HB Arnett’s

HB Arnett’s

801 372 - 0819

hbarnett@fiber.net

1391 West 800 South – Orem, Utah 84058

Vol. 33, Issue 33 – March 11, 2013

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Time to Evaluate

BYU Done For the Year

Even if BYU gets an NIT bid, this year is over.

The finale came via a face flop by the Cougars in a 72-69 loss to San Diego in the WCC post season tournament in Las Vegas. Yes, that same San Diego team that was 16-17 overall and 7-9 in WCC play.

Of course, despite a deceptive 21-11 and 10-6 record, BYU was definitely heading downhill in the last three weeks. It was the Toreros that simply gave Dave Rose and his team the final push to a discouraging and disheartening season.

In case you haven’t been keeping track, BYU was just 3-5 in its last 8 games and an even worse 2-5 in its last seven league games in the WCC.

BYU had some bright spots in the loss to San Diego in the quarterfinals of the WCC post season tournament last Friday in Las Vegas.

Actually, there was only one bright spot. That was Brandon Davies who had 20 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Tyler Haws also threw in 20 points, but as Rose said in his post-game comments, there wasn’t enough help from the rest of the team to get a win.

I agree. To play Rose’s preferred style of play, there simply wasn’t enough talent surrounding Davies and Haws.

Here is my summation of the season, players and Rose followed by a preview of what I expect to see next season.

Current Roster

NCAA Basketball Teams are allowed 13 scholarships to allocate each year. Below is the allocation of those scholarships this past season.

Obviously the overall on-court-performance of those 13 grant-in-aids was definitely sub par.

One of the major reasons for the lack of productivity can be traced to the loss of Chris Collinsworth and Stephen Rogers due to career ending injuries. Unfortunately, their scholarships could not be used on other players.

That was moot, however, because there were no other recruits available at the time Collinsworth and Rogers were proclaimed damaged goods

Here is my evaluation of the quality of production per scholarship for this year’s roster. I will rate each scholarship awarded based on performance for this season as either non-producing, poor, average, good and very good.

Cooper Ainge, G, Redshirt Freshman (non scholarship)…non-applicable

Agustin Ambrosino, F, Junior (scholarship)…non-producing; wasn’t as advertised; couldn’t shoot, rebound or defend

Nate Austin, F, Sophomore (scholarship)…non-producing; for his size can’t post up or score inside and has major problems defending post players in the paint. No improvement over freshman season. Just an observation, but when on the court, he spent almost as much time off his feet than on his feet.

Cory Calvert, G, Freshman (scholarship) non-producing; shows promise, but because he saw limited minutes in the season, his scholarship was wasted. He should have redshirted or not enrolled until after his LDS mission

Matt Carlino, G, Sophomore (scholarship) average; was either very good or very bad. Put the two together and that equals very average

Craig Cusick, G, Senior (non scholarship) non-applicable

Brandon Davies, C, Senior (scholarship) very good; the only season-long scoring threat for BYU. Also the only dependable rebounder that could be counted on

Raul Delgado, G, Junior (scholarship) poor; for a guy touted as a three-point shooters, he was just 8-of-31 on the year

Ian Harward, C, Freshman (scholarship) non-producing; chalk it up to injury issues or not being strong enough, but for a team that was in drastic need of big men, Harward’s lack of minutes, for whatever reason, qualifies as a wasted scholarship

Tyler Haws, G/F, Sophomore (scholarship) very good; constant production in spite of mugging, hugging and defensive mayhem made Haws well worth the scholarship

Bronson Kaufusi, C, Freshman (football scholarship) non-applicable…the fact that he was the first big off the bench late in the year is confirmation that the two biggest guys on the team vastly underperformed

Josh Sharp, F, Sophomore (scholarship) poor; undersized on defense, non productive offensively. Good rebounder for size

Anson Winder, G, Sophomore (scholarship) poor; zero offense, decent defense, but not good enough to compensate for lack of scoring abilities

Brock Zylstra, G, Senior (scholarship) average; give him credit for advancing each season from wasted to poor to average this season.

Chris Collinsworth, F, Junior (scholarship) non-producing; when you can’t play, it’s a wasted scholarship

Stephen Rogers, F, Senior (scholarship) non-producing; when you can’t play, it’s a wasted scholarship

Dave Rose, BYU coach…poor; of 13 scholarships, over half were non-producing based on the results from this season. Two of those wasted were unavoidable due to injuries to Collinsworth and Rogers. The two jucos brought in appear to be serious evaluation mistakes by Rose and his staff. They got zilch from these two guys.

The biggest evaluation mistake, however, in my opinion, is Rose’s hanging on to the hope that Matt Carlino could be a consistent playmaker and point guard.

By hanging on to that hope until late in the year, it caused him to waste a year of eligibility on Cory Calvert. He should have never invited him to play this year and never burned his redshirt year late in the year. That was caused by desperation to find somebody coming off the bench to put performance pressure on Carlino.

Next Year’s Roster

Here is my projection for players next season.

Agustin Ambrosino, F, Senior…The fact that BYU is trying to recruit a similar type player from the same school, SLCC, is an indication that either Ambrosino needs to get with it or get going out the door

Nate Austin, F, Junior…Rose needs to redshirt Austin and bulk him up. He needs to tell him that anytime he is 15 feet away from the basket offensively he is going to the bench. If he can’t score or defend in the post, he does BYU no favors

Matt Carlino, G, Junior…A streaky player who is either very hot or very cold. When the cold spells hit, Kyle Collinsworth and Skyler Halford will give Rose viable options and alternatives at the point.

Raul Delgado, G, Senior…The Ambrosio projection also fits Delgado. BYU has a commitment from another juco with the same attributes that Delgado was supposed to have as a shooter. Either Delgado will show what he was recruited for or continue his tenure on the bench.

Ian Harward, C, Sophomore…This next year is put up or shut up time. It is time to show that he is a player. If he can’t because of injury or lack of ability, then shut the scholarship down and move on to another option.

Tyler Haws, G/F, Junior…Definitely needs a better supporting cast around him. If that doesn’t happen for next season then mugging will be a very mild description of how teams will defend him. If it wasn’t basketball, opposing players would have to be charged with assault and battery. Besides Dave Rose, nobody should be praying more for an influx of better talent for next season.

Josh Sharp, F, Junior…A tweener who has trouble scoring. Big heart and a good rebounder for his size, but BYU is looking for an upgrade from a juco that can rebound, has a big heart and actually is an offensive threat.

Anson Winder, G, Junior…While lots of BYU fans like to think Winder is a good player, the bottom line is that he is a marginal Division I guard at best. I don’t see that assessment changing next season.

Eric Mika, F, Freshman…BYU played this whole past season with just one front court scoring and rebounding option. That was Brandon Davies. When BYU was good, they had two front court options with Davies and Noah Hartsock. The Cougars will be back with two options up front next season. Mika is the most touted, but we look for him to be the 4 and Worthington to do the slogging and slugging inside deep. Mika will run the floor in Rose’s up tempo scheme with the same abilities as Davies had.

Luke Worthington, C, Freshman…Lunch Pail, Blue Collar and tough. Worthington won’t impress anyone with his athleticism, but get him the ball on the low block and he can score with either hand. Limited vertical jump, but could be BYU’s version of Utah State’s Tai Wesley, only bigger. Not much of an athlete, but rebounds and scores.

Kyle Collinsworth, G, Sophomore…Can play the 1, 2, 3, or at times, the 4. Is a slasher to the basket, will be an outstanding rebounder and very efficient in putting back shots on offensive rebounds. Won’t impress with his ball handling skills, but I am willing to bet that he will have the least turnovers of any of next seasons’ guards. Outside shot is marginal, but if he can continually improve, this guy is absolutely the real deal and a serious upgrade for the program next year. The question on him is how long will it take to get in shape after returning from LDS mission?

Skyler Halford, G, Junior…Committed to BYU last week. Is a shooter and scorer and led his Salt Lake Community College team in scoring. Not big at 6-1, but could be the Cougars’ version of Johnny Dee of USD. Averaged 17.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Halford was selected as the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) Player-of-the-Year, Region 18 Tournament Most Valuable Player and was named a First Team Region 18 All-Tournament selection. Click here and here to read more details on Halford.

One More to Give…BYU and Dave Rose still have one more scholarship to use next month during the signing period. The Cougars have offered Sai Tummala, a 6-6 swing player from Salt Lake Community College. He is a current teammate of recent BYU commit Skyler Halford. Summala prepped at Brophy Prep in Phoenix and then spent a year as a walkon at Michigan before playing at SLCC.

He averaged 14.5 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per outing. Like his teammate Halford, both shot .413 from beyond the arc. Halford was a .922 free throw shooter and Tummala shot .717 from the charity stripe. Click here and here for more on Tummala.

SLCC finished the year at 28-4 after a late Saturday night loss on the road to Central Arizona in Coolidge in the District I playoff game for a chance to go to the Juco National Championship tournament in Kansas later this month.

There is still a chance that SLCC could get an at large bid to the juco championships, but don’t count on it. That might be good news for BYU because other schools that always attend and recruit from the tourney won’t get a look at Tummala and become interested.

SPRING SPORTS SYNOPSIS

Men

In volleyball, the No. 1 ranked Cougars defeated Cal Baptist in two matches over the weekend. That should maintain BYU’s top national ranking. Next up will be Cal State Northridge and Long Beach State in two weeks on March 22 and 23. Both games are road trips to California for the Cougars.

The BYU baseball team took two of three games from No. 21 UC Irvine in Provo over the weekend. The Cougars did it in a surprising fashion. They used outstanding pitching for the two wins. BYU is now 9-7 on the season. They head to San Diego this week to open WCC play against the Toreros of USD. It is a three game series set for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

In tennis, BYU defeated San Diego 4-3 last week in Provo. They will face New Mexico this coming Saturday, also in Provo.

In golf BYU men's golf team shot an eight-under-par final round to finish in third place at the Fresno State Lexus Classic last Tuesday. They next play today and tomorrow, March 11-12 at the Triumph at Pauma Valley event in California.

Women

Gonzaga popped BYU women’s basketball dreams last Saturday in Las Vegas in the semi finals of the WCC tournament. The final was 62-43. The Cougars finished their season with a 21-10 record, The day before, BYU handled the LMU Lions in a quarter final matchup 69-57.

It hasn’t been a spectacular start for softball for the BYU women. With the start of league play, the competition won’t be as tough as the premier teams the team faced in preseason. Currently the Cougars are 9-15 on the season.

The women’s tennis team is coming off three straight losses to Utah, Oregon and Denver.

SPRING VERBIAGE RIGHT ON SCHEDULE

You will never hear any negatives coming out of spring practice. Everything is all good.

This team is playing harder and faster than ever before.

According to players and coaches in all contacts with the media, BYU has had its hardest practices ever. Taysom Hill looks Heisman like even though nobody can hit him.

New coaches are going to make the receiving unit the best ever at BYU. Michael Alisa is planning on joining Jamaal Williams to form the next tandem of Eric Dickerson and Craig James.

The offensive line is somehow going to miraculously transform into a good unit even though at least four potential starters are not even dressing out for spring

That is what happens in spring football. Injuries, surgeries and protection mode for key players never give a true picture of what this team will actually be in the fall.

What is being accomplished is an introduction and adaptation offensively to a totally new staff and an understanding of their expectations.

The mantra has been that every position is open for competition. Maybe, but with the exception of the offensive line, don’t expect any major breakthroughs by any unknown or unheralded players.

The coaching staff has had a major turnover, but don’t expect the player pecking order to change.

Except for the downer news that Trent Trammell, the juco cornerback expected to start at the field corner for BYU in the fall, tore his ACL and will miss the coming season, the rest of what is emanating from spring camp is upbeat and positive.

The problem with spring football and fall camp is that stories that are positive and optimistic are written by newspapers, web sites and all other media to compete with each other. Positive is what sells and is easier to sell because there are no games played against opponents that will truly evaluate what kind of football team BYU really has.

Athletics is almost like academics these days for the media. Publish or perish and you better do it at least once or twice a day to feed and fuel the eternal hope that BYU football will once again be good to great. Such is the digital revolution.

Spring football is like spring training in baseball. There are lots of new names and faces in camp, but managers and coaches know almost exactly in March what their starting lineup will be in April.

Despite talk about open competition, coaches also know where their bread will be buttered and which players will be doing the buttering in the fall.

Spring and fall practices are certainly entertaining and full of hope, but check back after the result of the Virginia game in August to really see what kind of football team Bronco Mendenhall will be putting on the field.

Meanwhile, after one week of hope springs eternal and spring practice, here are some of my picks that are keeping hope alive for the fall.

Taysom Hill…The good news is that physically Hill looks sound after coming off knee surgery. He looks as athletic as before. He is the quarterback and barring his knee not holding up in the fall, he will be the guy.

Cody Hoffman…There will be lots of names mentioned as receivers playing well this spring, but those names will disappear come fall. Hoffmann is sitting spring out with shoulder surgery.

Jamaal Williams…There has been some buzz about the return of Michael Alisa as a running back this spring. He is healthy and recovered from his broken arm of last season. Adam Hine is making another run at playing time this spring, but Williams is still the featured back and needs to be. Whether it is playing hard and fast or using some sort of read option Robert Anae picked up while at Arizona, Hill, Hoffman and Williams will determine just how far this BYU offense will go in the fall.

The Middle Makes it Work…Uani Unga, Manoa Pikula, Tui Crichton and Eathyn Manumaleuna will determine if BYU’s defense this fall will be as good as it was last season. Unga and Pikula will be the inside linebackers and Manumaleuna will be the nose replacing Romney Fuga. Coming off knee surgery, he will be protected from contact this spring. Crichton is the hope of the spring. He has the size to be a real force at nose guard, but it is a wait and see game with him.

2013 Spring Football Roster

42 Michael Alisa 6-1 220 RB SR Laie, HI Timpview HS

70 Terrance Alletto 6-3 262 OL SO Parker, CO Ponderosa HS

1 Ross Apo 6-3 207 WR JR Arlington, TX Oakridge School

26 Scott Arellano 6-1 190 P JR Santa Ynez, CA Foothill JC

24 Trevor Bateman 5-9 178 DB SO Palm Deseret, CA Palm Desert HS

50 Nathan Bayles 5-11 230 LB SO Green River, WY Green River HS

43 Tyler Beck 6-1 220 LB SR Murrieta, CA Murrieta Valley HS

20 Craig Bills 6-2 209 DB JR Provo, UT Timpview HS

21 Kevan Bills 6-3 245 LB SO Provo, UT Timpview HS

76 Jordan Black 6-6 298 OL FR Draper, UT Jordan HS

58 Justin Blackmore 6-1 290 DL JR West Jordan, UT West Jordan HS

57 Devin Brewer 5-10 200 DS SO Hattiesburg, MS Oak Grove HS

26 Nate Carter 5-9 192 RB SO St. George, UT Dixie HS

59 Ben Chapple DS SR

27 Cameron Comer 6-0 192 DB JR Springville, UT Springville HS

53 Tanner Cox 6-4 226 LB JR Pleasant View, UT Weber HS

68 Andrew Crawford 6-5 284 OL SO Fairfax, VA Chantilly HS

52 Tui Crichton 6-3 343 DL SO Orem, UT Timpview HS

85 Dallin Cutler 5-9 173 WR SR Draper, UT Alta HS

63 Parker Dawe 6-3 250 OL FR Pleasant Grove, UT Pleasant Grove HS

15 DJ Doman 6-0 186 DB FR Lindon, UT Pleasant Grove HS

94 Michael Doman 6-4 240 DL FR Portland, OR Canby HS

86 Michael Edmunds 6-4 215 TE FR South Jordan, UT Bingham HS

97 Jordan Egbert 6-3 220 TE FR Orem, UT Orem HS

12 JD Falslev 5-8 184 WR SR Smithfield, UT Skyview HS

89 Travis Frey 6-2 187 WR FR Bountiful, UT Viewmont HS

82 Kaneakua Friel 6-5 250 TE SR Kaneohe, HI Kamehameha HS

5 Alani Fua 6-5 215 LB JR Northridge, CA Oaks Christian

Levi Gifford 5-11 185 DB FR Alpine, UT Lone Peak HS

10 Billy Green 6-2 196 QB FR Woodway, WA Kings HS

1 Spencer Hadley 6-1 227 LB SR Connell, WA Connell HS

32 Mike Hague 5-10 190 DB SR Salt Lake, UT Brighton HS

33 Jacob Hannemann 6-1 190 DB FR Highland, UT Lone Peak HS

66 Chris Hardinger 6-7 290 OL FR Pocatello, ID Highland HS

2 Kurt Henderson 6-1 192 WR SO St. George, UT Snow Canyon HS

3 Taysom Hill 6-2 218 QB SO Pocatello, ID Highland HS

26 Adam Hine 6-1 201 RB SO Santa Clara, UT Snow Canyon HS

98 Toloa’i Ho Ching 6-0 225 LB FR Sandy, UT Alta HS

2 Cody Hoffman 6-4 215 WR SR Crescent City, CA Del Norte HS

16 Adam Hogan 5-11 180 DB SR Los Angeles, CA LA Southwest JC

50 Austin Holt 6-5 250 DL JR South Jordan, UT Bingham HS

11 Terenn Houk 6-4 213 WR SO Enumclaw, WA Enumclaw HS

47 Tanner Huber 6-0 205 LB FR Loomis, CA Del Oro HS

31 Tyler Jackson 5-10 165 K SO Oxford, MS Itawamba JC

4 Jordan Johnson 5-10 185 DB JR Springfield, MA Brooks School

67 Kyle Johnson 6-3 285 OL FR Sandy, UT Jordan HS

99 Marques Johnson 6-2 321 DL JR Los Angeles, CA El Camino JC

65 Cole Jones 6-5 280 OL FR Centerville, UT Viewmont HS

34 Austen Jorgensen 6-2 239 LB SR Mt. Pleasant, UT North Sanpete HS

73 Solomone Kafu 6-2 305 OL JR Rio Linda, CA Rio Linda HS

78 Tuni Kanuch 6-1 285 DL FR South Jordan, UT Bingham HS

90 Bronson Kaufusi 6-7 270 DL SO Provo, UT Timpview HS

25 Teu Kautai 6-1 216 LB SO Arlington, TX Oakridge HS

97 Theodore King 6-3 252 DL FR San Jose, CA Valley Christian School

87 Taggart Krueger 6-2 185 WR FR Sammamish, WA Skyline HS

32 Daniel Lacey 6-1 180 WR FR Farmington, NM Farmington HS

91 David Laird 6-2 250 DL JR Idaho Falls, ID Douglas HS

33 Paul Lasike 6-0 227 RB JR Auckland, NZ Church College of NZ

61 Quinn Lawlor 6-4 278 OL JR Orem, UT Orem HS

43 Jherremya Leuta-Douyere 6-0 236 LB SO Garden Grove, CA Servite HS

49 Blake Lord LB FR

84 Devin Mahina 6-6 247 TE JR Upland, CA Upland HS

12 Tanner Mangum 6-3 193 QB FR Eagle, ID Eagle HS

55 Eathyn Manumaleuna 6-2 288 DL SR Anchorage, AK Timpview HS

92 Josh Marquardt 6-1 248 DE SR Vista, CA Vista HS

80 Marcus Mathews 6-4 236 TE JR Beaverton, OR Southridge HS

10 Mitch Mathews 6-6 213 WR SO Beaverton, OR Southridge HS

72 Ryker Mathews 6-6 292 OL SO American Fork, UT American Fork HS

28 Jordan Miller P SO Las Vegas, NV

34 AJ Moore 5-9 200 RB FR Murrieta, CA Murrieta HS

19 Blake Morgan 5-11 184 DB SR Greeley, CO Greeley West HS

11 Jason Munns 6-5 249 QB SR Kennewick, WA Southridge HS

38 Connor Noe 6-2 193 DB FR Mason, OH Mason HS

96 Kevin O’Mary 6-4 240 LB JR San Diego, CA Mira Mesa HS

15 Ammon Olsen 6-3 209 QB SO Draper, UT SUU

35 Joey Owens 6-2 215 LB FR Pleasant Grove, UT Pleasant Grove HS

44 Remington Peck 6-4 240 DL SO South Jordan, UT Bingham HS

22 Manoa Pikula 6-1 235 LB SO South Jordan, UT Bingham HS

29 Skye PoVey 5-11 200 DB SR Ogden, UT Snow College

5 Iona Pritchard 6-0 244 RB JR South Jordan, UT Bingham HS

31 Cody Raymond 5-9 175 WR SO Sandy, UT Jordan HS

83 Stehly Reden 6-4 250 TE SO Valley Center, CA Valley Center HS

36 Drew Reilly 6-3 183 DB SO Valley Center, CA Colorado State

39 Matthew Relei 6-0 230 LB FR Sonora, CA Sonora HS

78 Houston Reynolds 6-2 305 OL SR Provo, UT Timpview HS

64 Ryan Reynolds 6-4 275 OL FR Holladay, UT Olympus HS

17 Skyler Ridley 6-0 182 WR SR Murrieta, CA Murrieta Valley HS

23 Jordan Smith 6-4 203 WR SR Salem, UT Spanish Fork HS

9 Daniel Sorensen 6-2 215 DB SR Colton, CA Colton HS

37 Justin Sorensen 6-1 232 K SR South Jordan, UT Bingham HS

7 Christian Stewart 6-2 190 QB JR Orem, UT Snow College

74 Brock Stringham 6-6 290 OL JR Highlands Ranch, CO Mountain Vista HS

95 Logan Taele 6-2 235 DL SO St. George, UT Dixie HS

19 Brett Thompson 6-3 220 WR JR El Dorado Hills, CA Oak Ridge HS

88 Eric Thornton 5-10 180 WR SO Renton, WA Meridian HS

1 Trent Trammell 6-0 190 DB JR Oakland, CA CCSF

93 Darin Tuttle 6-4 245 TE FR El Dorado Hills, CA Oak Ridge HS

41 Uani ‘ Unga 6-1 233 LB SR Rancho Cucamonga, CA Oregon State

79 Manaaki Vaitai 6-3 317 OL SR Euless, TX Trinity HS

3 Kyle Van Noy 6-3 235 LB SR Reno, NV McQueen HS

30 Michael Wadsworth 6-1 182 DB SO Orem, UT Hawaii

75 Brad Wilcox 6-7 285 OL FR Edmond, OK North HS

21 Jamaal Williams 6-0 190 RB SO Fontana, CA Summit HS

18 Richard Williams 6-3 240 TE SR Spanish Fork, UT Spanish Fork HS

54 Robert Wood III LB FR

77 Michael Yeck 6-8 288 OL JR Keller, TX Keller HS

22 Jake Ziolkowski 6-0 185 WR FR Island Lake, IL Wauconda HS

Television Timetable

BYU vs. Marist College (Softball)

Tuesday, March 19 at Provo

First Pitch: 6:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

BYU vs. Kansas (Baseball)

Wednesday, March 20 at Provo

First Pitch: 6:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

BYU vs. Kansas (Baseball)

Thursday, March 21 at Provo

First Pitch: 6:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

BYU vs. Kansas (Baseball)

Friday, March 22 at Provo

First Pitch: 6:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

BYU vs. Kansas (Baseball)

Saturday, March 23 at Provo

First Pitch: 1:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

BYU vs. Pepperdine (Volleyball)

Thursday, March 28 at Provo

Start: 7:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

BYU vs. USC (Volleyball)

Saturday, March 30 at Provo

Start: 8:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

Radio

BYU vs. San Diego (Baseball)

Thursday, March 14 at San Diego

First Pitch: 7:00 pm Mountain Time

KOVO 960 AM | Provo, UT BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143

BYU vs. San Diego (Baseball)

Friday, March 15 at San Diego

First Pitch: 7:00 pm Mountain Time

KOVO 960 AM | Provo, UT BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143

BYU vs. San Diego (Baseball)

Saturday, March 16 at San Diego

First Pitch: 2:00 pm Mountain Time

KOVO 960 AM | Provo, UT BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143