The BYU basketball team held its annual media day last week, officially ushering in the 2016-17 college hoops season.
BYU basketball head coach Dave Rose addressed the media last week during the annual basketball media day.
After a down season a year ago, where the Cougars settled for a NIT berth, he didn’t mince words when asked about his goals.
He wants to be more consistent. He wants to win the West Coast Conference. He wants to put Gonzaga and St. Mary’s in the rear-view mirror.
With the team he has, he might be able to do it.
The BYU basketball team features 10 underclassmen and just two seniors, but there’s a influx of talent that hasn’t been in Provo in years.
Led by the ‘Lone Peak Three,’ (TJ Haws, Nick Emery and Eric Mika) Rose’s Cougars have five four-star recruits on the roster and depth at all five positions. The Cougars struggled with consistency a season ago (and really, for the past few seasons), but those teams weren’t nearly as talented as this squad.
Not to take anything away from previous players, but most were one-trick ponies. Skyler Halford and Chase Fischer were streaky three-point shooters. Tyler Haws was a scorer. Outside of Kyle Collinsworth, the Cougars didn’t really have a versatile player.
In 2016-17, Rose will have a number of players at his disposal that can guard multiple positions and run the offense.
Let’s take a look at BYU’s guards.
Nick Emery
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s start with the returning starter and new leader of the Cougars, Nick Emery.
Emery showed flashes of brilliance last season, but like most underclassmen, he struggled with consistency.
He scored 16 points or more in 18 games for BYU last season, but scored less than 16 points in 18 games. He also had six contests where he scored 10 or less.
But now with a full season under his belt, and with Kyle Collinsworth playing for the Mavericks, this offense belongs to Emery.
Emery said he’s in a better place this season.
“I felt like as a freshman I was so inconsistent and my mind wasn’t in the right place,” Emery said at media day. “Now, being a veteran player as a sophomore is kind of weird, but it’s an opportunity for me to get better at being a leader and getting guys involved.”
Emery averaged 16.3 points per game last season on 43 percent shooting from the field and 38 percent from three-point range.
LJ Rose
Rose has spent time at Baylor and Houston during his college career, and transferred to BYU over the summer. His cousin Archie played at BYU from 2007-09.
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Rose sat out most of last season at Houston as he nursed some lingering ankle injuries. But when healthy, he was a productive guard for the Cougars.
During his last full season (2014-15) he averaged 9.8 points and 5.3 assists per game. His ability to run the point guard spot will be valuable for BYU and his maturity should help settle things down on the road.
He also believes the team is close to taking the next step.
“I knew coming here was a great opportunity,” Rose said. “With my experience, I hope to be a leader on this team. I like the direction which we are going.”
Rose will likely play 20 or so minutes a night, primarily in a ball-handling role.
Colby Leifson
Leifson was added to the roster at the beginning of August.
A 6-foot-4 guard from Georgia, Leifson plans on serving a LDS mission after this season.
It doesn’t seem like Leifson will play a particularly large role this season because the Cougar backcourt is a crowded one.
But, he is a skilled shooter. He knocked fown 93 three-pointers at a 41 percent clip as a senior.
He was also recruited by High Point, Wofford, Gardner Webb and Tennessee Tech.
TJ Haws
TJ, the younger brother of BYU’s all-time leading scorer Tyler Haws, will be an immediate impact player for Dave Rose.
The 6-foot-4 guard was arguably the best high school player in Utah as a senior and I would imagine he’ll be in the starting lineup for game one against Princeton.
For as good as Tyler was in Provo, TJ will be enormously better. He’s a better three-point shooter and craftier around the basket. He’s lanky now, but with more strength trainer he should grow into his frame nicely.
He’s a four-time Utah 5A state champion, and was the 2014 Utah Gatorade Player of the Year.
As a senior at Lone Peak he averaged 25.2 points per game and finished his high school career with 1,896 points.
Zach Frampton
Frampton, a 6-foot-3 guard, played at Lone Peak during the Big Three era. He averaged 11.3 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game as a senior to help Lone Peak to a 23-3 record.
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Frampton scored a career-high 24 points in the title game that season, then departed to Chile on his LDS mission.
Now back in Provo, Frampton provides the Cougars some stability. I doubt he’ll factor in to the rotation much this season, but he’s got chemistry with the other Lone Peak players and his former head coach Quincy Lewis is now an assistant under Dave Rose.
Elijah Bryant
Bryant was arguably the best ball handler on the team last season, but due to NCAA transfer rules, he wasn’t eligible to play.
Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Bryant transferred from Elon after the 2014-15 season. He averaged 14.2 points and 4.2 rebounds as a freshman and was named the Colonial Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year.
Last season during practice he was adept at getting to the basket and finishing. He wasn’t a great defender, but his size (6-foot-5) really helped him. He’s also a competent three-point shooter.
I imagine that Bryant will be a starter for BYU basketball this season. Even if the Cougars only go with a three-guard lineup it’s hard to imagine Bryant won’t be one of those guys.
Bryant has had a full year to learn BYU’s system and there were times last season when BYU could’ve really used his athleticism and ball handling. I would expect him to be the primary backup point guard, but he’s talented enough to play well off the ball.
Steven Beo
Beo was awarded a scholarship by Dave Rose in April, after he was originally slated to be a preferred walk on for BYU basketball.
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To call Beo an explosive scorer might be an understatement.
He averaged 26.7 points per game as a senior in Washington and 27.7 points per game as a junior.
I’m not sure how he factors into the Cougars’ rotation this season, but he seems like the type of player that can get buckets, and players like that are always valuable.
The biggest adjustment for Beo will be moving and finding a rhythm without the basketball. He scored in such volumes in high school that he was free to take the ball down the court and hold it for as long as he pleased. That won’t be the case with the Cougars.
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