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BYU's men's basketball roster is suddenly down to zero seniors.
The Cougars announced on Wednesday afternoon that senior guard L.J. Rose, a graduate transfer from Houston, will have surgery on Friday to repair the meniscus in his right knee.
The surgery might not be season-ending, as fellow senior Kyle Davis's was earlier this season. BYU said a timeline for Rose's return to the court will be determined following the procedure.
Best case is probably a return for the conference tournament, which begins March 3 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
That would mark a quick recovery. Sophomore guard Elijah Bryant had meniscus surgery before the season and his first attempt at a comeback failed. He said he wasn't ready and tried to come back too quickly.
Bryant has played well after the second comeback and will most likely take Rose's place in the starting lineup. TJ Haws and Rose were sharing point guard duties, so the freshman will obviously take that spot full-time, perhaps getting some backup help from Nick Emery and Bryant.
Freshman Steven Beo is likely the first point guard option off the bench.
The Cougars will now start two freshmen — Haws and Yoeli Childs — and three sophomores: Bryant, Emery and Eric Mika. That's crazy young, although Mika, Haws and Emery have served two-year church missions and are older than their same-year-eligibility peers. Bryant is a redshirt sophomore, per se, because he sat out last year after transferring from Elon University.
As for L.J. Rose, the captain had been experiencing discomfort in his right knee the past few weeks, coach Dave Rose said in Tuesday's press briefing.
L.J. Rose underwent an MRI on Monday that revealed a tear in his meniscus, according to the BYU press release.
He has started in all 25 games for the 17-8 Cougars and has averaged 5.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and a team-best 4.5 assist. His assist-turnover ratio of 2.8 to 1 is third-best in the West Coast Conference.
Rose graduated from Houston with a degree in health and is enrolled at BYU as a graduate student.