Moraga, Calif. • BYU basketball coach Dave Rose turned 60 last month and is in his 13th season coaching the Cougars after spending eight years in Provo as an assistant to coach Steve Cleveland.
He has overcome cancer twice and has showed no signs of slowing down. Is he close to calling it a career?
BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe doesn’t think so.
Asked if he is “aggressively preparing” for Rose’s “departure” from the program during his roundtable discussion with reporters on Wednesday, Holmoe shook his head.
“I am not aggressive at all. I think that I am well aware of where he’s at,” Holmoe said. “This has been a really good, resurgent year. Dave is in a position where I think, between the two of us, we will discuss that when the time comes. But it is not now.”
Rose had a 322-115 career record heading into Thursday’s late game at Saint Mary’s.
Will Emery return
Holmoe said BYU remains in contact with junior guard Nick Emery, who was the focus of a school and NCAA investigation regarding improper benefits when he withdrew from the team the day before the season opener.
Holmoe said he doesn’t know when Emery’s case will be resolved, but does know why it is taking awhile for the NCAA to issue a ruling.
“One of the things that happened, when he withdrew from school, because of some of the things that were going on in college basketball at that time, some of the other cases, they just said that, ‘Can we put this over here on the back burner for a little bit now?’ I think it would probably have been solved a little bit earlier if that were not the case, because we would have had to work on reinstatement.”
Holmoe said restitution is required when an athlete receives improper benefits. Emery is alleged to have received trips to amusement parks and concerts and the use of a new car from a BYU booster.
“As soon as it was identified that it was a problem, we have just been working with the NCAA from day one,” Holmoe said. “So there was no time in between, where we considered it, thought about it. The way it works with the NCAA is when you have a problem, you call them right away and you deal with it.”
Tuesday, an NCAA spokeswoman declined to provide any information on Emery’s case.
“Due to rules put in place by our members, I cannot comment on current, pending or potential investigations,” said Emily James, associate director of public and media relations at the NCAA.
Worthington two cents
Junior center Luke Worthington was a freshman on the 2013-14 BYU team that beat Saint Mary’s 60-57 at McKeon on Feb. 15, 2014, to spoil Matthew Dellavedova’s jersey retirement night. Before Thursday’s game, Worthington surprisingly said this team is better than that Kyle Collinsworth-led team in 2014.
“I think this team is the best team that I’ve played on,” Worthington said. “Actually, I know it is the best team that I’ve played on.”
Briefly
With six Australians on its roster, Saint Mary’s celebrated “Australia Night” on Thursday. … For the fifth straight game, BYU coach Dave Rose started Zac Seljaas, Yoeli Childs, Elijah Bryant, TJ Haws and Jahshire Hardnett. … Bryant hit a 3-pointer in the first four minutes to extend his streak to 22 games with a made 3-pointer.
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