HB Arnett's "Lite" <mailto:hbarnett@fiber.net> hbarnett@fiber.net 801 372 0819 Vol. 38, Issue 34 - March 18, 2019 It's Time to Pump the Brakes on the "Fire Dave Rose" Chants and Rants I think I have documented my opinion of Dave Rose as a basketball coach in this letter enough for you to know that I think he is an ordinary coach. But so are 90 percent of the other college basketball coaches in this country. I have consistently said that it's the players and not the coaches that make schools winners. I know that is not a popular opinion and one that is constantly rebutted by subscribers when I write it. This might be an especially bad week to say that it is players and not the coach after what Randy Bennett and St. Mary's did to Gonzaga. Another example of coach vs. players will be on display this week in the NCAA tournament when LSU takes on Ivy League Champ Yale in first round action. They will be doing so without their coach who was suspended for making strong "asset" offers to players he recruited. Yale may not be the perfect example of "players or coach" but keep an eye on LSU as the tournament continues. Meanwhile back to Rose and BYU. It is my opinion, and I emphasize again that it is only my opinion and observation that the reason Tom Holmoe extended Rose's contract for another 2 years is because Rose was able to sell him on his plan to get better players on the BYU team. Some of those players will be coming from outside the United States. We got a glimpse of this when he signed a Brazilian and a Chinese player this year. The hangup on recruiting foreign players for BYU is the administration and school's requirement for English proficiency. Most players coming out of Europe and other countries can't meet those requirements at BYU, but have no problem getting into schools like Gonzaga and Utah State. Yes, I do remember that Rafael Araujo and Luis Lemes were both Brazilians that were able to matriculate at BYU. But remember, they both had already played at the junior college level and their English was sufficient to get into BYU after time in the US. Pay attention to what Jeff Judkins is doing with 5 players from foreign countries on his team. Pay closer attention that 80 percent of those foreign recruits also speak English because of the country in which they lived or more importantly have English proficiency because they also played high school basketball in the United States. Back to the Chinese and Brazilian players Rose signed this fall. Both have been playing at least a year in high school in the US. It not only develops their basketball skills, but also their English proficiency skills. That is why they were admitted to BYU. Again, I reiterate, this is just my opinion, but I believe that Rose sold Holmoe on what I call the Wasatch Academy plan. For years the private school in Mt. Pleasant, Utah was providing college players to big time schools. Everybody was recruiting the school.but BYU. It's not that BYU wasn't trying but the previous coach did not like BYU and that is putting it mildly. The new coach, who took over this year, is much more BYU friendly and so is the AAU coach that takes players from Wasatch and puts them on the AAU summer circuit. The key component here, however, is that these prospects are learning English and become proficient enough in it to matriculate at BYU. That's a winning combination for Rose. English and basketball skills together. What a concept. It is my opinion that with the change of regimes at Wasatch, BYU is now able to compete and actually have an edge in recruiting more talented players. Not only with foreign players, but with the cream of the crop LDS prospects from Utah and most recently from Texas, who are also now enrolled in order to practice and play against elite teams and talent from around the nation and on their own team. I can explain it further, but read this story by Dick Harmon in the Deseret News and you will get the idea of what is happening and why I think what is underway buys Rose at least two more years with Tom Holmoe. <https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900060277/wasatch-academy-hea ded-for-geico-national-championship-tourney-in-new-york.html> Wasatch Academy. Again, just my opinion, but my guess is that when Holmoe and Rose had their discussion about an extension and BYU's administrative issues with admitting foreign players, Rose probably pulled out his ipad and showed Holmoe this: <https://www.gowasatch.com/varsity-roster> Wasatch Roster. Again, my personal opinion is that Dave Rose and hundreds of his college co-horts are just ordinary coaches, but two more years on the payroll is not much to risk for a coach who had his out of country hands tied behind his back by BYU administrative restrictions. I say give him two or more years to prove me right. For those who say that Rose doesn't recruit outside of Utah County, this news may not change your mind, because according to my google maps, Mt. Pleasant, Utah and Wasatch Academy are only 61 miles from the Marriott Center. The prospects now playing there, from foreign countries and LDS recruits from across the county might, however, along with a coach that has BYU connections, now suddently make BYU a player in this recruiting game. Again, my opinion only, but two years isn't that long to wait. We already do it for football and basketball signees who opt to serve missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Let's give Rose a two year mission call to recruit Wasatch Academy and call it a foreign recruiting mission. In case you missed it, here is Tom Holmoe's tweet regarding BYU and post season basketball play: "The primary focus of the BYU basketball programs is to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, or as a secondary option the National Invitation Tournament. With that in mind, we have determined that our men's basketball team will not participate in the other postseason events this year." Spring Ball.So Good, yet So Ordinary (Now) I have always been a big fan of Jaren Hall. He is the redshirt freshman quarterback that is lighting it up in Spring football drills for BYU this month. For those worrrying about the shoulder surgery recover of Zach Wilson, don't. Wilson, as he has already proven, is a big time quarterback, but for whatever reason, if he doesn't fully recover or is late in recovering, BYU has a quarterback on the roster already shining this spring that is as talented as Wilson in football. So far, I can't say the same about Hall in baseball. Of course his attention is devoted to football, but he is skilled also as a baseball player. He is only hitting .105 currently for Mike Littlewood and the Cougars in baseball. That should pickup when spring drills in football are over. I'm a big BYU baseball fan, and here is my early assessment of the team. The pitching staff is probably better than it has been in years. The problem is offense. It is spotty at best. Below are the season offensive stats for BYU baseball this year to date. You be your own judge on how productive the offense has been. The Cougars have a good record, 13-5, but in my opinion are not a good offensive team. BYU Women (7th Seed) Will Face Auburn (10th Seed) in NCAA Tournament at Stanford The BYU Women's Basketball team will open NCAA play this Saturday against Auburn at Stanford. The game is set for a 1:30 pm MDT tip and will be televised by ESPN2. Auburn finished its season with a 22-9 record. BYU finished at 25-6. The winner of this opening round game will face the winner of Stanford/UC Davis on Monday at Stanford. As per the last part of the season, BYU will be led by Las Tres Amigas. I think that's Spanish for 3 friends. The English translation is Brenna Chase, Paisley Johnson and Shaylee Gonzales. All this trio does is hit big-time buckets from distance and do it consistently. I call it damsels from distance causing opponents distress. That would be The Three D's. Just ask Gonzaga their definition of the BYU guardline. The Spanish translation from Gonzaga would be tres perdidos (losses). The Spanish translation for "Stanford at home"" is "El Arreglo ya esta formado". I think the English translation is "The fix is in". Regardless of language or translation, this BYU team exceeded expectations and absolutely deserved a trip to the Big Dance. One more big that can consistently produce and defend inside to go along with the length of Sara Hamson and the returning guard line next year and this team may be called the Feminine Fred Astaires. That's because they could be dancing for a long time.