The latest on the BYU basketball roster

The latest on the BYU basketball roster

it’s cougar Sports Saturday it’s complete another touchdown cougar Sports Saturday Saturday a presentation of KSL Sports KL Sports left wing for three he got it again BYU Sports Talk by cougar fans for cougar fans here are your hosts Mitch Harper and Matt Bayamon on Utah’s Legacy home of the Cougars KSL News radio 102.7 FM and 1160 a.m. welcome back in cougar Sports Saturday here on KSL News radio Mitch Harper Matt bamon with you every single Saturday noon to 3 we’re talking all the latest inside BYU Athletics we covered it on the ground BYU football practices BYU basketball practices interviews we do it all here at cougar Sports Saturday on the Legacy home of the Cougars KSL News radio and you know BYU basketball this week they hosted uh Purdue I want to say Purdue transfer because he was never playing games at Purdue but recently signed former Purdue sign Kanan Catchings he took an official visit to by cougars are squarely in the mix for Catchings and we talked about him last week as a possibility to fill one of those two scholarship spots BYU’s in the mix for him 6′ n forward who could really do a lot of things for BYU could be a really fascinating piece maybe Off the Bench for this BYU team in 2020 2024 2025 which this week Matt uh BYU cougars.com I assume this would be Tyson ja with the media relations department put up the roster and got some Heights some listings uh I thought there was some jersey numbers but maybe I just had a fever dream and dream that in my head I don’t know but uh the roster is up and your feelings on where this roster is currently at with the possibility of Kanan Catchings maybe being a piece that that could get added as the Cougars are swirly in the mix there I think the one thing that’s missing is Catchings you look you look at the roster you need another Wing yep you need another lengthy wing and if you bring him in I think you’re set because look I’m not expecting much from this player Mitch but you get Adam Stewart back off a mission he’s borderline seven-footer that’s some insurance that you hope you never have to go to but you have that size in the building I know he’s fresh off a mission again not expecting much but you have the size there in a perfect world you’re playing kada and fous and that’s probably all you need at the center position because you’re going to be up and down you’re going to be free flowing this is this isn’t going to be Jerry West’s uh Laker Dynasty where you’re going slow and dumping it down to O’Neal right like this this group is going to be fast I don’t think you need another seven-footer to gobble up minutes from kayada you want to go kada and fous at the center position obviously you got uh jagor from Russia he’s gonna come in he’s goingon to be at that forward position handling the ball a little bit you just need another Wing So if it’s Catchings then I feel like the roster is complete I’m good I don’t need another because you you still you need to find minutes for these players too you don’t want to run into an issue where and this quite frankly not to dog on Bo’s former coach but like how is he going to play all these guys in Kentucky there’s like there’s too many guys that that need minutes I don’t want that to be a problem here so if you get Catchings I think you’re good you could probably have a 10-man rotation and you have a little depth behind that for injury and I again if they if they get Catchings Mitch this roster is complete I love where this roster is and if this group stays healthy they’re winning multiple tournament games take the bank Wow you went there I love it you know I I like the T I went there hey look and I hey I think it’s possible and I think you know anything that that BYU basketball achieved last year they could do it at a higher level at the end of the season I I think the biggest thing that I’ve pointed to is I I think it’s going to take time we talked about this last week coming out of uh the First Media availability is that it’s going to take time I think the thought that any you know every night 30 40 point beatdowns in nonconference that won’t always be a thing we we continue to see the non-conference schedule uh the leaks coming out of of the scheduling agreements Bo is going to host Florida A&M as a buy game like there’s there’s not every game is just going to be an absolute Beatdown where then the the net rating the Ken palom ratings are kind of skewed in your favor to such a high degree that you go into January February March and You’ got this massive cushion where you’re never leaving the top 20 I don’t think that’s going to be the world BYU operates in next year but hey you know what I I think that this team and this coaching staff I’m not going to put anything against them but I I just think I’m still kind of taking I’m going to give it time let it kind of bake a little bit because they’re going to have a tough schedule but I love this roster and the potential I think a key piece here for this roster is the health of Dawson Baker we didn’t see him at practice last week he was still on his honeymoon he just recently got married uh so no no concerns not don’t sound the alarms and say oh no he wasn’t a practice due to an injury no no no we’re not saying that it was honeymoon related but that foot is something to monitor because Dawson Baker I know for folks like you and I and people around the program they love the potential of Dawson Baker and what he can be so I think he’s critical to the depth here I I think trevell is going to be an important piece now Trav he got a ton of starts last season and it’s hard to explain to Kentucky people and I explained I tried to explain it last uh on a radio interview for a Lexington station when they signed Jackson Robinson and they were saying why did he not start if he was the best player I was like it was a weird deal where you know Jackson Robinson got a few starts past season in replace of nil and the team just didn’t function well and then nil comes back and then suddenly Robinson goes back to sixthman and it just felt and operated at a much higher level than than what it did when when Robinson was in the starting five but nil last season had some games I think of the Houston game and some other spots where he had some big opportunities to knock down shots and he didn’t and he’s got one year left this is it for him and I’m curious to see you know how he elevates his game because physically he looks bigger now uh more muscular I’m just curious to see kind of the resolve that he shows to take that step forward but I like the pieces of new paired with returning experience that’s what’s fascinating about this BYU roster is that it’s not a complete 13-man roster flip it is a nice balance of new and old with a coaching staff that knows how coach any type of personnel and I I like the potential of this team and if they can get Catchings my goodness BYU could be threatening to be a top five team in the Big 12 and I you mentioned the leaks on the on the schedule I like it it’s so soft because there are so many new pieces use those first 11 12 Games Mitch to figure out exactly how this is going to work figure out the style between the players and young figure out a rotation and then hopefully that’s solved after the first third of the Season then you hit Big 12 Play do what you got to do there to get to the tournament and then if as long as you’re continually improving the only thing that matters Mitch is that you get into the tournament just be building towards the tournament and then that’s where you can do damage if it all comes together that that is a big if because there are a lot of new pieces and it’s a new staff like you can’t just assume it’s all going to seamlessly work but it’s hard not to feel like it’s going to work based on the returning players that you mentioned plus the high-end t tent that they’re bringing in and this coaching staff is so experienced when it comes to development they get players to be better that’s what I love about the staff and what I love about the prospects of Kevin young is that they have a history at the highest levels of the sport Mitch of developing players that’s what you need in college basket you got to bring dudes in you got to make them better not not everyone is going to be an NBA player Mitch in fact very few are going to be an NBA player but can you can you take these players and make them really good college basketball players that impact winning I believe the staff will be able to do that and this is such a fun season ahead and I think also too with the schedule I I believe that we will have a better sense of how strong this BYU team is though in the non-conference even though there’s a lot of buy games you’re going to have Queens University you’re going to have Florida A&M central Arkansas you know the the Bottom Feeders of whatever League they’re in but you also have road trips to Providence who’s going to be probably a you know maybe a top 25 team next year they’re going to be really good what ke can what they’ve put together on that roster and then you got a road trip at Wyoming uh which not ideal Wyoming wasn’t very good but a road game Road games are huge in college basketball that could be quad 2 territory for a game and then Purdue potentially on a on a neutral floor in San Diego NC State Old Miss I I just think that there’s enough games there where I feel like okay I’m going to a good read of what BYU is because I’ll tell you last year I felt because of their dominance they were legit but then they played Cincinnati it was like uhoh this was not what I expected and so I I think there’s just a nice blend with the schedule so far uh you know they’ll be finalizing that I would I would think within the next you know six to seven weeks or so big 12 schedule released out the the matchups last year in July so I expect that would that would be coming here soon as well but um you know I I just I like the potential man I think this team has got a nice blend of pieces and the roster construction I think is is very NBA like where you identify players that’ll fit certain roles look at the Celtics are doing uh in the NBA like they it’s not all superstars they’re guys that there’s going to be some Derek whites in here maybe a Mt mag or trevan Nell that’s going to fill a desired role every single night and they’re going to bring it every single uh game for B Yu and I just like what Kevin Young’s done with this roster I think there’s a lot of exciting times ahead for cougar Hoops let’s take a break Mitch wrap up the show on the other side one more segment to go here on Cougar Sports Saturday

Mitch Harper and Matt Baiamonte dive into the latest in terms of the roster for BYU hoops and discuss what they would like the Cougars to do with the two remaining scholarships.