Eye On The Y is The Salt Lake Tribune’s weekly newsletter on BYU athletics. Subscribe here.
It is kind of a running joke — or annual commiseration — among those of us who cover BYU sports on a daily basis that Cougar football players are rarely drafted as high as their coaches and some of the experts say they will be.
That’s why it was mildly surprising last Friday to see linebacker Sione Takitaki get selected in the third round. A few mock drafts had Takitaki going that early, but most had him going in rounds 5-7. A few had him pegged as an undrafted free-agent, which is the route Corbin Kaufusi, Tanner Mangum and Dylan Collie will have to take to the NFL.
Regardless, it was nice to see the humble, hard-working Takitaki get drafted, after all he’s been through at BYU. Granted, he brought most of his troubles upon himself with some poor decisions, but it has been great to witness firsthand his turnaround, with the help of his incredibly supportive wife, Alyssa.
Hopefully, it will also be a lesson for BYU administrators when they are wondering whether or not to give their students a second, third or even fourth chance.
Coach Kalani Sitake is already getting some commitments from members of the 2020 football signing class.
Here’s a great piece in the Provo Daily Herald on how Takitaki optimized his chances. The newspaper also detailed Corbin Kaufusi’s draft experience.
Basketball staff comes together
Last week’s other big news was the finalization of new basketball coach Mark Pope’s new staff. It seemed kind of peculiar for BYU to hold a news conference to introduce Chris Burgess, Cody Feuger and Nick Robinson, but it was pulled off well and the gathering was both informative and entertaining.
Patrick Kinahan of KSL.com penned this piece on Burgess’ landing in Provo, and the Deseret News lauded it as well.
Among other basketball-related developments was rising senior Yoeli Childs’ snub from the NBA Scouting Combine and American Fork prep star Trey Stewart’s announcement, reported by the Daily Herald, that he will attend BYU — and not Utah Valley — after a church mission.
Quotable
The story of how one-time California prep basketball star Burgess “let down nine million Mormons,” in former BYU coach Roger Reid’s words, when he chose Duke over BYU in November of 1996 when he was coming out of Woodbridge High, has been told ad nauseam in Provo and elsewhere.
So what did Burgess have to say when he was reminded of that last week?
“BYU has been around my family for a long, long time, my whole life,” he said. “So to be at this school at this time, I couldn’t be happier.”
Around campus
• BYU’s baseball team received a much-deserved national ranking on Monday — landing at No. 25 in the Baseball America poll — but suffered a tough 3-2 decision at California hours later. The Cougars were also ranked No. 27 by Collegiate Baseball and were two spots out of the USA Today/Coaches Top 25.
At Berkeley, BYU (29-11) went up 2-0 in the fifth inning, but Cal (24-15) answered with two in the fifth and one in the seventh to get the win and snap the Cougars’ five-game winning streak.
BYU returns to WCC play this weekend with a three-game set at Loyola Marymount. One of the reasons for BYU’s success this season is first baseman and leadoff hitter Brian Hsu, featured in his article in the Deseret News.
Also, former Cougar and Bingham High product Brennon Lund is a member of the Salt Lake Bees and talks about adjusting to Triple-A baseball in this Deseret News piece.
• BYU’s softball team lost 11-2 to rival Utah on Wednesday night at chilly Gail Miller Field as Utah won the Deseret Duel for the first time since 2014. I attended the game and filed this report on why there are 20-30 minute sun delays late in the season.
The Cougars, who went 4-0 last week, play at Saint Mary’s this weekend, with one game set for Friday and a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday afternoon in Moraga, Calif. Leadoff hitter and left-fielder Rylee Jensen leads the Cougars, and you can read all about Jensen’s rise in this piece from Tuesday’s Tribune.
• BYU’s women’s golf team didn’t take the WCC championships last week, but senior star Rose Huang qualified for the NCAA Regionals as an individual. Huang, from Hawaii, will compete at the Cle Elum Regional at Tumble Creek Golf Club in Washington May 6-8. Huang tied for fourth at the regionals last year and advanced to the national championships. She had five top-10 finishes this year, including second at last week’s WCC championships.
Huang and teammate Naomi Soifua earned All-WCC honors.
• BYU golfer Peter Kuest is the WCC Player of the Year in men’s golf after winning five tournaments this season. Rhett Rasmussen joined Kuest on the first team, and freshman Carson Lundell made honorable mention. The Cougars finished a disappointing fourth at the WCC championships in Stockton, Calif., last week, but still received a bid to play in the NCAA Regionals May 14-16.
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