BYU basketball: Three reasons why 2017-18 will be a bad year for the Cougars

BYU basketball had a rough year in 2016-17. Unfortunately for the Cougars, things might not be better next season.

With any luck, things will turn around for BYU basketball.

Dave Rose will find a competent coach to add to the staff, Eric Mika will return, the bench will fill out and the Cougars will be competitive.

Nigel Williams-Goss of Gonzaga is going pro, so that helps BYU basketball’s chances.

Still, things might get worse before they get better.

Eric Mika is going to the NBA

Eric Mika comes back, and BYU basketball is good enough to contend for the No. 2 seed in the West Coast Conference. Assuming there are no major disappointments, BYU goes dancing.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Mika is returning to Provo.

Watching him speak to the media, he doesn’t seem like a man that’s considering a collegiate return. Even though he claims to be keeping his options open, I have a hard time seeing him come back.

This is made even more depressing when you look at his draft stock. Most NBA draft analysts have him as a second round selection (somewhere around the 50th best player overall). If Mika was going to be a lottery pick, it’d make a ton of sense to leave. A second round pick? That makes it sting even more.