sam
Burgess of Snow College, Ben Murdock and Kevin Woodbury of Dixie and Travis
Hansen of UVSC.

When it came to out of state juco signees, BYU relied on the Brazilian
connections of former assistant coach and director of basketball operations,
Walter Roess. He delivered Raphael Araujo and Fernando Malaman from Arizona
Western and Luis Lemes from Eastern Oklahoma.

Keena Young came from South Plains JC in Texas and Rashaun Broadus was from
Western Nebraska. Stephen Rogers came from Mesa CC in Arizona, but the
Cougars had a bead on him from his high school days at Mountain View HS in
Mesa and through his career at University of San Diego, ASU and MCC.

Programs like BYU don't automatically start recruiting juco players from
programs where they have no connections. Those connections are with coaches
with whom BYU has a history or with players who have an LDS connection.

If you are looking for possibilities of finding a four man, you go back to
proven connections.

Steve Green is still the coach at South Plains. His team just won the NJCAA
national title. Indian Hills Community College of Iowa also made the
tournament.

Indian Hills is currently coached by Barret Peery. He was the runner up for
the Southern Utah head coach vacancy. He was also the head coach at College
of Southern Idaho and an assistant coach under Jim Boylen at Utah. He is
LDS.

His assistant coach is John Wardenburg, the former assistant coach at BYU.

BYU is batting .500 with Western Nebraska in Scottsbluff. A few years back,
they tried to recruit Joao Batista, but he went to Gonzaga. They tried last
year with Hauns Brereton, who is LDS, but he opted for Hawaii. They were
successful with Rashaun Broadus and will sign Raul Delgado this month. Both
were and are guards. The last BYU player to come out of the juco ranks in
California was Lamont Morgan, Jr.

BYU has always tried to recruit College of Southern Idaho, but have been
shut out there. They always look at Arizona Western and may be looking at
Otero JC from La Junta, CO. Otero also made it to the NJCAA tournament and
BYU had some looks at that team while scouting Western Nebraska. They are in
the same region.

Lemes' old school, Eastern Oklahoma, also participated in the NJCAA
tournament this year. So did College of Southern Idaho.

If BYU is looking for a juco, the chances are good that he will likely come
from these schools because that is where BYU has connections.

RECRUITING RIDDLE

Here are a couple of philosophical questions to ponder.

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make any
noise?

If Jabari Parker is in Provo and Salt Lake to visit his grandparents and
participate in General Conference and Dave Rose and his staff are in New
Orleans at the Final Four, does Parker make any noise?

The answers are:

(1) A tree making noise in a forest depends on whether or not it fell
voluntarily or was the victim of a chain saw randomly falling from a passing
Fed Ex plane.

(2)  Yes, he makes big noise.

 Parker, the premier prep player in the nation from Simeon Career Academy in
Chicago, was in Salt Lake and Provo this past weekend.

He was accompanied by his older brother Christian. Both were here for a
spring break trip and to visit family. Parker's grandparents on his mother's
side reportedly live in Salt Lake.

He was also here to attend LDS General Conference. Did we mention that the
only hope BYU has is that he is active LDS?

The noise by Parker and his Provo appearance was generated by tweets from
BYU fans that saw Parker with his brother and cousin Harvey Unga making
appearances at some local companies in Utah County. He was also seen
participating in a pickup game of basketball at the Richards PE building.

The Parker brothers also made noise while in town with an appearance on a
local internet radio show called "Sistas in Zion".

Both brothers presented themselves well. Christian is well traveled. He
played one year at BYU-Hawaii, served an LDS mission in Atlanta, resurfaced
for a season at College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls and then got a job
on the coaching staff at Tacoma Community College in Washington.

He is biding his time to join Lorenzo Romar's staff at UW in some capacity.
Romar and Sonny Parker, the father of Christian and Jabari go way back and
are good friends. Both played together in the NBA.

When asked by a caller on the show what BYU's chances of landing him are,
Jabari graciously would only say that the Cougars were a contender.

We will say not so graciously that so is Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, North
Carolina, Michigan State and every other big time program in the nation.

Let's be real here. BYU's chances are slim and slight. Of course, that also
describes what the Egyptians said about Moses at the Red Sea. We know how
that turned out.

In our opinion, it appears it will take some Providential parting for Parker
to end up playing basketball in Provo.

That is our opinion, but here is what we know for sure would happen if
Parker in Provo becomes reality.

Remember Jimmer mania from last year? The positive press coverage for BYU
and the LDS Church was a public relations bonanza.

Should Parker pick Provo, his story and the press coverage by the nation's
sports writers would make Jimmer mania look like a two inch school board
meeting story in the Provo Herald by comparison.

Parker is that big and would be a big boost to BYU on the court and in the
news.

If we were making book on Parker and his college choice, we would make
Kentucky a clear 2-1 favorite to land the 6-8 junior who has said he will
make his decision this fall before his senior year begins at Simeon.

While some BYU basketball fans were expressing glee that Parker was in town
last week in Provo, Kentucky fans were probably pointing out that the
Wildcats were all in New Orleans for the Final Four.

The most interesting thing we heard Parker say in his radio show appearance
with his brother was his response to a caller's question about where he was
going to college.

Parker simply said that he hasn't made a decision, but that he would be
doing a lot of fasting and praying and that a Patriarch would be involved in
the decision making process.

This kid might be a Moses in the making. As a teenager, if his decision
making process involves what he said it would, we can't begrudge his
personal decision regardless if he ends up at Kentucky, North Carolina,
Illinois, Kansas, BYU  or even Bemidji State.

If Parker chooses the Beavers of Bemidji State, I will be moving to
Minnesota to start a newsletter. I am already working on the masthead. It
will be HB Arnett's Beaver Bylines.

I won't be moving to Kansas. Jake Heaps beat me to it. And I won't be moving
to Kentucky because all of the good entrepreneurial ideas have already been
taken there.

In case you didn't know, the tooth brush was invented in Kentucky. If it had
been invented anywhere else, it would have been called the teeth brush.

Rest assured, before I wrote this I checked the data base to see if I have
any subscribers in Kentucky. I don't and am now assured that I never will.

I don't expect to be moving to Bemidji and I don't expect to be writing the
headline: Parker, Provo and Providential, but after 30 plus years of doing
this, nothing would surprise me now, even when it comes to Jabari Parker and
BYU basketball.

SPRING SUMMARY

Men's Volleyball.The BYU Cougars swept two matches from Cal State Northridge
in Provo last weekend. The wins move BYU into first place in the MPSF
standings with a 16-4 league record and a 20-5 overall mark.

BYU is assured of a quarterfinal spot in the MPSF tournament which will be
held April 21-28.  The MPSF champion and Automatic NCAA tournament Automatic
Qualifier is determined at the tournament.

The Cougars will travel this weekend to UCLA to face the Bruins in Los
Angeles.

Women's Softball.The Cougars lost two games on the road last Friday at
Fresno State. A third contest was rained out on Saturday. Fresno took a 3-1
win over BYU in the opening game of a doubleheader and then came back to eke
out a 10-9 victory in the night cap.

BYU is now 21-10 on the year and 3-2 in WAC play. They will face Southern
Utah at home on Tuesday and Hawaii also in Provo in a three-game series on
Friday and Saturday.

The game against SUU will be televised by BYUtv and the Saturday double
header against Hawaii will also be televised via BYUtv.

Baseball.The Cougars lost two of three games to Nevada last weekend in Reno.
BYU is now 11-11 on the year and still 4-2 in WCC play.

The Cougars will travel to Salt Lake City on Tuesday to face Utah in a
non-conference contest and then return home for a three game WCC series in
Provo against Loyola Marymount. Single games will be played on Thursday,
Friday and Saturday. The Thursday and Friday games will be televised live by
BYUtv.

Rugby.BYU Rugby defeated Arizona 80-8 last Saturday night in Provo. The
Cougars are now 11-0 on the year and 5-0 in conference action.

They will host Utah in Provo this coming Saturday at 1 p.m.

On Paper, BYU Looks Good

Nothing earth shattering from the finale of Spring football to report.
Injuries and players withheld from drill was the main storyline of this
spring.

We still project the Cougars to field a very good team this fall. They look
to be a contender, on paper.

Feel free to make your own judgment, based on paper. Here is the latest BYU
spring football roster for your perusal.

2012 Football Roster

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/42> 42

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/michael-alisa> Michael Alisa

6-1

213

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Running-Back> RB

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Junior> Junior

 <http://byucougars.com/hometown/m-football/us%7CUT%7CProvo> Provo, UT

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/70> 70

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/terrance-alletto> Terrance
Alletto

6-3

235

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Offensive-Line> OL

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Freshman> Freshman

 <http://byucougars.com/hometown/m-football/us%7CCO%7CParker> Parker, CO

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/56> 56

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/famika-anae-0> Famika Anae

6-6

318

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Offensive-Line> OL

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Sophomore> Sophomore

 <http://byucougars.com/hometown/m-football/us%7CUT%7CProvo> Provo, UT

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/47> 47

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/ezekiel-ansah> Ezekiel Ansah

6-6

270

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Linebacker> LB

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Senior> Senior

 <http://byucougars.com/hometown/m-football/gh%7C%7CAccra> Accra, Ghana

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/1> 1

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/ross-apo> Ross Apo

6-3

206

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Wide-Receiver> WR

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Sophomore> Sophomore

 <http://byucougars.com/hometown/m-football/us%7CTX%7CArlington> Arlington,
TX

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/45> 45

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/tyler-beck> Tyler Beck

6-1

212

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Linebacker> LB

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Junior> Junior

 <http://byucougars.com/hometown/m-football/us%7CCA%7CMurrieta> Murrieta, CA

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/46> 46

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/kevan-bills> Kevan Bills

6-3

245

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Linebacker> LB

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Freshman> Freshman

 <http://byucougars.com/hometown/m-football/us%7CUT%7CProvo> Provo, UT

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/58> 58

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/justin-blackmore> Justin
Blackmore

6-1

287

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Defensive-Line> DL

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Sophomore> Sophomore

 <http://byucougars.com/hometown/m-football/us%7CUT%7CWest%20Jordan> West
Jordan, UT

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/75> 75

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/braden-brown> Braden Brown

6-6

301

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Offensive-Line> OL

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Senior> Senior

 <http://byucougars.com/hometown/m-football/us%7CUT%7CSalt%20Lake%20City>
Salt Lake City, UT

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/87> 87

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/rhen-brown> Rhen Brown

5-10

178

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Wide-Receiver> WR

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Senior> Senior

 <http://byucougars.com/hometown/m-football/us%7CSC%7CSummerville>
Summerville, SC

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/93> 93

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/trevor-brown> Trevor Brown

6-5

210

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Tight-End> TE

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Freshman> Freshman

 <http://byucougars.com/hometown/m-football/us%7CUT%7CProvo> Provo, UT

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/26> 26

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/robbie-buckner> Robbie Buckner

5-10

176

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Defensive-Back> DB

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Senior> Senior

 <http://byucougars.com/hometown/m-football/us%7CAR%7CAshdown> Ashdown, AR

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/37> 37

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/riley-bushman> Riley Bushman

6-1

220

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Linebacker> LB

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Sophomore> Sophomore

 <http://byucougars.com/hometown/m-football/us%7CAZ%7CTucson> Tucson, AZ

 <http://byucougars.com/number/m-football/32> 32

 <http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-football/nate-carter> Nate Carter

5-9

192

 <http://byucougars.com/position/m-football/Running-Back> RB

 <http://byucougars.com/class/Freshman> Freshman