BYU Basketball: The troubling lack of player development

The Status Quo

Dalton Nixon

Last year Nixon served as one of the primary bench minutes-eaters, working as a glue guy that crashed the boards and did the little things. His lack of a three-point shot (23.8%) made him a man without a position, though, since he’s too small to effectively play post defense and too poor a shooter to play a wing position.

His shooting has been even worse this year, hitting just 43.8% of his field goals and 6% of his three-pointers.

Yes, you read that right, just 6%.

As freshman Gavin Baxter has earned more minutes, Nixon as found himself out of the regular rotation.

Rylan Bergersen

Bergersen saw little playing time as a freshman last season, but showed glimpses of promise. In limited attempts he hit 52.6% of his shots and 40% of his three pointers. He was recruited as a sharpshooter, and the shot was there.

As a sophomore Bergersen has seen a lot more playing time, and while his overall game has improved, his shooting has dropped significantly. He’s hitting just 42.9% from the field and 29.2% from distance.

Luke Worthington

The senior has never had flashy stats. He played two seasons before serving a mission and the last two after his return. This is the first season he’s hitting more than half of his shots (55.3%), but he’s in foul trouble nearly every game.

And he’s never been a great rebounder. With his size he should be able to pull down more than 2.8 boards per game, which is his career high set last year.