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Provo • Some basketball coaches would have been thrown for a loop, but not BYU's Dave Rose.
When BYU forward Luke Worthington unexpectedly — to coaches, anyway — announced on Tuesday that he plans to leave the basketball program and serve a two-year church mission, Rose barely flinched, although the 6-foot-10 sophomore from Mequon, Wis., had previously said he would play four straight years.
"That is part of this job," Rose said. "I think that it is a great thing for him, and we will support him and wish him the best."
Worthington's minutes and starts have been reduced recently with the emergence of freshman Corbin Kaufusi, a returned missionary, but he said Wednesday as the Cougars continued preparations for Portland (Thursday, 8 p.m. MST) that he started thinking about leaving a couple months ago and his decision has nothing to do with his current role on the team.
"People ask all the time why you are [recruiting] this player or that player, or what you are out looking for, and I have said this since the first day I got here 18 years ago," Rose said. "You are always out recruiting at BYU because you never really know what's going to happen next. So this is just one instance of possibilities that can happen."
Rose faces a scholarship crunch next season, with Bountiful's Zac Seljaas and returning missionaries Jakob Hartsock, Braiden Shaw, Nick Emery and Cory Calvert slated to join the team, so Worthington's decision alleviates that a bit.
Worthington will head out with freshmen Ryan Andrus and Dalton Nixon. Rose said another freshman, Jake Toolson, "is still trying to decide what is the best thing for him."
Still, Worthington's departure will cause them to readjust.
"There are three or four [prospects] that we have discussed and talked about and who we will at least evaluate again and then maybe gauge some of their interest and go from there," he said.
Record within reach
Tyler Haws needs just seven points to pass Jimmer Fredette on BYU's all-time scoring list and will quite likely get the record at Chiles Center on Thursday. Fredette had 2,599 points from 2007-11.
Coincidentally, Haws' career-high 48 points came at Chiles Center last year in a triple-overtime loss to the Pilots.
"Yeah, it is cool," Haws said. "I love that gym. It is a fun place to play, and they are a good team. They play really well at home. And it is a shooter's gym."
Haws said it doesn't really matter what kind of shot breaks the record. He just wants to get it behind him and focus on winning games.
"I hear about it at school, and just when I am around my apartment," he said. "I try and just focus on what we are doing as a team. We have some really important weeks ahead of us. I am caught up in the team stuff right now, and it is kind of hard to appreciate the other stuff that is going on."
Twitter: @drewjay —
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