Very good comprehensive writeup on Pope, Recruiting and Big 12

Basketball
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BYU Hoops Mailbag: State of the Program, Recruiting, Big 12, and More (msn.com)

Robby McCombs knocks it out of the park on this piece. Talks Pope’s mentality, his roots, his vision for BYU basketball and future Big 12.

Covers completely where we stand in regards to our 4 star recruits:
" The 2024 recruiting class is massive for BYU. 2023 I don’t anticipate BYU adding high school players. They already have Jake Wahlin who is a defacto 2023 member, and there aren’t many guys out there that make sense to add. BYU recruited Keanu Dawes who went to Rice and Cedric Lath who is at Houston, but the local and LDS recruiting scene is pretty bare. Dawes was probably the top LDS player in the 2023 class.

2024 is loaded. BYU has offered local guys Malick Diallo, Isaac Davis, and Brody Kozlowski. All three are 4-star guys and there is a chance none of them go on missions. Diallo is not LDS and the mission plans for the other two are up in the air.

Diallo is a 6-foot-10 big man who I believe has the most star potential. Diallo is a native of Mali and is close with fellow Mali native Fousseyni Traore. He has been to several games and is close to BYU’s staff. He’s a very versatile, skilled big that can score at all three levels and defend the paint. BYU is going against some big schools, but they have recruited him as hard as anyone.

Isaac Davis is a 6-foot-6 or 6-foot-7 four man (depending on who you ask) and has elite, explosive athleticism. Schools like Oklahoma have offered, but Isaac has visited BYU and is familiar with the program and coaches.

I [spoke with Brody Kozlowski recently after his BYU offer, and he is a BYU legacy kid who is a great shooter and developed into an outstanding rebounder.

BYU has a legitimate shot to land all three, but the summer and fall recruiting cycle will be huge for BYU to remain diligent as these guys get more eyes on them during the AAU circuit and begin taking official visits."

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In the past BYU usually gets a look and then some P5 school swoops in and snatches them. Now that BYU is P5 I would hope they start winning some of those recruiting battles particularly when an LDS kid is involved. What people forget is that Rose signed a
lot of 4 star guys and some of them didn’t pan out well. Emery was real good as a freshman and then he regressed on and off the court. Mika thought he was NBA material and bolted after 2 years. Dastrup was wasted,TJ Haws was good and so was Childs. Lohner regressed and then bolted for Baylor.

You never know what will eventually happen with an 18 year old old kid. Traore wasn’t highly recruited. Fredette was one of the top 4 BYU players ever and no major programs recruited him. Sometimes you get lucky and find a star who was under the radar and sometimes the alleged star recruits are a disappointment for one reason or another.

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Same thing in Football as well. I had a freshman on my freshman team in basketball who could shoot lights out and under pressure. Good defender and quick. He could throw a 90 mile per hour fastball too. He was 5’8” tall as a freshman and as a senior. Stuck with baseball instead of basketball.
There are a lot of variables that affect the progression of players in any sport. One variable is the time and effort in practice to get better. The greats in any sport worked longer and harder than others who could have been great. But other variables also dictate success as well. A great coach can steer kids in doing what is necessary.