| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
PROVO, Utah -- The stereotypes are gone at BYU. Basketball is actually being played above the rim, by a high-flying players who can jump to the basket with anyone, by a team that runs whenever it gets the chance.
BYU basketball is back, but it's not what it once was.
And, for that reason alone, the Cougars can now compete with the athletic teams not only in the Mountain West (see: Wyoming, UNLV and New Mexico), but also its bitter rival in Salt Lake City (look up: Utah).
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“ |
At
Midnight Madness it was a dunk fest. People here were astounded by the way we play,
the athleticism of the team. There's definitely a buzz here. ” |
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— Mekeli Wesley,
BYU senior forward |
"What goes along with the white (player) stereotypes is that they can't jump and that they're mainly catch and shoot guys like a lot of D-I white guards in the NCAA," said senior forward and MWC all-star Mekeli Wesley. "But we've got guys who can go to the rack and finish. The athleticism of our players will surprise people.
"At Midnight Madness it was a dunk fest. People here were astounded by the way we play, the athleticism of the team. There's definitely a buzz here."
That buzz could last into March if the Cougars can translate their athleticism into a team that can run with the MWC's best and earn a potential NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 1995 -- two seasons before the Cougars finished 1-25.
"It's a shock to the fans here," said BYU guard Terrell Lyday, who followed coach Steve Cleveland from Fresno City College, two years after Cleveland left the junior college to take over the Mormon-run school.
"It's like where did these guys come from? It's incredible for them," added Lyday, the only Black player on the team. "We're going to do a lot of running and fast breaks and things they didn't see three years ago. This program is so different for me and a lot others. It's going to be the most exciting that BYU has had for a while and I think they're ready for it now. It'll be a shock to the older people, but not the young kids."
That's what Cleveland envisioned when he arrived in Provo in the spring of 1997. Then-BYU athletics director Rondo Fehlberg shocked the Provo community by selecting a relative unknown in the coaching profession. Sure, Cleveland was a member of the LDS church, but he wasn't a name as regional as Stew Morrill (Montana/Colorado State and now Utah State coach) or as national as Jim Harrick (Pepperdine/UCLA/Rhode Island and now Georgia coach). And he wasn't Danny Ainge, BYU's favorite basketball son who was rumored to be a candidate, even though he was coaching the Phoenix Suns at the time.
But four years later, Fehlberg's selection of Cleveland looks like tremendous foresight. Cleveland has broken down the racial barriers, sprinkling in a few black players and changing BYU's predictable system. Cleveland weathered a few Honor Code violations by his players (cohabitation and at least one drug incident). He introduced transfers to the Cougars, both four-year (Kentucky's Nate Knight and Utah's Trent Whiting) and junior college, while also locking up some of the state's top LDS talent like McDonald's all-American Garner Meads.
But Cleveland has done more than change the ethnic makeup of the roster, he has modernized the style of play to keep up in college basketball.
And he's won, winning nine games the first year, 12 the next and 22 last season to earn a NIT quarterfinal appearance and a win over Utah in the Mountain West tournament semifinals. That win alone helped the Cougars psychologically throughout the offseason in the state.
"Athletic players are the type of players Dave and I have coached," Cleveland said of associate head coach Dave Rose, a former Dixie (Utah) College head coach and member of the 1983 runner-up Houston Cougars. "I'm drawn to that type of player. Those are the type of players we want to coach and the kind of system we want to run. To do the things defensively, we need athletic players.
"To win late in the season and in the postseason, you need athleticism," Cleveland said during ESPN.com's preseason tour Monday. "It gets to a point where everyone takes you out of what you want to do and it comes down to making plays. If we can get athleticism and execution then we're much better. The prototype BYU team has big post players and big shooting guards. This is the most athletic BYU has ever been."
But it's still fragile.
The plan this season was for Lyday to share the point and backcourt with Michael Vranes, a quick afoot defender who could guard supposedly quicker guards like New Mexico's Lamont Long and Utah's Tony Harvey. But Cleveland said Vranes is out for the year with a foot injury.
That puts more pressure on Lyday to stay on the court. The 6-3 Lyday averaged 17 points a game and earned MWC newcomer of the year honors for his all-around game. He was a decent defender and a sharp shooter to go along with his ability to drive by a player for a jam.
But Lyday will get some help when Whiting is eligible in mid-December after transferring from Utah. Whiting arrives just in time for an the athletic Pearl Harbor Invitational at BYU-Hawaii where the Cougars could face USC and/or Iowa State. Whiting will likely play the point, allowing Lyday to be free on the wing.
Cleveland said the Cougars are as athletic up front as they've ever been with Utah Valley State College and returning missionary Travis Hansen expected to start at small forward. Senior and MWC all-star Mekeli Wesley, a 6-9 forward who averaged 16.8 points and 5.8 rebouns last season, will join 6-9 Eric Nielsen (5.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg) inside.
"Most people here are a buck 10 coming off the bench so you have to have some athleticism," Lyday said in jest of his slender teammates. "Nielsen is like what 6-8, 180 (actually 6-9, 215), so he has to go around them. But people will find out. Don't go to the rim if Eric Nielsen is coming down. We either had to get quicker or get bigger to keep up with the athletic guys in this league."
But the Cougars can't be one-dimensional offensively. Wesley has to post-up enough to where he's a viable option. A third and fourth post player like Knight (eligible mid-December), Meads, Jacob Chrisman and/or Derek Dawes has to emerge for the Cougars to have a chance.
BYU also has to push the ball to make the altitude a factor in Provo for opposing teams, similar to what Wyoming is doing in Laramie. And the Cougars have to have a few more guys like Lyday and Whiting, someone like Daniel Bobik or Matt Montague, players who can beat a player off the dribble and get into the lane and finish.
But Cleveland has a chore to keep the athleticism in place in Provo. The Cougars will lose Lyday, Wesley and Whiting because they're seniors. Meads and Dawes are likely going on a mission. Lyday said it's sad to see these guys leaving, knowing that Cleveland is faced with a never-ending process of trying to keep up in recruiting athletes.
"You don't come in here and fix this thing overnight," said Cleveland, who will get high-scoring athletic guard Mark Bigelow off a mission next year. "It's a six or seven-year deal. We're OK now. It's important for us to keep signing the top LDS players, which is our lifeblood. But we've got to find a junior college player or two to help us."
Do that and BYU can continue to be a factor in a fullcourt game, and ultimately, in competing for a NCAA Tournament berth.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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