It's a no-brainer. If someone asked Jimmer Fredette if he would rather be playing in tonight's NCAA basketball championship game, or picking up another national player of the year award, I am sure he would still rather be playing. That's sort of the topic of this column in the Las Vegas Review Journal today.
Also, the RJ has another look at BYU graduate Jim Livengood's hunt to replace Lon Kruger at UNLV. It is looking more and more like BYU assistant Dave Rice is the frontrunner for the job. As of Sunday evening, Livengood had not contacted the other so-called favorite for the post, Reggie Theus.
One more link to pass along this morning: Here's Time magazine's take on the Brandon Davies situation.
Having talked to BYU spokesperson Carri Jenkins last Thursday about whether a decision has been made regarding Davies' future, I got the impression that nothing will be announced until after winter semester ends in a couple of weeks.
That's just my hunch; It didn't come from Jenkins.
She stressed that there is no timetable for the Honor Code office to conclude its review.
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The BYU football team will take today off, then resume spring camp on Tuesday -- most likely at the indoor practice facility. Another practice is scheduled for Thursday, and a the 70-play spring game will be conducted on Saturday at noon at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
"You kind of get to see what kind of team you have when you come out here [to the stadium]," Jake Heaps said Friday. "It is a different environment. There's something about coming out here an playing in your own stadium. Everyone gets a little bit juiced and a little more pumped up for it, and you get to see what guys show up when it counts.
So far, we have had a great spring, and we are just looking to end this last week on a high note."
Heaps said the momentum the team brought into spring camp due to its strong finish and bowl win has been helpful.
"That last half of the season, we finished on the right note, and our team was really jelling and clicking. It was fun in that locker room, being around all the guys and going to practice every day. It is tough when that ends, so this feels like we just started. We are excited about being out here together again.
We have a real exciting team. It is just a matter of us getting better one day at a time. We still have a lot of things we need to fix. But at the end of the day, we are doing really well and I really like where our team is at right now."
Heaps on the makeup of this year's team:
"BYU has always been a team where we have had some really good players, but not known for a lot of depth. This year we have talent all over the field in our ones and twos and threes, and with our offensive line, it is exciting because they are getting better and better. When our ones [on the offensive line] come back, we got guys that can fill in and do a good job there. So we are really excited about our development right now."
Heaps on what spring camp has been like:
"We have a great environment, a great attitude right now, stemming from our offensive coordinator and our head coach. Every coach is out here having a blast right, now. They are having a great time. I don't know if you guys can tell, but he's really having a great time, smiling a little bit more and having a good time out here with us. We have just really responded to him well. We are grateful for our coaching staff. They are doing a great job."
