After two years of scrambling to fill his roster, this year Dave Rose may have the opposite problem: too many players and not enough scholarships.
Very few schools have more turnover than BYU.
It doesn’t matter what sport. Between missions, marriages, and transfers, it’s a constant juggling act for coaches to predict who they’ll have in future seasons.
Sometimes, those coaches are left scrambling trying to find enough bodies to fill out the roster.
Other times, that roster is too full.
BYU basketball has been a perfect example of having too few players in the past few years. After the 2015-16 season, the Cougars knew they were losing four players. Kyle Collinsworth, Nate Austin, and Chase Fischer were graduating and Zac Seljaas was leaving for a mission.
The six other players they lost weren’t as expected. Jake Toolson, Corey Calvert, and Jordan Chatman transferred, while Crew Ainge, Alan Hamson, and Jakob Hartsock all left basketball completely.
The next offseason was much the same. Kyle Davis and LJ Rose graduated and Colby Leifson left for a mission. But then Zach Frampton, Steven Beo, and Jamal Aytes transferred. Corbin Kaufusi decided to focus on football full-time. Davin Guinn and Nick Emery left for personal reasons.
BYU managed to survive those two seasons of turmoil by finding extra freshmen and sprinkling in a few junior college transfers.
This year though, Dave Rose has a completely different challenge on his hands. NCAA Basketball teams have 13 scholarships each year. BYU loses no one to graduation. They have 12 players returning on scholarship. There are two scholarship players returning from their mission. And there’s one Nick Emery.
Something’s gotta give.