I have seen highlights and bits and pieces of games. My brother saw him play and recognized that he was a good player but could not determine in that particular game if he was better than Tyler or had more potential, etc.
I’d like to refer back to my observation that in the Pepperdine game 4 of the 5 players who started that game played high school ball less than 10 miles from the BYU campus. I don’t need to say any more, as 2 of them were held scoreless… The greater provo/orem area probably has a population of around 300k and utah county is probably 500k +/-. I guarantee that the top basketball colleges with area populations of far more people do not start 4 of 5 players who played high school ball in the general footprint of the college campus.
Look at the great BYU teams of the past. Where have their players come from? Where was Jimmer from? Danny Ainge? Mike Smith? and many other greats like Kresimir Cosic? KC is right, BYU needs to expand their recruiting map if they want to compete at a higher level. If they want to be a middle of the pack wcc team then everything is in place to do that. I would venture to guess that many of the wcc teams recruit more local talent than the average D-1 program. But think for a moment who Gonzaga recruits or St. Mary’s for that matter. Why is 1/2 of the BYU team coming from less than 50 miles away?
I don’t see that as a concern. I’m sure we recruit all over the world. But players have to want to play here. And, with Fanny Ainge he had some pretty good Utah players with him. Fred Roberts, Devin Duran and a host of others.
I also don’t see this team and the players as the problem. I’ll repeat from last year, the offensive scheme doesn’t work when teams know what’s coming and we miss a bunch of short shots. Rose will need to change how he runs the offense next year. We are seeing how good Haws was. Next year, we have some players that will shoot much better.
The 1980-81 Elite Eight team included 4 from Utah on the roster–Roberts being one of them, and the only native Utah starter from the group. The other starters beside Ainge (Oregon) and Roberts were…
Greg Kite: Houston, TX
Steve Trumbo: Las Vegas, NV
Steve Craig: Los Angeles, CA
The full roster:
21 Craig Christensen 6’4" 185 G Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
21 Mike Maxwell 6’1" 160 G Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
22 Danny Ainge 6’5" 188 G Eugene, Oregon, United States
23 Steve Craig 6’3" 180 G Los Angeles, California, United States
23 Richie Webb 6’5" 180 G Idaho Falls, Idaho, United States
24 Greg Ballif 6’3" 190 G Provo, Utah, United States
25 Dave Challis 6’4" 170 G Walnut Creek, California, United States
31 John Bartholomew 6’6" 195 F Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
32 Keith Rice 6’5" 200 F Portland, Oregon, United States
33 Timo Saarelainen 6’6" 200 F Helsinki, Finland
34 Fred Roberts 6’10" 220 F Riverton, Utah, United States
42 Gary Furniss 6’8" 215 F Driggs, Idaho, United States
44 Steve Trumbo 6’8" 223 F Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
50 Greg Kite 6’11" 250 C Houston, Texas, United States
52 Dave McGuire 7’0" 225 C West Covina, California, United States
Keith Rice??? His Senior year was Danny Ainge freshman year. You might want to recheck that list. Keith played my first year at BYU. That was 1977 - 1978 school year.
The recruits BYU has are not the problem. Many of the local players BYU has recruited in recent years were recruited by many other programs. Tyler Haws & Kyle Collinsworth were highly recruited players. Jackson Emery and Brandon Davies were local kids. T.J. Haws, Mika, Nick Emery, all from Lone Peak are top 100 recruits. Which of these players should BYU have passed on? Incidentally Payton Dastrup, who is on a mission is a top 100 recruit and is from Arizona. Noah Hartsock was a 3 year starter and was from Oklahoma. BYU has to recruit top LDS players who fit the culture and right now most of the top LDS players they are getting are from Utah Valley. I don’t have a problem with it.
The recruiting must be good BYU has won at least 20 games every year under Rose and has made the NCAA every year but two and the NIT the other two years. They have had some chemistry issues this year. Talent is not the problem this year.
If you want to get down to brass tacks take a look at the post I wrote about Rose and the type of player he recruits.
But what ever; Rose has doubled down on the locals when he hired Q Lewis so we will see if the Jim Theory proves out. I say you have to recruit athletes, not Mr. Basketballs. That is my theory.
Talent is not the problem, we have the components BUT Rose is obligated, I repeat, obligated by loyalty to reward the seniors. That is his Achilles heel. He will hopefully retire after a good run with the Lone Peak boys and we will get a coach who recognizes that Defense is 50% of the equation.
The main problem with recruiting, that I see, is the plan or method. It seems that they spend too much effort on Mr. Basketball types, who are used to being the focal point and star of their team and they don’t know how to be a team player. You see it a lot with the guys on this years’ team. It is the reason I am always getting after Fischer, KC, Emery to an extent, etc.
Rose seems to be having a hard time putting together a group of players that develop chemistry and know their roles. SG is always beating up on Austin but the guy brings hustle and can take a charge like nobody else does. BYU doesn’t need 5 guys on the court who were the focal points of their respective high school teams. He needs to recruit some role players… the top 100 list is not necessarily the best place to get that done. BYU basketball has fallen into a rut, one that isn’t getting them to where they can be. They focus too much on records and individual accomplishments.
If the TEAM is ultimately going to be successful, Rose either needs to recruit differently or get the guys he does recruit to buy into the notion that ultimate success comes from chemistry (ie. role players) and hard work… not from 2 or 3 guys chucking up 20 shots a game and hoping for the best.
So, you believe everything you read? Check on the same BYUCougars site under “Stats.”
Check the 1979-1980 and 1980-1981 seasons stats. Can you find his name or any stats about those supposedly 2 years he was playing. He did play in the 1979-1980. That’s it. Well?
