July 1, 2025 • 8 mins
BYU’s honor code could be what’s in the way of their next level of success.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Yesterday we talked about the BYU story and the Jake
Raetzloff soon to be transferring out of BYU to a
school to be named, And I want to make sure
that we put this in the right context because what
I'm the question I'm going to ask is not necessarily
directed at Jake Retzloff, because Jake Ratsloff was accused of
(00:26):
sexual Improprieti's misconduct, rape, however you want to define it.
And in the course of the last week or so
and into yesterday, those charges were dismissed, according to the
the DA in Utah, dismissed with prejudice. I'm not necessarily
law educated enough to know exactly what that means or
(00:46):
what the consequences of that are, but I did ask
this question when it comes to Brigham Young, because Brigham
Young made some news last year in signing DJ de
Bansta or aj Debansta, the best high school basketball player
in the country, and are giving him as he entered
school this coming year, seven million dollars in IL money,
(01:07):
and he's going to be a one and done player.
He'll be the one of the top picks, if not
the top pick, in the NBA draft this time next year.
And I don't know what dj aj Debantsa's background is
in terms of his religious beliefs or his faith, but
let's say he's not Mormon, but he's still going to
(01:27):
Brigham Young, and Brigham Young recruited him with the Nile
money that they have basically because they think that if
they have him, they can get close to winning a
national championship. Now BYU I think has been to the
NCIL Lee Tournament perennially almost every year for the last
thirty years or so. They get in the tournament, they
just don't necessarily get past the sweet sixteen very often.
(01:48):
So the question that I have as we move into
this NIL era even deeper, and I used a Notre
Dame as an example. Notre Dame did get into the
final four this past year, actually final game this year
because of and they don't take non qualifiers. If you
can't pass the SAT and the ACT to their standard,
(02:08):
you can't get in, whereas a lot of other schools
will take non qualifiers. But I think there's athletes that
grade wise will still take a chance to play for
Notre Dame. And in iow money will have in IO
will have influence in what Notre Dame does as it
will with every other school. But the question is, can
Notre deck can bring them Young Field, a team that
(02:32):
is perennially going to be the Big Twelve champion in
both football and basketball. Who surf the likes of Texas
Tech with their resources now Arizona State from last year,
Kansas State, Colorado, the other teams in the Big Twelve
and obviously Kansas and basketball. Can they consistently beat those teams?
Can they be a college football Final four team? Can
(02:55):
they be a college basketball Final four team? And still
expect their athletes to tow the line when it comes
to their honor code? And you can say you don't
you think the honor code is archaic or not. I
look at it as traditions as I do in college football.
You may not like the traditions at one school or another,
but that's their tradition. And you may not like what
(03:17):
the band does at school A and compared to what
the school does the band does at school B or
the chant. If you're a Texas fan, Boomer Sooner is
annoying after the first seventy four times they play it.
And if you're an o U fan, so is ies
of Texas and Texas fights and go to Tennessee and
you don't stop them. You're gonna hear Rocky Top until
you're three weeks after you left head.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Oh yeah, it's two years ago, somewhere somewhere in the back.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yeah, it's it's But deal with it because that's what
they do, and that's their tradition, and you're going to
have to. You know, it's too bad if you don't
like it. So you can say you don't like BYU's
Honor Code. But to the Mormon religion and to their faith,
and they have every right in the world to have
whatever faith they want, set up whatever religious rules they want.
But will the best athletes go to Brigham Young knowing
(04:06):
they're going to get well paid and at least obey
the honor Code for the time that they are there.
My guess is is that most of them will not. Now,
they may think they can get away with it, and
they may think that they will not get caught. And
I would doubt very seriously if when Jim McMahon was
there for a few years that he towed the line
on everything that was in that code, and certainly nineteen
(04:28):
eighty the nineteen eighties were a lot different than the
twenty and twenty fives are. But it's going to be
really interesting, I think, to see what Brigham Young does
from a success standpoint to get to the level that
they perpetuate that they want to be NCAA Division One
football and basketball champions, and they certainly have the money
to field the teams, and I think the majority of
(04:52):
the administration would gladly kick a player off the team
for violation of the honor Code, even a fit men's
sacrificing a national champion. The ad may not, the coach
may not, and the team may not. But when you
have a group of when you have one hundred guys
on a team, you're going to have a hundred different personalities,
and it's up to the coach to be able to
mend those personalities together. And if sixty or seventy of
(05:15):
those personalities are following the Honor Code and the Mormon
Church's guidelines to the t and you've got a handful
of players or not, that becomes more than just a
culture thing, because now you're getting into people's religious beliefs
and how they believe people should lead their lives. And
I think that may be difficult for Brigham Young to
maintain and still be able to get that superstar athlete
(05:38):
that everybody else wants. Aj Debanson could have gone any
school in the country last year, and he chose Brigham
Young because they up the anty to seven million and
nobody passed it. And he may be a devout Mormon.
I don't know, and it doesn't matter, but I think
that going forward, it's going to be really interesting to
see the dichotomy between BYU competing for big time championships
(05:59):
and how well they police the players who have signed
an agreement that they will honor the honor Code.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well, first off, you said it's dismissed with prejudice, right, yes, Okay,
So legal it means dismissed with prejudice means that in
a civil lawsuit, it has been dismissed based on the
merits of the case after a judgment has been issued.
When a case is dismissed with prejudice, it means also
(06:26):
the plaintiff is barred from filing a lawsuit on the
same issue at a later date. So I'm assuming basically, like.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Double Jeopardy, you can't yeah, yeah, you can't come back
and change your mind later. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
So there, so there's there's the definition for that now.
Because I know we're up against it, I'll put it
this way. And and in short terms, yes, I do
think that BYU still can compete to you know, national championships.
I don't know about that, because when have they ever
been national championed, competitive or in that realm? But I
(07:00):
do think that they can compete because all all very
smallly compare this to how the Spurs run things. Are
they a Spurs player? Are they that culture? Then that's
who they go get if they if they believed when
they talked to aj debansta hey, this is everything that
(07:21):
along with the money, this is everything that you have
to follow.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Can't do this?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And if he says yeah, I'm totally.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah with a wink or is it yeah? And I'm serious.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Well, of all the schools that would be like, hey,
if you break this, you're out, that's the.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Ones that's the one that would throw you out, they
don't care. And they don't care if it's the even
the national championship. If they think you broke the code,
you're not playing.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
If like you talked about it briefly yesterday, if it's
Notre Dame, and it's touchdown. Jesus, hey, if you fall,
if you fall below a four point.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Zero, it's you have to you have to get like
a twelve hundred on the s a T. Though, they'll
make sure you stay eligible once you're there. They yeah,
well that's what's the other school. That's every integrity. Yes,
but they're going to make sure that you have tutoring
to be able to pass your classes. But you've got
to get in in the first place.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Well, you'll get your smug looks of your tutoring. You
what do you have a four point Oh you don't
have a four point five?
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Wow, I think I think three point five will get
you through it. Notre Dame just fine, I think so.
All right, w n B A stuff. Next, it's the
and the average show on the ticket.
Yesterday we talked about the BYU story and the Jake
Raetzloff soon to be transferring out of BYU to a
school to be named, And I want to make sure
that we put this in the right context because what
I'm the question I'm going to ask is not necessarily
directed at Jake Retzloff, because Jake Ratsloff was accused of
(00:26):
sexual Improprieti's misconduct, rape, however you want to define it.
And in the course of the last week or so
and into yesterday, those charges were dismissed, according to the
the DA in Utah, dismissed with prejudice. I'm not necessarily
law educated enough to know exactly what that means or
(00:46):
what the consequences of that are, but I did ask
this question when it comes to Brigham Young, because Brigham
Young made some news last year in signing DJ de
Bansta or aj Debansta, the best high school basketball player
in the country, and are giving him as he entered
school this coming year, seven million dollars in IL money,
(01:07):
and he's going to be a one and done player.
He'll be the one of the top picks, if not
the top pick, in the NBA draft this time next year.
And I don't know what dj aj Debantsa's background is
in terms of his religious beliefs or his faith, but
let's say he's not Mormon, but he's still going to
(01:27):
Brigham Young, and Brigham Young recruited him with the Nile
money that they have basically because they think that if
they have him, they can get close to winning a
national championship. Now BYU I think has been to the
NCIL Lee Tournament perennially almost every year for the last
thirty years or so. They get in the tournament, they
just don't necessarily get past the sweet sixteen very often.
(01:48):
So the question that I have as we move into
this NIL era even deeper, and I used a Notre
Dame as an example. Notre Dame did get into the
final four this past year, actually final game this year
because of and they don't take non qualifiers. If you
can't pass the SAT and the ACT to their standard,
(02:08):
you can't get in, whereas a lot of other schools
will take non qualifiers. But I think there's athletes that
grade wise will still take a chance to play for
Notre Dame. And in iow money will have in IO
will have influence in what Notre Dame does as it
will with every other school. But the question is, can
Notre deck can bring them Young Field, a team that
(02:32):
is perennially going to be the Big Twelve champion in
both football and basketball. Who surf the likes of Texas
Tech with their resources now Arizona State from last year,
Kansas State, Colorado, the other teams in the Big Twelve
and obviously Kansas and basketball. Can they consistently beat those teams?
Can they be a college football Final four team? Can
(02:55):
they be a college basketball Final four team? And still
expect their athletes to tow the line when it comes
to their honor code? And you can say you don't
you think the honor code is archaic or not. I
look at it as traditions as I do in college football.
You may not like the traditions at one school or another,
but that's their tradition. And you may not like what
(03:17):
the band does at school A and compared to what
the school does the band does at school B or
the chant. If you're a Texas fan, Boomer Sooner is
annoying after the first seventy four times they play it.
And if you're an o U fan, so is ies
of Texas and Texas fights and go to Tennessee and
you don't stop them. You're gonna hear Rocky Top until
you're three weeks after you left head.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Oh yeah, it's two years ago, somewhere somewhere in the back.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yeah, it's it's But deal with it because that's what
they do, and that's their tradition, and you're going to
have to. You know, it's too bad if you don't
like it. So you can say you don't like BYU's
Honor Code. But to the Mormon religion and to their faith,
and they have every right in the world to have
whatever faith they want, set up whatever religious rules they want.
But will the best athletes go to Brigham Young knowing
(04:06):
they're going to get well paid and at least obey
the honor Code for the time that they are there.
My guess is is that most of them will not. Now,
they may think they can get away with it, and
they may think that they will not get caught. And
I would doubt very seriously if when Jim McMahon was
there for a few years that he towed the line
on everything that was in that code, and certainly nineteen
(04:28):
eighty the nineteen eighties were a lot different than the
twenty and twenty fives are. But it's going to be
really interesting, I think, to see what Brigham Young does
from a success standpoint to get to the level that
they perpetuate that they want to be NCAA Division One
football and basketball champions, and they certainly have the money
to field the teams, and I think the majority of
(04:52):
the administration would gladly kick a player off the team
for violation of the honor Code, even a fit men's
sacrificing a national champion. The ad may not, the coach
may not, and the team may not. But when you
have a group of when you have one hundred guys
on a team, you're going to have a hundred different personalities,
and it's up to the coach to be able to
mend those personalities together. And if sixty or seventy of
(05:15):
those personalities are following the Honor Code and the Mormon
Church's guidelines to the t and you've got a handful
of players or not, that becomes more than just a
culture thing, because now you're getting into people's religious beliefs
and how they believe people should lead their lives. And
I think that may be difficult for Brigham Young to
maintain and still be able to get that superstar athlete
(05:38):
that everybody else wants. Aj Debanson could have gone any
school in the country last year, and he chose Brigham
Young because they up the anty to seven million and
nobody passed it. And he may be a devout Mormon.
I don't know, and it doesn't matter, but I think
that going forward, it's going to be really interesting to
see the dichotomy between BYU competing for big time championships
(05:59):
and how well they police the players who have signed
an agreement that they will honor the honor Code.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well, first off, you said it's dismissed with prejudice, right, yes, Okay,
So legal it means dismissed with prejudice means that in
a civil lawsuit, it has been dismissed based on the
merits of the case after a judgment has been issued.
When a case is dismissed with prejudice, it means also
(06:26):
the plaintiff is barred from filing a lawsuit on the
same issue at a later date. So I'm assuming basically, like.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Double Jeopardy, you can't yeah, yeah, you can't come back
and change your mind later. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
So there, so there's there's the definition for that now.
Because I know we're up against it, I'll put it
this way. And and in short terms, yes, I do
think that BYU still can compete to you know, national championships.
I don't know about that, because when have they ever
been national championed, competitive or in that realm? But I
(07:00):
do think that they can compete because all all very
smallly compare this to how the Spurs run things. Are
they a Spurs player? Are they that culture? Then that's
who they go get if they if they believed when
they talked to aj debansta hey, this is everything that
(07:21):
along with the money, this is everything that you have
to follow.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Can't do this?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
And if he says yeah, I'm totally.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah with a wink or is it yeah? And I'm serious.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Well, of all the schools that would be like, hey,
if you break this, you're out, that's the.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Ones that's the one that would throw you out, they
don't care. And they don't care if it's the even
the national championship. If they think you broke the code,
you're not playing.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
If like you talked about it briefly yesterday, if it's
Notre Dame, and it's touchdown. Jesus, hey, if you fall,
if you fall below a four point.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Zero, it's you have to you have to get like
a twelve hundred on the s a T. Though, they'll
make sure you stay eligible once you're there. They yeah,
well that's what's the other school. That's every integrity. Yes,
but they're going to make sure that you have tutoring
to be able to pass your classes. But you've got
to get in in the first place.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Well, you'll get your smug looks of your tutoring. You
what do you have a four point Oh you don't
have a four point five?
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Wow, I think I think three point five will get
you through it. Notre Dame just fine, I think so.
All right, w n B A stuff. Next, it's the
and the average show on the ticket.
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