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Athletic director Tom Holmoe was in Indianapolis as a first-year member of the NCAA Tournament Men's Basketball Selection Committee two weeks ago when BYU announced a new contract for coach Dave Rose and then renovations to the Marriott Center and a new basketball practice facility the next day.
So, Tuesday's roundtable discussion marked the first chance for Holmoe to talk publicly about the big news items for the basketball program.
Holmoe seconded Brian Santiago's statement on Feb. 10 that Rose's new deal and the facility upgrades are linked.
"Let me just say this: We just signed Dave to a five-year extension," Holmoe said. "He is our basketball coach. He is the face of our program. He is the program. Now, those players on the court, on game day [are important], but it is our coaches and players together. We have had a lot of players come and go, and Dave has been here for 10 years. And he is going to hopefully be here for 15 and more. So I think those announcements came together because I look at them as being one and the same."
Holmoe said the practice facility is vital to the rise of both the men's and women's basketball programs.
"I am grateful that we were able to do it. We have great support from our administration and great support from our donors. It was a private fundraising enterprise, and it worked. It was a long and arduous thing and it worked. Dave Rose is thrilled to be able to have that piece of his program put together, and it will help us in great ways."
Of course, Holmoe will leave the room when BYU or any West Coast Conference teams are discussed by the Selection Committee. The Cougars (21-8 heading into Thursday night's game at Portland) can move a spot or two closer to a bid with a win at Chiles Center. A win at No. 3 Gonzaga on Saturday night might do the trick. The Cougars haven't come close to beating the Zags in the Kennel in three previous tries, however, and this might be the best Gonzaga team yet.
As for Holmoe's experience so far on the committee, he went into this detailed report:
"Let me just clarify my position on the basketball committee," he said. "It is that I am one of three rookies. So I don't have all the answers, for sure. But I am going into this with one year of really intensive training. They do a great job of training the new members. We are trained by the staff and the existing members. I think there are some extreme — I call them hoopologists — on the committee. The staff is incredible, but the committee members, there are a few people there that really know their basketball, and they really understand the NCAA basketball tournament as well as anybody I have ever talked to.
So I am kind of watching them. Going into this first year, I see all these formulas, and I know all the criteria, and I am watching the teams. I am going to have my vote. So it is important to me. I am not just going to tag along. But I might change in the future. For the time being, I am going to look at all of it. I have watched more basketball this year than I have in the previous 10 years. Not that I haven't paid attention [before]. But I have watched a lot of basketball lately. And I have followed the lead of those other nine members.
So RPI is an important piece of information, of research and statistical analysis that people look at. But each member, they don't tell us how much we have to weigh each one of these pieces of criteria. But for me, I can only answer for myself, it is something that I look at, but amongst a lot of other pieces of statistical information, and my opportunity to watch the games. …
"We went through this mock selection, and they asked me, OK, Tom, talk about your conferences," Holmoe continued. "And I am not going to start dropping RPI and things like that, because everybody has that. What I have to contribute to that committee is my feeling about those basketball teams and their coaches and players.
I have mentioned this before: I love the film work. I love watching the games and analyzing the actual players. There is no statistical analysis that tells me how a player is going to play, other than points per game, and the thing that probably inspires me the most is big-time players, and just the intangibles, and there is no stat for that. So it will be interesting in the room this year and how my 1 out of 10 vote, how that fits."