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Provo • Even though two-year starting center Corbin Kaufusi won't join the BYU basketball team until late December, coach Dave Rose believes his front line in the 2016-17 season has the potential to be special.
"To me, there's no question that we have the deepest, most-talented front line since I've been here, at least on paper," said Rose, who is entering his 12th season. "We will see how it plays out on the court."
The 6-foot-9 Kaufusi is having a greater impact on the football field for the Cougars at defensive end than anyone expected when he announced last April that he was going to play both sports. He last week confirmed his plans to return to the hardwoods when the football season ends. That will be at the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 21 if the 3-3 Cougars get to six wins or more. The final regular season football game is Nov. 26 against Utah State.
Until then, the Cougars will rely on 6-foot-10 returned LDS missionaries Eric Mika and Payton Dastrup, 6-8 returning starter Kyle Davis, 6-9 sophomore Braiden Shaw, 6-6 junior Jamal Aytes and 6-8 freshman Yoeli Childs to man their power forward and center positions. Mika averaged 11.8 points and 6.4 rebounds as a freshman in 2013-14 before an LDS mission to Italy.
After several seasons of minimal low-post scoring, Rose is eager to return to the post-up style of basketball he prefers when the Cougars are in their half-court sets.
"We have adjusted quite a few things offensively to use that, and we've adjusted quite a few things defensively," he said last month. "We will have bigger, stronger, more physical players on the floor, for more minutes, during a game. That should help us be more consistent."
Rotating point guards
Although transfer guards LJ Rose (Houston) and Elijah Bryant (Elon University) have been slowed by injuries the first two weeks of training camp, Rose is also bullish on his situation at point guard as the Cougars look to replace triple-double machine Kyle Collinsworth.
"The way I look at it right now is we've got four or five guys who can play the point guard position," Rose said. "I am going to let that kind of play out, work itself out as we play through the preseason. I am not really as worried about our point guard position as I am the way we are going to play with our guards. I am actually really excited to have a group of guys who are really skilled at that guard position."
Sophomore Nick Emery, a returning starter, returned missionary T.J. Haws and freshman Steven Beo are also in the running to get playing time at the point position. Bryant is listed as a wing, but played some point at Elon in 2014-15.
"It is a very versatile, skilled group of guys, maybe the best we've had with the opportunity to play that position," Rose said in September. "We will see how it plays out."
Sports Illustrated unveiled its projections for the top 100 scoring transfers recently and listed Bryant at No. 16 (11.8 ppg.) and LJ Rose at No. 38 (9.5 ppg.).
Plenty of ESPN
The West Coast Conference released its broadcast coverage plans for the 2016-17 season, and 16 of the conference's regular season games will be broadcast on the ESPN Networks. Seven of those ESPN-televised WCC games will include BYU, most notably the Jan. 5 game at Saint Mary's, the Feb. 2 home game against Gonzaga, the Feb. 18 home games against Saint Mary's and the Feb. 25 season-finale at Gonzaga.
The Cougars will also play on an ESPN network Jan. 26 at Santa Clara, Feb. 9 at Pepperdine and Feb. 16 in Provo against San Diego.
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU preseason schedule
P At the Marriott Center, Provo
Oct. 21 • Boom Shakalaka (skills challenge), 7 p.m.
Oct. 26 • Cougar Tipoff Intrasquad Game, 7 p.m.
Oct. 29 • Exhibition vs. Seattle Pacific, 7 p.m.
Nov. 9 • Exhibition vs. BYU-Hawaii, 7 p.m.