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If you are interested in applying for the BYU basketball assistant coaching position vacated by Terry Nashif two weeks ago, you better hurry.

The position — posted here — closes on Thursday, head coach Dave Rose said on Tuesday during his roundtable discussion with reporters who cover the team.

If he had his druthers, Rose said he would "like to have him hired tomorrow." But there's always a "process" at BYU, the coach said, noting that realistically he hopes to have someone in place by the first or second week of May. More likely, it will happen closer to the end of May than the beginning.

It didn't sound like Nashif's departure took Rose totally by surprise, because the two men discussed Nashif's future after every season and had agreed to "take it each year at a time and see how things worked out," Rose said, calling the days leading up to April 13 "a pretty intense process."

Rose said the fact that Nashif had a job in Salt Lake City within five or six days of his departure was a pretty good indicator that he had been pondering a career change for quite some time.

"He is an unbelievable guy, and has got great talents, and he's got a real bright future ahead of him. I am actually really proud of him. I think that's a hard thing to do, but he's ready to make the switch and get rolling," Rose said.

So who's next? What is Rose looking for in his next assistant coach?

"Well, I think there are all kinds of applicants, and all kinds of interest, and you can sit here and say you want a guy with all kinds of experience, but [if] you don't do due diligence to the group of guys that are going to apply that don't have a lot of experience but have a lot of energy and are ready for this position [you're wrong].

It wasn't that long ago — it seems like a long time ago — but I can remember my first job interview, and I thought I was totally 100 percent prepared for the position and ready to go and I could bring a ton to the program, and they went with a guy who had been coaching for 10 years and I couldn't understand it. It made no sense to me at that time.

I think what I am looking for and what I will get is exactly what I find. But I want to make sure I give all the applicants a real opportunity, which is what they deserve, for me to consider them."

Pressed on what kind of coach he is specifically looking for, Rose said:

"I like team guys. And I want a guy who has been down in the trenches and been challenged, and always seems to rise with a real positive attitude and positive results. That can be in the coaching profession, but could be, you get a lot of people who have always wanted to coach and feel like now is the time for them to actually make that move.

That is probably going to be a little bit difficult in this situation, but they will still be considered."

Nashif directed BYU's offense, while Quincy Lewis was in charge of the defense.

Rose wouldn't say whether roles will be adjusted based on the new coach's strengths.

"I think that I am looking for an all-around guy who is a team guy who can fit into the places that we feel we need to improve. Our staff will take a real look at how we want to assign things out for the next year, and I hope we've got a real balanced guy who we feel comfortable with in doing any responsibility.

I do know that the lifeblood of any program is recruiting, so the guy who has extensive recruiting ties is someone who could be real valuable to us."

Assistant coach talk was just part of Rose's 30-minute Q&A Tuesday. More to come in subsequent posts.