Time to panic after BYU basketball missed out on yet another starting center recruit?

BYU basketball has whiffed on yet another potential starting center prospect, this time Obinna Ekezie Jr, who announced his commitment to Louisville earlier today.

Do you remember that show "Hole in the Wall"? It was a game show where participants would balance on a narrow platform with a giant moving wall rapidly approaching. But here's the catch. This wall -- get this -- always had a different-shaped hole to fit through.

I've found some clips from the Japanese version, for increased entertainment value.

Maybe it was a square or a circle. It could be a tall, narrow rectangle or a short, wide triangle. Whatever shape the hole, you would have to become the right shape peg to slide through without getting caught. It's like high-stakes life-size Operation, only instead of surgery and buzzers, it's a fall into a giant pool of water.

Stay with me now, I promise this is relevant.

The college basketball season can often feel like an extended game of "Hole in the Wall". If you want to beat this team, you'll need a player who can fit into this hole, etc. If you want to compete for the Big 12 Championship and a run at the Final Four, you need a very specific player archetype: a 7-foot center who plays physical, can rebound, and protects the paint while still being productive on the offensive end.

That shape is the dodecahedron-shaped hole that only the truly elite can fit through. In other words, high-level college basketball is not for the faint of heart.

I know what you're thinking: if the hole is shaped like a 7-foot-tall individual, wouldn't a smaller person fit through without any problem? It's not a perfect analogy, but how about we both pretend it was profound? Can we do that?

Here's the point: without a strong option at the center position, BYU basketball will find themselves in the exact same position they were last season. All the talent you could ask for at the top, but without a proper supporting cast to round out a five-man lineup. We learned how that works during the AJ Dybantsa season -- no need for a refresher course.

So the question is simple: is everything still going according to plan, or is Kevin Young's team starting to feel the heat?

The Cougars are still far from out of options, as international bigs and recruiting efforts could still bring up the type of player that BYU has wanted all along, but there's no denying that the Cougars are toing the line and dreading on dangerous land if the goal is to translate recruiting success into on-court success.

Ekezie is out of the picture; what does Kevin Young do now?

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow