Again, it appears that a significant number of subscribers didn't get this issue that I sent yesterday morning. If you did, please forgive the intrusion and delete this. For those who didn't get the letter yesterday, here it is. I will try and figure out why some don't get it and some do. If I can solve that problem, I will try and work on weightier matters such as the desalination of sea water and Dr. Pepper. hb HB Arnett's 801 372 - 0819 <mailto:hbarnett@fiber.net> hbarnett@fiber.net 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 35, Issue 28 - February 2, 2015 Click Here To Order or Renew Your Subscriptions <http://cougarclicks.com/product/Order-Cougar-Sportsline?ID=3173> Football LOI's WAITING ON WEDNESDAY We don't need to wait until Wednesday to announce the biggest recruit for Bronco Mendenhall. This guy is 6-1, 215, a little overweight, not exceptionally fast or athletic, but has been and will be an impact guy for BYU. That would be Guy Holliday, the current wide receiver coach on Mendenhall's staff. This guy hasn't scored a touchdown for the Cougars in his two years on staff, but he has opened up Texas to BYU, Bronco and recruiting. BYU may not be having a banner year getting the top of the line and legacy recruits in Utah this year, but the real news of this class and crop is the inroads the Cougars are making in the Lone Star State. You can thank Holliday for breaking down the door. Now don't get too giddy, BYU is not whipping the Big Boys of Texas in recruiting. The Cougars are getting second and third tier guys. Second tier or third tier means these kids don't' have the ideal size and speed that Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor and the Oklahoma schools are looking for. That's actually outstanding news because second and third tier Texas high school football recruits are still very good football players. Second and third tier players may be a little too short and undersized for the Longhorns and Aggies but are what TCU built its foundation on several seasons ago. And how did that turn out? When it comes to Texas, I remember the Alamo and now I will remember the door kicked in by Holliday and BYU. Now that the door is open, BYU needs to make sure the keep their foot in it. Speaking of feet. Here is a video of how to dance the Texas Two Step <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq4VnaXYz4E> . That's what we BYU football fans will be doing and dancing on Wednesday. Lone Star List that will sign with BYU Wednesday Trevor Brent, DB, 5-10, 170, West Mesquite HS Akile Davis, WR, 6-1, 185, DeSoto HS Jacob Jimenez, OL, 6-4, 275, Pflugerville HS Micah Simon, Ath, 5-11, 180, Bishop Dunne HS Charles West, RB, 5-10, 190, Coppell HS JJ Nwigwe, OL, 6-4, 260, Rockwall-Heath HS Sure Fire Signees Zayne Anderson, DB, 6-2, 190, Stansbury HS, UT Riley Burt, RB, 6-2, 185, Box Elder HS, UT Brady Christensen, OL, 6-5, 245, Bounfiful, UT Beau Hoge, QB, 6-1, 195, Highlands HS, KY Devin Kaufusi, DL, 6-6, 215, Timpview HS, UT Keifer Longson, OL, 6-7, 295, Dougherty Valley HS, CA David Lui, DL, 6-2, 255, Pittsburg HS, CA Tevita Mounga, DL, Vista Murrieta HS, CA Khari Vanderbilt, DB, San Jose City JC, CA Will Sedgwick, LB, Laguna Hills HS, CA Cody Wilstead, QB, 6-5, 215, Pineview HS, UT Maybe's Jeremiah Ieremia, LB, Hurricane HS, UT.Either BYU or Utah State Mika Tafua, DL, Kamehameha HS, HI.Long time BYU commit, but now looks like Washington will get his signature Dayan Lake, DB, Northridge HS, UT.wavered on Cougars. We will see. Gabe Reid, LB/DL, 6-2, 240, Timpview HS, UT.Either Stanford or BYU. Will decide late Monday. Long Shots Zach Hoyt, OL, 6-5, 275, Salem HS, VA Demetrius Davis, OL, 6-5, 275, Pleasant Grove HS, UT Long Gone Legacies Britain Covey, QB, 5-9, 170, Timpview HS, UT.Announced for Utah last week. James Empey, OL, 6-5, 275, American Fork HS, UT.Announced for Utah last week. Transfers already enrolled in school Squally Canada, RB, 5-10, 195, Washington State Kamel Greene, DB, 5-11, 180, Washington State Jackson Kaka, TE, 6-4, 215, New Mexico State Eric Takenaka, DB, 5-10, 205, Snow College Returned LDS Missionaries enrolled in school Matt Hadley, DB, 6-0, 191, So. Connell HS, WA Micah Hannemann, DB, 6-1, 190, So. Lone Peak HS, UT Austin Hoyt, OL, 6-7, 270, RFr, Argonaut HS, CA Moses Kaumatule, DL, 6-1, 254, RFr, Bingham HS, UT Sawyer Powell, DB, 6-1, 205, RFr, Richland HS, WA Rhett Sandlin, LB, 6-2, 220, RFr, Alta HS, UT Josh Weeks, WR, 6-4, 200, Fr, Show Low HS, AZ Other Missionaries due back in spring and summer Tanner Mangum, QB, 6-3, 195, Eagle HS, ID, Returns in June- Chile Antofagasta Talon Shumway, WR/DB, 6-3, 200, Lone Peak HS, UT, Returns in May- Texas McAllen Moroni Laulu-Pututau, TE,, 6-4, 190, Mountain Crest HS, UT, Returns in March- Chile Antofagasta Nathan DeBeikes, RB, 6-2, 200, Thousand Oaks HS, CA, Returns in July - England Birmingham Lene Lesatele, LB, 6-1, 235, Gahr HS, CA, Returns in April -Philippines Naga Mission Butch Pauu, LB, 6-0, 220, LB, Servite HS, CA, Returns in March -Honduras Tegucigalpa Taumata Tofi, DL, 6-3, 270, Perris HS, CA, Returns in April - Philippines Manila. Sounds Like Fresno State Anybody, Anywhere, Anytime BYU recently announced a home and home football scheduling agreement with Michigan State. The Cougars will play in East Lansing in 2016 and face the Spartans in Provo in 2020. Add Michigan State to an ever growing impressive list of teams the Cougars will play in the coming seasons. That list includes at Nebraska, UCLA, Michigan and Missouri in this coming 2015 season. BYU will also play Fresno State in Provo in late November. I bring up Fresno State because BYU seems to be following the Bulldogs' football scheduling profile of a few years ago when Pat Hill was the coach. You may not remember, but I do. Hill's scheduling mantra was "anybody, anywhere, anytime". Fresno lined up against Oregon, USC, Ohio State, UCLA, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Tennessee and Washington and other big name programs on multiple occasions. Almost all of those games were on the road. Hill stated when he got the Fresno job that he was going to follow the model of Bobby Bowden at Florida State when he was hired as the Seminoles' coach. Bowden built Florida State into a power from a nothing program by agreeing to play anybody, anywhere, anytime. Hill coached 14 years at Fresno. He did very well early, but his last six seasons he went just 40-41 and was fired. BYU now appears fully engaged in the "anybody, anywhere, anytime" business. In 2016 they face Arizona of the Pac 12, West Virginia of the Big 12 and Michigan State of the Big Ten. The year 2017 shows Louisiana State on the schedule. The next season it will be Arizona, Cal, Wisconsin and Washington. BYU's attempt to schedule P5 teams appears to be paying off. After saying last year that the ACC would not allow games scheduled against BYU to meet the requirements for non-conference required scheduling of P5 teams, the league reversed that decision last week. Here is an explanation of the change of heart as written by Brett McMurphy of ESPN last week: Atlantic Coast Conference teams that play BYU now will be able to count that game toward the ACC's requirement of playing a nonleague Power 5 team, sources told ESPN. This is a change in philosophy for the ACC. At last year's spring meetings, the ACC announced games against BYU would not count as a Power 5 opponent. Starting in 2017, ACC teams are required to play at least one nonleague Power 5 team. The reason for the change was because three of the four remaining Power 5 leagues (Big 12, Pac-12 and Big Ten) play nine conference games or will be going to nine conference games, meaning fewer nonconference opportunities, a source said. Also, the ACC believes games against BYU -- which has gone to 10 consecutive bowl games under coach Bronco Mendenhall -- would help the league's overall strength of schedule, a source said. BYU currently has only one ACC team on its future schedule: Virginia. The Cougars and Cavs, who played in 2013 and 2014, complete their four-game series in 2019 at Virginia and 2023 at BYU. As one of only three independents, scheduling has been one of the biggest challenges for BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe. Still, the Cougars have managed to schedule several future games against Power 5 opponents including Nebraska, UCLA, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Arizona, Utah, West Virginia, LSU, Cal, USC and Arizona State. Beginning in 2016, the SEC also will require its league members to play at least one nonleague Power 5 team. Last year the SEC said BYU would not count toward the SEC's requirement. An SEC spokesman said Thursday the SEC's stance toward BYU had not changed. No More Rope a Dope Cougars Counterpunch in the Post Tyler Haws did his thing this past week in BYU wins at home over San Francisco (78-740 and Santa Clara (78-57). His thing is the inexorable march to the top of the BYU basketball scoring food chain and pyramid. With his 28 points against the Dons of USF and the 21 he put up on Santa Clara, Haws surpassed Danny Ainge in the hunt for the title of all-time leading scorer in BYU Basketball history. Haws now sits at 2,486 career points. That leaves him just 113 points behind Jimmer Fredette for the top scoring spot. Overall, BYU is now 17-7 on the season. The two wins last week puts the Cougars at 7-4 in WCC play. That is good for a third place tie with Pepperdine behind Saint Mary's at 9-2 and Gonzaga at 10-0. With Pepperdine winning at Saint Mary's last week, that makes this Thursday's rematch with the Waves big time for BYU. The last time these two teams played, BYU used the "Rope a Dope" defense in the post and put up absolutely no fight. The good news for Cougar basketball fans is that based on the post play of last week against USF and Santa Clara, BYU Bigs started counter punching and made their presence felt. It wasn't great post play, but it was better than it has been and gives some hope for better play inside as the season concludes. Against USF, BYU had 10 rebounds combined between those who played the post. Up against Santa Clara, those numbers were bigger with 19 boards recorded by the Bigs of BYU. Dave Rose will need those kind of numbers in the rematch with Pepperdine. In the first game in Provo, BYU managed just 5 points in the post and 6 rebounds against the Waves. That will have to improve dramatically if the Cougars hope for redemption on the road and any hope at all for a future NCAA bid. Fluff and Stuff You get what you pay for.Especially when it comes to basketball referees. There are times when fans criticize the basketball officiating of the West Coast Conference. Those fans might have some merit to their moaning. Dave Rose doesn't criticize officials, but he did explain at a recent Cougar Club luncheon that some officials are better than others. He went on to say that the good officials want to work as much as they can during a week and get paid the best they can. Turns out that the WCC reportedly doesn't pay officials as much as other leagues do. Because most of those other leagues also play games on Thursday and Saturday, the best officials will officiate those games where they get paid the most for their work. Turns out that even with officiating you get what you pay for. Frequent Flier.Dave Rose logs lots of miles while traveling with his team, but also recruiting and evaluating players. Two weeks ago he was in Richland, Washington to watch junior LDS guard Steven Beo play. This past weekend, he stayed closer to home to watch Gavin Baxter perform for Timpview HS against Springville HS. Keeping Score.BYU signee Zac Seljaas is lighting up the scoreboard. This past week. The 6-7 wing scored 32 in a blowout 89-60 win over Cyprus and followed that up with 29 points in a 78-72 victory over Kearns. Frank Jackson, the former BYU commit, continues to light it up for Lone Peak. This past week, Jackson scored 24 against Riverton in a 74-47 win and followed up with 30 points in a 62-62 squeaker win over Herriman. Beo, the guard from Richland, put up 33 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in a 62-42 win over Kamiakin this past weekend. Women Win.The BYU women swept both basketball games against San Francisco and Santa Clara last week during their road swing to Northern California. The Lady Cougars defeated USF 68-63 and outlasted Santa Clara 58-56. The two victories move BYU to 17-5 on the season and 9-2 in WCC play. They are currently tied with St. Mary's for second place in league standings. Both the Cougars and Gaels are two games back of Gonzaga with a 10-0 conference mark. Tritons Try, But No Match for BYU.If the BYU men's volleyball team is the Harlem Globetrotters, then UC San Diego would be their Washington Generals. The Cougars swept the Tritons 3-0, 3-0 last Friday and Saturday in Provo. That makes BYU's all time record against UCSD 38-0. That makes BYU "Meadowlark" and UCSB the "Lemon". The Cougars are now 6-2 overall on the year and 5-1 in MPSF play. TV Timetable BYU vs. Pepperdine (Women's BB) Thursday, February 5 at Provo Tipoff: 7:00 pm MST TV: BYUtv BYU vs. Pepperdine Thursday, February 5 at Malibu Tipoff: 9:00 pm MST TV: Root NW/R (M, TheW.tv (on line) Time Warner and Comcast SN in Calif. BYU vs. Cal Baptist (volleyball) Friday, February 6 at Provo Start: 7:00 pm MST TV: BYUtv BYU vs. Loyola Marymount Saturday, February 7 at Los Angeles Tipoff: 2:00 pm MST TV: Root Sports. Time Warner and Comcast Sports Network BYU vs. Cal Baptist (volleyball) Saturday, February 7 at Provo Start: 7:00 pm MST TV: BYUtv BYU vs. St Mary's Thursday, February 12 at Provo Tipoff: 7:00 pm MST TV: ESPN or ESPN2 BYU vs. Pacific Saturday, February 14 at Provo Tipoff: 7:00 pm MST TV: BYUtv If you also want PDF copies of the newsletter, email and request it.
