BYU Basketball Summer Prospectus: Last Season In Review

Brigham Young Cougars forward Brandon Davies (0) shoots against Utah Utes center Dallin Bachynski (31) during the first half at the Marriott Center. Mandatory Credit: Douglas C. Pizac-USA Today Sports

With all the excitement right now around the BYU Football program, many people forget that we are only 53 days away from College Basketball practices opening up.  Pretty crazy huh?

This week we will be giving you an in-depth look at the BYU Basketball team for the upcoming season. It’s a four-part series that we will call, the BYU Basketball Summer Prospectus.  Part one will consist of recapping last year’s Cougar Cagers squad.

The 2012-2013 BYU Basketball squad was the first Dave Rose team that didn’t go to the NCAA Tournament since Rose’ first season in 2005-06.  No NCAA appearance didn’t mean no post-season for the Cougars.  After an early exit from the WCC Tournament, BYU received a 3-seed in the NIT and made the most of their opportunity.  BYU defeated Washington, Mercer, and Southern Miss before falling to Baylor in the NIT Semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

Last year, BYU finished 24-12, one win shy of a seventh straight 25-win season for the program.  It was the second season in as many years that BYU finished third in the West Coast Conference.

To many, last year’s team was a disappointment.  But when you take a step back and look at how they overachieved, it was quite the coaching performance by Dave Rose and staff.  Before a game tipped off, two players that were expected to be key contributors as seniors were out for the season due to severe injuries (Chris Collinsworth, Stephen Rogers).

The NIT run gave what was a young team some confidence heading into the upcoming season. But before we dive into the new roster.  Let’s look at the guys BYU will have to replace from last season’s team.

Players who have moved on

• Brandon Davies, Forward/Center (Graduated)

Davies was named to All-West Coast Conference team as a senior last season.  Finished his BYU career with 1,680 points on a 52 shooting percentage from the field.

Davies was one of the better big men in BYU Basketball history.  Signed a partially guaranteed contract with the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers for this upcoming season.

• Brock Zylstra, Guard (Graduated) 

Zylstra was a former walk-on who had his moments of success at BYU.  The past two seasons, Zylstra’s role in the program increased.  Had a memorable and-one in the comeback against Iona in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.  Also, shot lights out against Southern Miss on the road in the NIT Quarterfinal, with a trip to Madison Square Garden at stake.

For every Zylstra highlight, there were many moments of frustration for Cougar fans with inconsistent shooting from the La Verne, California native.

We will miss throwing up our “Z’s” with Zylstra no longer donning the Cougar uniform.

• Craig Cusick, Guard (Graduated)

For being a walk-on Cusick gave BYU a lot of quality minutes in his career.  When Matt Carlino struggled at point guard, Cusick would be the guy Rose would turn to take over.  Known for being a calming presence on the floor, Cusick’s best moment was the game winner against Utah State this past season, the same day that Cusick found out his father had cancer.

• Bronson Kaufusi, Forward (Focusing on Football)

Kaufusi joined the basketball program in January after the football season completed.  Kaufusi who was a multi-sport star as a prep athlete at Timpview High was approached by Dave Rose to help the Cougar Cager frontcourt that lacked depth.  Kaufusi was a bull on the court that was known for his tough fouls (paging Kelly Olynyk).

Everyone enjoyed “LeBronson” on the court, but at the end of the day football is Kaufusi’s strong suit.  He has a potential NFL career ahead of him and it’s smart for him to focus on the gridiron.

• Chris Collinsworth (Graduated)
• Stephen Rogers (Graduated) 

Transferred / Left Program:

• Raul Delgado (Metro State)
• Augi Ambrosino
• Ian Harward (Retired from basketball)

Missions

• Cooper Ainge (Concecion, Chile mission)
• Cory Calvert (Boston, Massachusetts)

Notable stats from last season

• Tyler Haws was 11^th in the country with 20.9 points per game.
• 7 – the total number of road wins BYU had last season.  The fewest since the 2006-2007 season.
• 34% – BYU’s three-point shooting percentage.  For the first six seasons in Dave Rose tenure BYU shot above 40% from beyond the arc.
• 18 – number of games on BYUtv last year.
• 22-10 – The record for BYU in WCC games through two seasons. Not many people expected 10 loses through first two seasons of being in WCC.
• 23% – Brandon Davies accounted for 23 percent of BYU’s scoring last season.  Davies scored 637 points in 2012-2013.
• 18 – Matt Carlino’s ppg in the NIT.  Through 32 games in the regular season and the WCC Tournament, Carlino averaged only 10 ppg.

Tomorrow we will analyze each position group for the 2013-2014 BYU Basketball team in part two of our Summer Prospectus of Cougar Hoops.