BYU Basketball: Reviewing a rollercoaster 2017-18 season

The 2017-18 season was a wild ride for BYU basketball, full of both ups and downs throughout the year.

It’s not often that a season plays out pretty much exactly like most experts predict. It’s even less often that it happens in such an up-and-down manner, but that’s exactly what happened for BYU basketball this year.

Entering the season, Ken Pomeroy predicted that the Cougars as the 72nd best team in the country.

They finished 71st.

Preseason prognosticators predicted that they’d finish third in the WCC.

They finished third

BYU didn’t exceed expectations, nor did they fail to meet them. They hit them right on the nose.

But starting before the year even began, the Cougars’ season could really be split into four parts, with some pretty high highs and some even lower lows.

Offseason Losses

The story of this season began just after the last one ended. Eric Mika, BYU’s primary scorer and focal-point on offense, declared for the NBA draft. He remained in the draft, even with little chance of being chosen, ultimately electing to play professionally overseas.

The Cougars acted quickly to fill his and other open slots. They brought in two Junior College transfers, Jashire Hardnett and Kajon Brown, and freshman Rylan Bergersen. McKay Cannon transferred from Weber State as well, but wasn’t expected to be eligible to play due to transfer rules.

But then the attrition returned. Nick Emery came under fire for allegedly receiving improper benefits, and withdrew from school to handle the fallout.

And just like that, two of the key elements from the previous season were gone, leaving a lack of depth and an even more striking lack of experience.