BYU Basketball: Building the ultimate BYU NCAA team
By Adam Gibby
Small Forward
Starter: Michael Smith (1983-1984, 1986-1989)
Michael Smith may be one of the best all around underrated players in BYU Basketball history. Smith, after his mission, averaged 22.3 points on .513 shooting including .428 from behind the arc, and pulled down 7.8 rebounds. He is the second all time in scoring for BYU and first in rebounds. Although he is built more as a power forward at 6’10”, his ability to space the floor and hit the three alongside the other strong forwards on this list, moving Smith to small forward makes the most sense.
Backup 1: Jackson Emery (2005-2006, 2008-2011)
Similar to Jimmer Fredette we are changing Emery’s position to better use his abilities to contribute. Emery would be a defensive player on this team and a spark player if needing a three. Emery is the all time leader in steals for BYU Basketball with 1.9 per game and shot .396 from behind the arc in his final two seasons as a Cougar. Although he would be smaller against other small forwards, his defensive intensity and ability to knock down the three at a high rate would actually cause a mismatch to other teams.
Backup 2: Jonathan Tavernari (2006-2010)
Tavernari is second on BYU’s all time three pointers list with 265 made threes. Tavernari was a floor spacer who was also able to play good defense. During his career, he averaged 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, exactly the type of stats you would hope to get from a small forward. The craziest part may be that Tavernari only started in about 50% of the games he played in.