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Five BYU seniors ready for Marriott Center sendoff |
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JaredLloyd | Saturday, March 3, 2007, 3:30 pm
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Jason Franchuk
DAILY HERALD
The road to redemption, and the dream that could come true today, was paved a couple of Aprils ago.
The quick version: Team goes 9-21 to finish the 2004-05 campaign, head coach leaves, longtime assistant gets hired ... and the young and frustrated returning players, assured there was still a place for them if they worked hard enough, continue to improve every facet of their physiques and games.
There are five senior Cougars aiming for a Mountain West Conference championship, which could be all theirs with a win against Utah in a 5:30 p.m. tipoff at the Marriott Center.
Austin Ainge, Jimmy Balderson, Fernando Malaman, Mike Rose and Keena Young have been through just about everything in their varied college careers, which will converge for a final home game.
Getting to this point, however, may have been about more than sprints, weights and protein gulps. The primary source of success may have been the simple act of friendship.
They spent so much time together a couple of years ago, in the weight room and on the courts in the hopes of atoning for a horrid winter, that it would’ve been only natural if free time were spent as far away from each other as possible. October to March is a long enough season.
But they hung out beyond that, going to movies and dinners, and on camping trips. Coaches believe that camaraderie has played a big part in a complete turnaround from where they stood as sophomores.
“One of the things I’ll always remember about this group was my first meeting with the team after I got the job,” BYU head coach Dave Rose said. “There was a commitment they made right away to this program. They’re high character people who had goals in the team environment. I’ve known these players in two roles, as an assistant coach and now. I’m really close to this group. I’ve been around this (profession) long enough to know that this group could’ve gone either way, in a lot of different directions. They were united throughout.
“It’s going to be an emotional night,” Rose continued on about the Utah game. “There’s going to be a good crowd, a lot of energy in the building. We’ve talked about it as a coaching staff that one of the keys to being successful, is dealing with that emotion. It’s a different situation because (the seniors) have been asked to take individual roles in describing themselves and their last home game. When, really, their goals all along have been to put the whole team first.”
Each graduating class has stories. Nothing new there. But in a unique environment like BYU, where a graduating class can come from players who had all sorts of varying entry and exit times, this group may be one of the most special to ever be created at the school.
An outline of the group:
— Austin Ainge, 6-foot-3 point guard, has fought off with grace the expected career-long jeers that he’s in Provo more because of his last name than his game. But he’s played some of his basketball this season at point guard, particularly since taking over the starter’s role full-time at the beginning of MWC play. He is revered as the team leader.
— Balderson, 6-6 wing, kept from being bitter when the Cougars essentially wasted a year of him in 2004-05, the 9-21 campaign in which he redshirted to start the season before then-coach Steve Cleveland decided to play him for the sake of having a scorer (forget that Balderson was fresh off an LDS mission and hardly in game shape, he could still shoot). He’s mostly started this year, fighting off an injured foot lately.
— Malaman, 6-9 forward from Brazil, has seen his role significantly decreased this year after a solid first season in Provo. He arrived following a couple of years at the junior-college ranks. Coaches call him a high-character guy, who hasn’t griped about hardly getting off the bench since January. Time at forward is hard to come by. Fellow senior Young is likely going to be voted the league’s MVP. Freshman Jonathan Tavernari, also from Brazil, has been more useful as a reserve. Malaman hasn’t played the last five games, and it’s quite possible he won’t against Utah unless the Cougars get a manageable lead.
— Rose, 6-3 shooting guard, has found more playing time this year because of an increased attention to defense. He also leads BYU in 3-pointers made in conference games (31) while falling three behind Ainge for the season-long total (45). Memorable moment on Rose: The Cougars were playing at TCU last month when he was knocked to the ground on a hit that looked like a free safety crushing a vulnerable wide receiver. Players have teased him about how quickly his mom jumped out of her seat, angry at that shot.
Said football-savvy Rose afterward, with a fat lip: “My teammates didn’t tell me (the Horned Frogs) were in cover-two.”
— Young, 6-6 power forward, has made up for being undersized at the 4-spot with a tenacity that was enhanced this year by incredibly enhanced shooting range. Once slighted by Texas Tech and Memphis, who reneged on scholarship offers, he found a home for three years in Provo and is one of the most popular players on the team, if not the entire campus.
Assistant coach Dave Rice, the only outsider to join the program after Rose’s promotion to head coach in May of 2005, said that when he’s out recruiting these days, “I get so many compliments about how our players, and of course the seniors, have an obvious respect and care for each other.” He vividly remembers meeting the group for the first time, after leaving Utah State.
During that miserable Cougars season, Rice helped the Aggies smoke them twice — in Provo and Logan.
That year, BYU went 6-8 at home. It lost the first home game — Rose’s Division I head coaching debut — to Loyola Marymount the next season before reeling off the next 30 in a streak that still lives.
“The one word that comes to mind is resolve,” Rice said. “They were obviously very disappointed with (the 9-21 season as sophomores), but I could tell they were determined in the offseason after that year. It’s really as simple as confidence in some ways.”
That came during Rose’s initial meeting.
“Coach Rose told us we didn’t need to rebuild,” former center Derek Dawes recalled. “He told us we were good players, and we just would work harder.”
This group has sadly displaced fragments, however. Garner Meads and Dawes could’ve been part of this class, but the big men struggled to maintain health.
Dawes, who has assisted the team this year at practices, will be honored with the other five. He’s still close to the group, remembering camping trips with guys like Mike Rose. He also lived with Young for a couple of years.
“It’s hard to not be playing,” Dawes said. “But those (seniors) are my brothers, and they’ve made it as bearable as possible for me.”
At least the Cougars are fun to watch, if not play for. They’re 22-7 overall, 12-3 in MWC contests. An outright title hasn’t been won in Provo since 1988. (A loss would likely mean a tie with UNLV, as the Rebels play today at home against Colorado State.)
Coach Rose said Meads is expected to graduate in April and has already been accepted to a few law schools. He will not participate in festivities. Neither will Rashaun Broadus, Young’s good friend and roommate who was kicked off the team in January following an arrest for suspicion of DUI. (Sam Burgess could’ve been in this class, too, but he redshirted last year and is now a junior.)
It would be one of the senior class’ sweeter moments — not counting the inevitable bid into the NCAA tournament in a couple of weeks — to defeat the rival at home.
All sorts of story lines can be told. BYU’s seniors are going out. So is Utah coach Ray Giacoletti, who announced his resignation Friday afternoon in the midst of a second consecutive losing season (11-17, 6-9). He’ll finish out the season.
The game itself means a lot, with all of the implications on the conference race. Sophomore center Trent Plaisted admits a pre-game ceremony “will be sort of weird.”
“There’s not enough I could say about them,” Plaisted said. “I’ve been fortunate to be here long enough to have them as teammates and friends. They’ve helped me with so many things. For all they’ve been through here, on the floor and off, they’ve always put the team first. They’ve gotten married and started families, but they’ve always been there for everyone else on the team. It’s going to be odd without them. To be honest, I don’t know what life is going to be like without them.”
There will be time to dwell on that later, Ainge and the others in their final year agree.
“It’s a good memory to have the rest of your life,” Ainge said and paused, before clarifying with a smile. “But only if we win.” |
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