With Heath Schroyer's firing, is BYU asst. Dave Rice a candidate for Wyo job?

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Just as the BYU Cougars were wrapping up a practice at the Marriott Center this afternoon, news broke that Wyoming had fired basketball coach Heath Schroyer. Of course, Schroyer is a former BYU assistant, but that's not the reason this report from the guy who broke the news of Schroyer's firing should be of interest to BYU fans. Brooks says that current BYU assistant Dave Rice is a candidate to replace Schroyer at Wyoming. After practice, I got some comments from Rice, who said he was not aware that Schroyer had been dismissed until practice had ended. "The only comment I would have right now is that my whole focus right now is on helping coach Rose and our staff get ready for Air Force on Wednesday," Rice said. Asked if he would be interested in the Wyoming opening, Rice said, "I have always made it a policy to not ever comment on any job that is not available." Ironically, BYU played at Wyoming last Wednesday and was almost upset by the Cowboys before taking a 69-62 decision. "We were up there last week, in Wyoming, and we were really impressed at how hard they played against us," Rice said. "It was a game that could have gone either way. We just made a few more plays down the stretch."—————————— Immediately after practice, head coach Dave Rose and assistant coaches Terry Nashif and Tim LaComb made a beeline for the airport. They are flying to Washington tonight to catch a game featuring junior wing player Jordan Chatman (son of former BYU star Jeff Chatman). The Cougars have already offered a scholarship to Jordan Chatman (along with Utah State and others), and the fact that three coaches are flying to watch him play just two days before a huge conference game says a lot about how much they want him to be a Cougar.—————————— Rose talked to reporters before practice today. Obviously, the most important questions were about the conditions of guard Kyle Collinsworth (concussion) and center James Anderson (slight shoulder separation). Neither player practiced on Monday. "Well, we will see. We will see how they [look] today. Kyle's situation is he won't do much at all today. James' range of motion is really limited. We will see once we get through today, see whether they progress any more tomorrow. But basically at this time of year, when you have those type of injuries, you have to move forward and assume you won't have them until they come back and actually get all the way in. So we will hope for the best," Rose said. Collinsworth talked to the media, too, saying he really wants to play but the decision rests with the training staff. Collinsworth said he must first pass a concussion protocol that all BYU players who have suffered concussions must pass before they return to action.