BYU Basketball: Three burning questions as practices begin
By Shaun Gordon
How will Baxter, Harding, and Lee fit in?
The Cougars have three highly touted recruits that will suit up this season. Gavin Baxter is a 4-Star small forward who returned from his mission in the offseason. Same with Connor Harding, a 3-Star small forward who’s back and ready to go.
Then there’s Kolby Lee. The 3-Star big man joined the team midway through last season, using his redshirt in 2017-18.
All three will have an opportunity to play immediately. The Cougars haven’t had a legitimate small forward since Kyle Collinsworth graduated, and even then he was more of a point forward.
If both Harding and Baxter are ready to play, they’ll both get rotation minutes. That’s a big if, though. The best case scenario would be seeing one of them crack the starting lineup, most likely Baxter, while the other gets substantial minutes off the bench.
BYU needs Lee to become a reliable part of the post rotation. There’s not much depth in the post behind Yoeli Childs, Luke Worthington, and Dalton Nixon, so the path is wide open for him to get at least 10-15 minutes a night if he earns them.
If at least two of the three can provide consistent play in significant minutes this season, it will go a long way toward a successful season.