So, let’s get this straight.
John L. Smith can sign a contract to be the next football coach at Weber State, then, before he coaches even one game, leave and take a job at Arkansas, but… Hawaii coach Norm Chow can block former Hawaii defensive back Mike Wadsworth and his parents from talking to BYU, a school he wants to transfer to when he returns from his mission in June?
What part of this doesn’t make sense? Continue reading
The Cougars are making offers and taking commitments by recruits, but the process will get more picky in future years according to the coaching staff.
Also, in the near future, you can expect BYU to add a few transfers from other four-year programs like AB Tysom Hill, who signed at Stanford but never attended there before his LDS Mission.
This week I had a good talk with a recruit for the class of 2013 who had committed to BYU last year after his sophomore year. This year, this kid had an outstanding junior year in Oregon and is now receiving even more attention although because he committed to BYU early, it has scared away some recruiters from making offers.
Dallin Leavitt is commited to play for Bronco Mendenhall and BYU, but he does want some protection in case Mendenhall leaves and is not at the Provo school when he gets there or returns from a mission.
That is why he wants to shake some more hands from recruiters and has had some interest from other schools, one of them is a top five program. I assume that school to be nearby Oregon. Leavitt, a hard-hitting safety, plays for Central Catholic High School in Portland. Continue reading
The announcement today of changes to the Marriott Center seating is sure to be a change that draws some passion from many fans, in particular students, who have yet to measure what they get in person from behind the west baskets.
What many of these students say right now is they are disappointed with the change but understand it opens up more revenue with season ticket holders given more choices and prices to shell out money. Continue reading
Now comes the news the Mountain West Conference’s TV network will come to an end. Employees were told about layoffs and shutdown today.
The Mtn issues began with a lack of keeping promises, written or spoken, with key members of the league when the MWC went fishing for TV partners. It ended when Utah, BYU and TCU decided they’d take their programs to greener pastures.
You can read the latest on this development here.
In other news, using sports analogies in a political speech can be a little touchy as pointed out here by comedian John Stewart, who takes aim at Rick Santorum.
LOUISVILLE — It was strange for sure.
For the second-straight game, BYU fell behind an NCAA opponent on Thursday and looked out of it only to make a series of runs. When BYU cut Marquette’s 49-34 halftime lead to six at 52-46 after ripping off a 12-2 run, people began to thing they’d see another repeat of the Iona game Tuesday.
But the No. 11 ranked Golden Eagles made short order of BYU’s hopes by answering with eight straight points and never looked back here in the KFC Yum! Arena, home of the Louisville Cardinals.
“It felt like the same emotions we had Tuesday, coming back at it,” said junior Brock Zylstra. “There were just a couple of plays we didn’t make to get it under five and that would have put a lot of pressure on them. The whole time, we felt we would come back and win but we couldn’t get it done.”
BYU freshman Matt Carlino hopes he’ll contribute in a more positive way Thursday when the No. 14 seed Cougars play No. 3 Marquette here in Louisville in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Carlino got benched in BYU’s dramatic win over Iona on Tuesday and he admits he didn’t play well against the Gaels. In his place, junior Craig Cusick took over point guard duties and settled BYU into a more structured offense and made key plays on defense.
Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News
“We have to play two halves and come out strong,” Carlino said of Thursday’s matchup with the Golden Eagles. “They’ll come out physical so we’ll have to match that. We are excited to be in another game.”
Carlino said personally, he needs to take better care of the ball.
Long after BYU’s historic comeback victory over Iona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament here, folks were still buzzing about the dramatic game.
You can paint it a couple of ways, BYU was tremendous or Iona choked.
By Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
When Brandon Davies blocked a shot in the final seconds and Brock Zylstra took it the distance for a lay-in and was fouled and converted, the Cougar comeback from 25 points down left the arena drained. The first game was similar, but this one took the prize. Continue reading
I remember when i first met Dave McCann. He was just a high school kid who’d come into the newsroom and file high school sports stories. He was 15 or 16 at the time. This was a long time before he got into broadcasting and became an TV anchor in Las Vegas.
Now comes his latest venture. He’ll replace Bruce Lindsay as a news anchor and reporter at KSL-TV and will keep his sports job with BYUtv where he’s enjoyed an audience in the millions.
Dave is a good guy. He’s genuine, he has a passion for his work and it shows. He’s the kind of guy you trust with the news. Just has that kind of face.
Weeks before this new gig was announced on Monday, McCann confided in me about the changes he was about to make, a transition he hoped would bring him back to Utah and near his family. He grew up in Orem.
I did a profile on Dave back the first week of January to give folks a glimpse into his life and the tremendous travel and work schedule he has undertaken in journalism this past year. It made me tired just hearing about his schedule.
A few weeks back, I called him about 7 p.m. Utah time, which would have been 6 p.m. in Las Vegas to talk sports. I had no idea I’d woken him up.
“I got a 2:30 a.m., wake up call,” he said.
Sorry.
Welcome back home, Dave. KSL is lucky to have you and your talents.
Jeff Call and I are at the Salt Lake International Airport this morning in a quick turn around to get to Dayton, Ohio after Sunday’s selection show and Tuesday’s first round NCAA game with Iona.
This should be an interesting matchup with Iona’s smaller but quicker size against Cougar rebounding and superior post play. A key will be how Noah Hartsock plays and BYU’s guards have to step up on both ends of the court.
I spoke to Hartsock on Sunday and he said he is ready to go, no hesitance in his voice at all. His problem has been a bad ankle, coupled with that nasty twisting fall against Santa Clara that wrenched his knee.
The official photographer for Santa Clara sent me a photo graph of the play in which Hartsock got injured. He grabbed the rebound just before a Santa Clara player crashed into him, hopping on Hartsock’s upper body, placing more than 450 pounds on him as he turned and pivoted.
Hartsock, right before he crashes with weight of Santa Clara's Yannick Atanga.
As Stephen Rogers left the BYU Broadcast Building, I caught his eye and asked how he was doing. ”Not good,” he said. Apparently he reinjured his knee in practice late last week.
These injuries have hurt the Cougars. It’s been three years of these at this time of year if you remember Tyler Haws getting hit in the eye in the MWC tournament right before he left for his mission as a freshman. Last year Jimmer Fredette injured his calf muscle before halftime of that overtime loss to Florida and was not the same in the second half and overtime.
If Hartsock is indeed OK, it looms large for Dave Rose. Hartsock is the heart and soul of this team because he is so dependable on both ends of the court.
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It’s an interesting dynamic simmering in the Orleans Hotel and Arena for the WCC with Gonzaga fans and how they view BYU fans.
In short, these Zag fans are very nice people. But they are uneasy with BYU fans.
Maybe it falls back to the NCAAs last year when the Jimmer-led BYU team defeated Gonzaga. Things may have been a little more strained when BYU beat the Zags in Provo to go 2-0. Perhaps this proud and traditional WCC power is used to seeing things their way and a newcomer in the neighborhood has impacted a comfort zone. I don’t know.
BYU fans cheer as the Cougars play Gonzaga during NCAA basketball action in Provo Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012.
But Friday night after BYU defeated San Diego, I was waiting in the lobby for an elevator with fans from both sides. When two elevator doors opened at the same time, some BYU fans hopped on one and Zag fans got on the other. I stepped on the elevator with the Zag fans and two nice women immediately struck up a conversation that went like this: Continue reading