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By now we’re all familiar with Dalton Nixon, right?

The 6-foot-7 senior forward has been an important cog in the Cougars’ machine during his tenure here, but did you know he has a sizable (and impressive) shoe collection? The Daily Universe wrote about Nixon’s “addiction” recently, talking to the Cougar about how his collection started and what the sneakerhead loves about it.

“It’s a huge part of who I am, huge part of my personality,” Nixon told the campus paper.

Understandably, Nixon’s love of shoes grew as his love of basketball grew.

It can be challenging for Nixon to find size 15 shoes, even online, but he’s found a way to grow his collection over the years.

Now here’s the crazy part: Nixon keeps about 20 pairs in the Marriott Center that he rotates through for practices and games — and that’s not even half of his collection. He still has another 40 pairs at home and another 20 pairs at his parents’ house.

That’s insane.

I guess I should stop giving my older sister such a hard time for her shoe collection of about 30 high heels. However, while my sister can’t find herself to part with any of her shoes (even if she hasn’t worn them for years), Nixon can.

He sold 20 of his most prized sneakers to be able to buy a ring to propose to his wife with.

Now that Nixon is married, he no longer buys as many sneakers as he did when he was single. He actually has to be strategic about it all — selling a pair before he can buy a new one.

I guess now I’ll be paying closer attention to what Nixon wears out on game days.

Trouble brewing for Taysom in the Big Easy?

They say you should never be in a relationship that comes down to ultimatums, but Taysom Hill is doing just that with the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints’ all-everything utility guy has expressed that he would prefer to not leave New Orleans, but if he’s not in the Saints’ long-term quarterback plans, he’s made it clear he will look at all of his options.

The Saints' longtime starter Drew Brees is considering retirement after 18 seasons in the league, potentially opening up the position for the 29-year-old BYU product.

“I definitely view myself as a franchise quarterback,” Hill told the Associated Press' Rob Maaddi. “I think as you look at, you know, the other questions, is it New Orleans? Is it somewhere else? As you go into free agency, this is the time that you start to find out how people view you. We haven't gotten into free agency long enough to really know how guys view me and we'll handle it as it comes.”

Hill threw for 6,929 yards and 43 touchdowns on 72.9% passing as a Cougar.

Three years later, and Hill is a third-string quarterback for the Saints, but that hasn’t stopped him from being a do-it-all for New Orleans. Hill also became the first player in NFL history to have a playoff game with at least 25 passing yards, 25 rushing yards and 25 receiving yards, according to Pro Football Reference, in this year’s wildcard game.

Taysom showed he could be the guy at BYU, and from here, it looks like he’s more than ready to take over with the Saints (should Brees retire, of course).

More thoughts

• On Wednesday, news broke of BYU linebacker Chaz Ah You’s DUI arrest. I’ve been seeing a lot voiced on the topic — both supportive and disapproving. Some have even questioned the arresting deputy. But here are the facts from the police report: Chaz was tracked going 75 mph in a 35 mph zone, was following other cars too closely and was changing lanes abruptly without signaling. Then there were also the two open containers found in the vehicle, along with the THC vape pen found in the center console. Once at the jail, Chaz also failed a couple of the sobriety tests, so suffice it to say that things don’t look good for the linebacker. But let the process play itself out.

• Speaking of BYU football, the 2020 season already saw a small change. The Cougars’ game at Northern Illinois will now be played in Chicago, at the GeekSeat Stadium, as part of a featured matchup called the 2020 Huskie Chi-Town Showdown. The Cougars and Huskies have previously met just once, when NIU defeated BYU 7-6 at LaVell Edwards Stadium in 2018. Now, BYU will return the home-and-home.

• This is a big week for the women’s basketball team, who is currently tied second with San Diego in the West Coast Conference standings. The Cougars will host Saint Mary’s on Thursday and Pacific on Saturday. San Diego will also see the same opponents this week – Pacific on Thursday and Saint Mary’s on Saturday — so getting two wins this week is crucial for BYU with the WCC Tournament three weeks away.

Other voices

• Kyle Dunphey of KSL Sports wrote about the 40k pound pork donation to the Utah Food Bank from Smithfield Food Inc. in collaboration with the BYU and Utah State football teams. Smithfield Foods donated 25 pounds for every point scored by the Cougars and Aggies.

• Redshirt freshman Kaylee Smiler has earned a bigger role on the women’s basketball team as of late, but her way to BYU is different than most, Darnell Dickson of the Daily Herald wrote.

• Former Cougar and current Los Angeles Angels’ relief pitcher Taylor Cole has been one of the most vocal within the MLB about the league’s investigation into the Astros’ cheating scandal, and would like for them to dig deeper, Trent Wood of the Deseret News wrote.