Ben Criddle talks BYU sports every weekday from 2 to 6 pm.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Keeping up with the Cougars. Brought to you by Odion
Men's Wear, proudly outfitting young professionals, young adults, boys and
missionaries across the globe with quality suits and apparel. Find
a location near you or Odionmenswear dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome back to Cougar Sports Here one O, three, nine
and nine three ESPN. The fan run up the three
man weave of Brett always bringing the hammer by my side,
effort to get Anson wine to the former BYU basketball
guard on the line. U here momentarily might have them
call into the station as well, Brett. Until then, we'll
keep discussing. I want to ask you this. I don't
(00:38):
know if I asked you this, and this is it
is our basketball, I guess. Question of the day. What
is the biggest thing in this team has accomplished through
non conference play?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (00:49):
The biggest thing BYU basketball has accomplished through non conference play?
I mean, I think the big one is aj Debonza
has then as advertised, which some people might not think
is a big deal, but I do because there's no
guarantees with the world we live in college basketball, like
(01:10):
not everybody automatically pans out when they get to the
next level. So I think that's number one in terms
of like things I needed to see, and we did
see a j Dea Botsa really did pan out. The
other thing is BYU in a non conference schedule that's
stronger than it's been in previous years, even though people
like Seth Davis don't think it's that tough. You be Villanova,
(01:35):
You're two points away from beating the number three team
in the country in Yukon. You whoop up on Wisconsin,
You beat Miami, you beat Damon, you beat Dayton, you
beat Clemson. Like the again, you lost one game in
non conference and the only game you lost was to Yukon,
was to Hurley and Crew, was to a team who's
(01:56):
going to be perennially running through the NCED tournament year
after year after year. So I think when we talked
a lot about coming into the season, what is this
non conference schedule going to do for this BYU basketball team.
All the games they they wanted to win in terms
of upper level competition better than the WCC days, they
(02:18):
won all of those games and were very competitive in
a game against Yukon that Franklin was early in the
season of the team maybe wasn't gelled together as much
as they could have been. So I think the number
one thing that I've seen from this bou basketball team
and what they've accomplished is really dominating the non conference
schedule the way they should.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, definitely they've dominated the non conference schedule as well.
Let's talk with a guy that knows a lot about
the non conference schedule.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
He knows about you know, those those WCC.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Times in Mountain West times as well. We got former
BAU basketball great Anson Winder on the line. Brother, Thanks
for joining us today, Mayor Christmas and happy holidays to
the family.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
Thank you for having me Mary, Christmas to you as
well as for being on. There's a lot to celebrate,
a lot to be happy for, especially if you're a
BAU fan right.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Now, definitely if you're a BAU fan, but we'll talk
by you in a second, but I want to celebrate
and show some love to you. Please get us caught
up on life house, the family been and then give
us an update on Wall Sash and how you guys
have been this season so far.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
Oh man, I appreciate you giving me the Florida to
talk about our squad. I mean, first and foremost, the
family is doing well. You know, this is always a
fun time of year. I'm a Vegas boy, so usually
you know, we're not battling snow or anything like that,
and we're usually dealing with some warmer temperatures this time
of year. So I'll be down in Vegas for the holidays,
just spending time with the family and really looking forward
(03:39):
to it. It should be a fun, fun week, fun
holiday season. As far as part as the team goes,
it's been a fun year.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Man.
Speaker 5 (03:47):
It's it every year very much.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Like at the college level, with the transfer portals, there's
somewhat of a portal in high school as well, so
we've had to adjust. We brought in basically a whole
new team. We had three returners, but outside of that,
we had a whole new group of guys that came
in and joined our team at whilst. That's this year,
and it's been fun. It's been fun watching them compete.
It's been fun watching them grow together and build that
(04:11):
team chemistry. Uh, you know, we get better and better
every game. As it stands right now, we're seven and three.
Last I checked, we were number twenty one in the
country and hoping to continue to climb that ladder. We'll
have a lot of opportunities with the remainder of our
season to play against some of the best teams and
best players in the country. Those are the likes of
(04:32):
you know, Mount verd and Oak Hill Academy, Long Island,
Lutheran IMG of course, just some of those perennial powerhouses
of the prep school world. So yeah, we're just we're
taking in a day at a time, trying to grow
and develop and yeah, and let the chips flow where
they may.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Hey, anytime you got you know, the great Anderson Wine
and there Paul Peterson coaching. Hey, I expect that team
to you know, make waves. They develop talent the likes
of the Richie Sounders, the kab kid is the first
Ros even other Big twelve you know as Isaiah Harwell
planning it there.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
You know on Houston. You guys have done a phenomenal job.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
So I have to ask you who are the prospects
that we need to be keeping our eye on this season?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Anson, Oh, absolutely, So.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
We have three committed players on our team right now
that I think will really turn heads when they give
a college next year and in years to come, we'll
start with Mariano Mansel. He's he's a six or four
guard out of the state of Detroit or out of
the city of Detroit, Michigan. He is he's headed to
steven F. Austin next year. He actually led our league
(05:35):
in scoring last year with one of the highest three
part percentages. So I think I expect him to go
to the next level and really light it up, expand
his game, and really contribute to a lot of wins
at steven F. Austin. Next up is our point guard
six y five guard out of Seattle, Washington, by the
name of Coachrell Harmon. He's actually committed to the University
of Creighton and so he'll be a freshman at Creighton
(05:57):
next year and we'll compete for hopefully starting minutes or
minutes at the point guard position. And he's just a
wiry Jamal Crawford type guard that's just a creative score
and an aggressive playmaker that's really really good at getting
downhill and finding others and creating for others. So we've
been lucky to have control with us this year. And
(06:20):
then lastly, we have a Yukon commit by the name
of Junior County. He's actually a Utah, Utah kid. He
was raised in Ireland, but we've been lucky enough to
have him with our program the last two years. And
he's a six to six guard shooting guard that's just physical.
He's a rugged player. He plays hard. I think his
(06:40):
biggest skill is just his ability to just affect the
game on both ends of the floor. He's probably our
best defender as well as our i think our second
leading scorer, and he's one of our primary ball handlers
and playmakers. So we lean on him heavily to contribute
on a night in a night out basis. And I
expect him to have a great career at YOU and
(07:00):
compete for a ton of minutes as a freshman next
year under coach Early.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Fast, rising four star guards Junior County the number forty
third recruit in the twenty twenty six Sports Center Next
one hundred. So that kid is a problem, no doubt.
I've seen his tape. Don't want to get caught on
a highlight. Speaking of tape, I know you are a
guy that likes to watch. I'm serious, I'm not a kid.
Look every time I play pickup and I see these
(07:25):
old men make moves or something, I just like, I
don't want to get embarrassed at church ball yet alone.
If you had to play at the highest level, so
you've ransom peoples, you know how it'd be.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
I'm not trying to get ankles taken exactly.
Speaker 5 (07:35):
I understand. I get it, I get it. I don't
want to be anyone highlight tape. I don't want to
be embarrassed, none of that.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
None of that. Well, Pacific got embarrassed.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
You know all about Pacific BYU clapped him ninety three
to fifty seven. What did it feel like the finally,
you know, see By you just dominate the old wccfo
it was a tailor, like four halfs. I felt like
though ansid it was up and down. The roller coaster
didn't really start off the way if you look at
the box score, it's a blowout. But that game definitely
was up and down for sure. But what did you
like about seeing By you take down an old opponent
(08:04):
that you're familiar with.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
I mean, it's it's funny, right because you mentioned that
game being so up and down, and that was the
consistency of my time in the WCC. It's in like
every team I was on, no matter how talented or
how skilled we were. We would go on the road
to some of the WCC arena as, arenas and gyms
and we would struggle, you know, And it's just I
think it's a credit to the coaches that are in
the WCC, the players that they recruit, just how prepared
(08:29):
they are, right. I think every WCC team, you know,
when BAU was in Matt Conference, knew that there were
three big games that you had to circle on your calendar.
You had to circle Gonzaga, of course, you had to
circle Saint Mary's, and then you had to circle BYU.
And so those were all games that I think the
WCC teams got up for and we're looking for ways
to kind of make their season, and getting wins against
(08:51):
those three teams would really make your season. So I
wasn't surprised to see Pacific or Pacific put up a
fight against against by U. I knew towards the end,
I think the skill and the overall just scheme of
the game would work in BYU's favor. But I wasn't surprised,
you know. I think just a credit to coach Young
and the way that he prepares those guys on a
(09:13):
daily basis. It seems like, you know, whether the BAU
has a slow start or not, they're a great second
half team and they always figure out a way to
you know, get stops and consecutively and then find ways
to create on offense with so much firepower that they have,
you know, I'm not surprised that they're scoring in the
seventies and eighties consistently like this. They're getting huge contributions
(09:36):
from their big three and also their their role guys
are also stepping into making big plays. So I'm not
surprised with some of the wins that we're seeing.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Obviously, AJ had the thirty point triple double, and we
know what he is going to be a top two
pick on down in the draft. But I want to
talk about a guy that you've seen closely, up close
and personal, the Richie Saunders, the top King hand man.
It's got like fifty five nicknames. People dress up us
for following rightfully. So that guy has benefited so much
from those guys. I mean, he is so wide open
(10:06):
and you honestly sometimes forget about him and then he
hits a three and you look up like he had
a casual And I'm serious, he had a casual twenty
one last night, you know, twenty two, and it's because
of AJ. But the b YU, I feel like the
way to win a Final four is because of that
attention drawn away.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Like Richie, I feel like he's going to hit one
hundred threes this year.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Ansom, I have to agree. I mean between the shooting
ability of Richie and AJ, I mean you're throwing Kenard Davis.
I mean those guys you I don't know if I'm
a coach that's preparing for BYU, I don't know who
you try to take, you know, take out of the game, right,
who do you key in on? You know, there's AJ
(10:47):
is gonna you know, he's gonna be who he is
on a nightly basis. He's going to impact the game.
We're gonna regardless of if he's scoring or if he's playmaking. Right.
But like you said, you have shooters that are consistent
knockdown shooters. You know Richie Saunders, Robert Wrights, you know
he's perfecting his shot. Kenard Davis is a great shooter
as well. I mean, there's just so much firepower on
(11:07):
the floor.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
You know.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
That's why I think we see b YU in games
with such a high assist count, but also with guys
multiple players and double digits, because the firepower is just
it's scary. It's scary, you know when at any point
any one of those guys can go off and have
career nights. And we've seen aj I do it a
couple of times. We've seen Richie do it. But I
wouldn't be surprised if we, you know, we see Keva
(11:30):
have a career night just based off of how you
know the defense and what you know, what offensive opportunities
they give him. And the same with Robert Wright. It's
like he's been pretty quiet offensively, but you know he's
due for, you know, a monster game. So you know,
on any given night, I think what's special about this
team is that someone can explode and have a career night,
(11:51):
and you know it's it's gonna be interesting to see
how these teams in the Big twelve guard by US
as conference gets ready to start.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yeah, it's definitely gonna be interesting to see how they
guard him, no doubt about it all. As we have
anson winer former by you men's basketball guard on the line,
what does let's talk about Kaba.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
He had a career high on blocks against Miami man.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
He was sitting. Everything was playing point guard. Duncan messed
up a rim, you know, in Madison Square Garden. I
just hate that, you know, he got he got sick,
you know, and that's a part of it, right, everybody
goes through their illness. But outside of that, CABA's had
a phenomenal season. He almost came close to breaking that
career h against cal Baptists. I needed a few more
lobs to be in his vicinity. Sometimes they just throw
(12:31):
it up to the moon because they say it's not
too high, but it definitely can be too high.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
I've seen it a few times.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
But what have you made of Caba this season and
the development from Chris Burgess.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
I love what I've seen from Caba this year same.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
I mean, I've you know, I had the luxury and
the pleasure of coaching Cabo when he was in high school.
So to see where he's come from as a sophomore
to this point as a senior in college has been
It's been nothing short of phenomenal. The kids just see
works hard and you've seen it, right, every year he's
gotten better and better. And it's not just from the
eye test, it's from the stats. You know, all the
stats have improved the year upon year, and he's becomes
(13:06):
just a dominant force. Right. I expect him to be probably,
if not the best and the second best big in
the Big twelve this year. I expect him to continue
to anchor the defense for BYU. And he just creates
so many opportunities, right, if he's blocking shots, he's controlling
the paint, he gets monster rebounds, and he's a lot
of threat. Right, you have to guard him in a
(13:27):
pick and roll action. You can't, you know, if you're
the low man, if you're a defender, right, you can't
just key in on shooters. You have to be be
ready to protect the rim as well, because he rolls
so hard and he's so athletic, and so I've been
very impressed with Kable and I think he's fitting to
this team as a major puzzle piece. He fits nicely,
and he's a guy that just he's just going to
(13:49):
play hard. You know, he's not expecting to get the
ball every possession. He's not expecting to score in double figures. Right,
He's going to do what it needs, whatever needs to
be done to win the game. That could be zero points,
that could be eight rebounds, it could be five blocks,
you know. And so I've just been very pleased with
Cave and I expect him to continue to flourish as
this year goes on.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Yeah, he's definitely gonna flourish. Last couple of things Anson
before we let you go to get to break. We
know your time is valuable, especially this holiday season. Give
me your thoughts to your perspective as a coach, he said,
six' four guards six. Four i've heard the we're not
seeing And Rober wrights a dynamic, guard but kind of
around his height if he'll be, drafted or we're moving
away from the unless You're Steph, curry who's an, anomaly
(14:30):
the greatest shooter That god's ever gifted. Us you're not
seeing the six, two six,' three six foot one guards
at the. Highest level you're seeing, six four sixty five,
six eight.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Six' nine?
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Why is that shed some might, on That issue because
i'm kind of sad And by that i'm seeing all
of these high level guys pretty much. Just point forward
now there is no traditional Point Guard like chris paul
anymore GOING.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
In, the nba.
Speaker 5 (14:55):
Yeah the game, has, Evolved tremendously right basketball. Gets, on
you right two things that are. Consistent with basketball every
year gets younger and every year. It, Gets taller right
there's more and more taller athlete who are multifaceted in
their skill set to where they can play. Plenty, of
positions right there's a lot of basketball players that we're
(15:16):
seeing in college AND in the nba that you really
can't put them in a position because they can do.
SO many things i think that's that's hurt the traditional
point guard or, traditional shooting guard right because there's there's
a limited space. For SMALLER guards and i was reading
and watching this post online of a trainer just talk,
about you know if you're, a smaller guard how perfect
(15:39):
you have to be on.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
The.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
Basketball court right you have to limit, your your mistakes,
limit your turnovers you have to be willing to hit an,
open shop consistently and you have to be an absolute.
Animal on defense you have to you have to be
an extremely good defender if you're under six two sixty three.
As a GUARD and so i think what we're seeing
is those guards who do make it in are undersized
(16:02):
or have mastered their craft and are very good at
what they do offensively and are also no, slatches, on
defense right they can guard their man and shut down
their man because that's what's going to require. To get
MINUTES and SO i think i don't think it's over for.
THE smaller guards i think there we will still continue
To see more we'll, see YOU others but i think
we're going to see more polished guards COMING to the
(16:24):
nba because that's what it's going to take to have a.
Long standing career.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Thank you for.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Shedding that, Light you know i'm over getting, sad like
man my short kings while y'all doing, that TO them
like i need like, me, answer like hey?
Speaker 3 (16:36):
We can, ball answer miner? Was the baller don't tell.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Me that the six two six three six foot. GUYS
can't ball i remember When You know aaron brooks was,
in the, league you know Playing. For the bulls don't
do that to Me In. The, CHICAGO datives though i
appreciate you shed the lad. On THAT answer before i,
Let you go how can we tune into where you
guys gonna be competing at the next tournament you guys
got coming?
Speaker 5 (16:56):
Up for? WASSATCH oh, Man, I appreciate yes i think
the best way to stay in tune with what's going
On with wass hatch is through following us through our.
Social media accounts We have our INSTAGRAM Is w a
tigers b b, as in basketball, so follow us keep
(17:18):
up with us. On the socials it's the Same, handle for,
twitter and yeah we'll post all, of our, games our
schedule anything that's posted online, or streaming online we'll post those.
Links as well, so just yeah for everyone who's interested
in what, wasspatch is doing please just stay involved in our.
Social media, accounts and yeah we just we. Appreciate the
support we appreciate having this platform to come on and
(17:40):
just give highlights of how our season is going and.
Highlight our players we just, are truly, thankful and yeah
hopefully we can stay healthy and close out. This year strong.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Hopefully you can i'm Gonna Be watching junior county, lookout.
For him.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Hopefully you know sorry for those of you, kids out
there you're going to be on, a highlight tape.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
But it's. Okay i'm, on tyler says you listen.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Highlight tape if you go, look At It AND jalen
brunson's i had learned VERY quickly that i was not
going to make it and play at.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
The next level.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
But THAT'S okay so i see those GUYS play and, i,
WAS like hey I could say i played against the
likes of That And watched. Jabari parker dunk jabbar was,
In my award so it's a little bit doesn't. Hurt
As Much but jalen brunson was cooking me before he
was cooking everybody else. IN the league i like to
take that with the with, the GREAT assault so i
like to be funny.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
With that one.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
I'm not lying you guys are on the. Same floor.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
TOGETHER that's hey i got, to SAY yes and i
made A team that i saw, THESE guys like i
was doing a. LOT of cardio i got Good cardio
with but that. Was, about It Guys follow Anson Wander.
On watstatch basketball It's W a tigers bb, check it
out follow them, on social media And Stay.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Up todate andson thanks for, the.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Time today brother we'll get caught up with you in
the next couple of weeks after the holiday season and
had the.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Tournaments have, gone of, Course of course happy holities, to
you Guys And. Happy new, Year Take Care.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Happy new Year We'll let.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Anson wander Go That was anson WANDER The by u
men's FORMER basketball gu i got to get him in
the STUDIO WITH. BY a tv i. Know he's busy
we'd love to see him break down on the pre
and you know in. Half in post would love. To see,
that but guys that was you're keeping Up with the
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Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome back to Cougar Sports Here one O, three, nine
and nine three ESPN. The fan run up the three
man weave of Brett always bringing the hammer by my side,
effort to get Anson wine to the former BYU basketball
guard on the line. U here momentarily might have them
call into the station as well, Brett. Until then, we'll
keep discussing. I want to ask you this. I don't
(00:38):
know if I asked you this, and this is it
is our basketball, I guess. Question of the day. What
is the biggest thing in this team has accomplished through
non conference play?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (00:49):
The biggest thing BYU basketball has accomplished through non conference play?
I mean, I think the big one is aj Debonza
has then as advertised, which some people might not think
is a big deal, but I do because there's no
guarantees with the world we live in college basketball, like
(01:10):
not everybody automatically pans out when they get to the
next level. So I think that's number one in terms
of like things I needed to see, and we did
see a j Dea Botsa really did pan out. The
other thing is BYU in a non conference schedule that's
stronger than it's been in previous years, even though people
like Seth Davis don't think it's that tough. You be Villanova,
(01:35):
You're two points away from beating the number three team
in the country in Yukon. You whoop up on Wisconsin,
You beat Miami, you beat Damon, you beat Dayton, you
beat Clemson. Like the again, you lost one game in
non conference and the only game you lost was to Yukon,
was to Hurley and Crew, was to a team who's
(01:56):
going to be perennially running through the NCED tournament year
after year after year. So I think when we talked
a lot about coming into the season, what is this
non conference schedule going to do for this BYU basketball team.
All the games they they wanted to win in terms
of upper level competition better than the WCC days, they
(02:18):
won all of those games and were very competitive in
a game against Yukon that Franklin was early in the
season of the team maybe wasn't gelled together as much
as they could have been. So I think the number
one thing that I've seen from this bou basketball team
and what they've accomplished is really dominating the non conference
schedule the way they should.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, definitely they've dominated the non conference schedule as well.
Let's talk with a guy that knows a lot about
the non conference schedule.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
He knows about you know, those those WCC.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Times in Mountain West times as well. We got former
BAU basketball great Anson Winder on the line. Brother, Thanks
for joining us today, Mayor Christmas and happy holidays to
the family.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
Thank you for having me Mary, Christmas to you as
well as for being on. There's a lot to celebrate,
a lot to be happy for, especially if you're a
BAU fan right.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Now, definitely if you're a BAU fan, but we'll talk
by you in a second, but I want to celebrate
and show some love to you. Please get us caught
up on life house, the family been and then give
us an update on Wall Sash and how you guys
have been this season so far.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
Oh man, I appreciate you giving me the Florida to
talk about our squad. I mean, first and foremost, the
family is doing well. You know, this is always a
fun time of year. I'm a Vegas boy, so usually
you know, we're not battling snow or anything like that,
and we're usually dealing with some warmer temperatures this time
of year. So I'll be down in Vegas for the holidays,
just spending time with the family and really looking forward
(03:39):
to it. It should be a fun, fun week, fun
holiday season. As far as part as the team goes,
it's been a fun year.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Man.
Speaker 5 (03:47):
It's it every year very much.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Like at the college level, with the transfer portals, there's
somewhat of a portal in high school as well, so
we've had to adjust. We brought in basically a whole
new team. We had three returners, but outside of that,
we had a whole new group of guys that came
in and joined our team at whilst. That's this year,
and it's been fun. It's been fun watching them compete.
It's been fun watching them grow together and build that
(04:11):
team chemistry. Uh, you know, we get better and better
every game. As it stands right now, we're seven and three.
Last I checked, we were number twenty one in the
country and hoping to continue to climb that ladder. We'll
have a lot of opportunities with the remainder of our
season to play against some of the best teams and
best players in the country. Those are the likes of
(04:32):
you know, Mount verd and Oak Hill Academy, Long Island,
Lutheran IMG of course, just some of those perennial powerhouses
of the prep school world. So yeah, we're just we're
taking in a day at a time, trying to grow
and develop and yeah, and let the chips flow where
they may.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Hey, anytime you got you know, the great Anderson Wine
and there Paul Peterson coaching. Hey, I expect that team
to you know, make waves. They develop talent the likes
of the Richie Sounders, the kab kid is the first
Ros even other Big twelve you know as Isaiah Harwell
planning it there.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
You know on Houston. You guys have done a phenomenal job.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
So I have to ask you who are the prospects
that we need to be keeping our eye on this season?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Anson, Oh, absolutely, So.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
We have three committed players on our team right now
that I think will really turn heads when they give
a college next year and in years to come, we'll
start with Mariano Mansel. He's he's a six or four
guard out of the state of Detroit or out of
the city of Detroit, Michigan. He is he's headed to
steven F. Austin next year. He actually led our league
(05:35):
in scoring last year with one of the highest three
part percentages. So I think I expect him to go
to the next level and really light it up, expand
his game, and really contribute to a lot of wins
at steven F. Austin. Next up is our point guard
six y five guard out of Seattle, Washington, by the
name of Coachrell Harmon. He's actually committed to the University
of Creighton and so he'll be a freshman at Creighton
(05:57):
next year and we'll compete for hopefully starting minutes or
minutes at the point guard position. And he's just a
wiry Jamal Crawford type guard that's just a creative score
and an aggressive playmaker that's really really good at getting
downhill and finding others and creating for others. So we've
been lucky to have control with us this year. And
(06:20):
then lastly, we have a Yukon commit by the name
of Junior County. He's actually a Utah, Utah kid. He
was raised in Ireland, but we've been lucky enough to
have him with our program the last two years. And
he's a six to six guard shooting guard that's just physical.
He's a rugged player. He plays hard. I think his
(06:40):
biggest skill is just his ability to just affect the
game on both ends of the floor. He's probably our
best defender as well as our i think our second
leading scorer, and he's one of our primary ball handlers
and playmakers. So we lean on him heavily to contribute
on a night in a night out basis. And I
expect him to have a great career at YOU and
(07:00):
compete for a ton of minutes as a freshman next
year under coach Early.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Fast, rising four star guards Junior County the number forty
third recruit in the twenty twenty six Sports Center Next
one hundred. So that kid is a problem, no doubt.
I've seen his tape. Don't want to get caught on
a highlight. Speaking of tape, I know you are a
guy that likes to watch. I'm serious, I'm not a kid.
Look every time I play pickup and I see these
(07:25):
old men make moves or something, I just like, I
don't want to get embarrassed at church ball yet alone.
If you had to play at the highest level, so
you've ransom peoples, you know how it'd be.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
I'm not trying to get ankles taken exactly.
Speaker 5 (07:35):
I understand. I get it, I get it. I don't
want to be anyone highlight tape. I don't want to
be embarrassed, none of that.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
None of that. Well, Pacific got embarrassed.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
You know all about Pacific BYU clapped him ninety three
to fifty seven. What did it feel like the finally,
you know, see By you just dominate the old wccfo
it was a tailor, like four halfs. I felt like
though ansid it was up and down. The roller coaster
didn't really start off the way if you look at
the box score, it's a blowout. But that game definitely
was up and down for sure. But what did you
like about seeing By you take down an old opponent
(08:04):
that you're familiar with.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
I mean, it's it's funny, right because you mentioned that
game being so up and down, and that was the
consistency of my time in the WCC. It's in like
every team I was on, no matter how talented or
how skilled we were. We would go on the road
to some of the WCC arena as, arenas and gyms
and we would struggle, you know, And it's just I
think it's a credit to the coaches that are in
the WCC, the players that they recruit, just how prepared
(08:29):
they are, right. I think every WCC team, you know,
when BAU was in Matt Conference, knew that there were
three big games that you had to circle on your calendar.
You had to circle Gonzaga, of course, you had to
circle Saint Mary's, and then you had to circle BYU.
And so those were all games that I think the
WCC teams got up for and we're looking for ways
to kind of make their season, and getting wins against
(08:51):
those three teams would really make your season. So I
wasn't surprised to see Pacific or Pacific put up a
fight against against by U. I knew towards the end,
I think the skill and the overall just scheme of
the game would work in BYU's favor. But I wasn't surprised,
you know. I think just a credit to coach Young
and the way that he prepares those guys on a
(09:13):
daily basis. It seems like, you know, whether the BAU
has a slow start or not, they're a great second
half team and they always figure out a way to
you know, get stops and consecutively and then find ways
to create on offense with so much firepower that they have,
you know, I'm not surprised that they're scoring in the
seventies and eighties consistently like this. They're getting huge contributions
(09:36):
from their big three and also their their role guys
are also stepping into making big plays. So I'm not
surprised with some of the wins that we're seeing.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Obviously, AJ had the thirty point triple double, and we
know what he is going to be a top two
pick on down in the draft. But I want to
talk about a guy that you've seen closely, up close
and personal, the Richie Saunders, the top King hand man.
It's got like fifty five nicknames. People dress up us
for following rightfully. So that guy has benefited so much
from those guys. I mean, he is so wide open
(10:06):
and you honestly sometimes forget about him and then he
hits a three and you look up like he had
a casual And I'm serious, he had a casual twenty
one last night, you know, twenty two, and it's because
of AJ. But the b YU, I feel like the
way to win a Final four is because of that
attention drawn away.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Like Richie, I feel like he's going to hit one
hundred threes this year.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
Ansom, I have to agree. I mean between the shooting
ability of Richie and AJ, I mean you're throwing Kenard Davis.
I mean those guys you I don't know if I'm
a coach that's preparing for BYU, I don't know who
you try to take, you know, take out of the game, right,
who do you key in on? You know, there's AJ
(10:47):
is gonna you know, he's gonna be who he is
on a nightly basis. He's going to impact the game.
We're gonna regardless of if he's scoring or if he's playmaking. Right.
But like you said, you have shooters that are consistent
knockdown shooters. You know Richie Saunders, Robert Wrights, you know
he's perfecting his shot. Kenard Davis is a great shooter
as well. I mean, there's just so much firepower on
(11:07):
the floor.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
You know.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
That's why I think we see b YU in games
with such a high assist count, but also with guys
multiple players and double digits, because the firepower is just
it's scary. It's scary, you know when at any point
any one of those guys can go off and have
career nights. And we've seen aj I do it a
couple of times. We've seen Richie do it. But I
wouldn't be surprised if we, you know, we see Keva
(11:30):
have a career night just based off of how you
know the defense and what you know, what offensive opportunities
they give him. And the same with Robert Wright. It's
like he's been pretty quiet offensively, but you know he's
due for, you know, a monster game. So you know,
on any given night, I think what's special about this
team is that someone can explode and have a career night,
(11:51):
and you know it's it's gonna be interesting to see
how these teams in the Big twelve guard by US
as conference gets ready to start.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yeah, it's definitely gonna be interesting to see how they
guard him, no doubt about it all. As we have
anson winer former by you men's basketball guard on the line,
what does let's talk about Kaba.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
He had a career high on blocks against Miami man.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
He was sitting. Everything was playing point guard. Duncan messed
up a rim, you know, in Madison Square Garden. I
just hate that, you know, he got he got sick,
you know, and that's a part of it, right, everybody
goes through their illness. But outside of that, CABA's had
a phenomenal season. He almost came close to breaking that
career h against cal Baptists. I needed a few more
lobs to be in his vicinity. Sometimes they just throw
(12:31):
it up to the moon because they say it's not
too high, but it definitely can be too high.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
I've seen it a few times.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
But what have you made of Caba this season and
the development from Chris Burgess.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
I love what I've seen from Caba this year same.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
I mean, I've you know, I had the luxury and
the pleasure of coaching Cabo when he was in high school.
So to see where he's come from as a sophomore
to this point as a senior in college has been
It's been nothing short of phenomenal. The kids just see
works hard and you've seen it, right, every year he's
gotten better and better. And it's not just from the
eye test, it's from the stats. You know, all the
stats have improved the year upon year, and he's becomes
(13:06):
just a dominant force. Right. I expect him to be probably,
if not the best and the second best big in
the Big twelve this year. I expect him to continue
to anchor the defense for BYU. And he just creates
so many opportunities, right, if he's blocking shots, he's controlling
the paint, he gets monster rebounds, and he's a lot
of threat. Right, you have to guard him in a
(13:27):
pick and roll action. You can't, you know, if you're
the low man, if you're a defender, right, you can't
just key in on shooters. You have to be be
ready to protect the rim as well, because he rolls
so hard and he's so athletic, and so I've been
very impressed with Kable and I think he's fitting to
this team as a major puzzle piece. He fits nicely,
and he's a guy that just he's just going to
(13:49):
play hard. You know, he's not expecting to get the
ball every possession. He's not expecting to score in double figures. Right,
He's going to do what it needs, whatever needs to
be done to win the game. That could be zero points,
that could be eight rebounds, it could be five blocks,
you know. And so I've just been very pleased with
Cave and I expect him to continue to flourish as
this year goes on.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Yeah, he's definitely gonna flourish. Last couple of things Anson
before we let you go to get to break. We
know your time is valuable, especially this holiday season. Give
me your thoughts to your perspective as a coach, he said,
six' four guards six. Four i've heard the we're not
seeing And Rober wrights a dynamic, guard but kind of
around his height if he'll be, drafted or we're moving
away from the unless You're Steph, curry who's an, anomaly
(14:30):
the greatest shooter That god's ever gifted. Us you're not
seeing the six, two six,' three six foot one guards
at the. Highest level you're seeing, six four sixty five,
six eight.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Six' nine?
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Why is that shed some might, on That issue because
i'm kind of sad And by that i'm seeing all
of these high level guys pretty much. Just point forward
now there is no traditional Point Guard like chris paul
anymore GOING.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
In, the nba.
Speaker 5 (14:55):
Yeah the game, has, Evolved tremendously right basketball. Gets, on
you right two things that are. Consistent with basketball every
year gets younger and every year. It, Gets taller right
there's more and more taller athlete who are multifaceted in
their skill set to where they can play. Plenty, of
positions right there's a lot of basketball players that we're
(15:16):
seeing in college AND in the nba that you really
can't put them in a position because they can do.
SO many things i think that's that's hurt the traditional
point guard or, traditional shooting guard right because there's there's
a limited space. For SMALLER guards and i was reading
and watching this post online of a trainer just talk,
about you know if you're, a smaller guard how perfect
(15:39):
you have to be on.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
The.
Speaker 5 (15:40):
Basketball court right you have to limit, your your mistakes,
limit your turnovers you have to be willing to hit an,
open shop consistently and you have to be an absolute.
Animal on defense you have to you have to be
an extremely good defender if you're under six two sixty three.
As a GUARD and so i think what we're seeing
is those guards who do make it in are undersized
(16:02):
or have mastered their craft and are very good at
what they do offensively and are also no, slatches, on
defense right they can guard their man and shut down
their man because that's what's going to require. To get
MINUTES and SO i think i don't think it's over for.
THE smaller guards i think there we will still continue
To see more we'll, see YOU others but i think
we're going to see more polished guards COMING to the
(16:24):
nba because that's what it's going to take to have a.
Long standing career.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Thank you for.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Shedding that, Light you know i'm over getting, sad like
man my short kings while y'all doing, that TO them
like i need like, me, answer like hey?
Speaker 3 (16:36):
We can, ball answer miner? Was the baller don't tell.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Me that the six two six three six foot. GUYS
can't ball i remember When You know aaron brooks was,
in the, league you know Playing. For the bulls don't
do that to Me In. The, CHICAGO datives though i
appreciate you shed the lad. On THAT answer before i,
Let you go how can we tune into where you
guys gonna be competing at the next tournament you guys
got coming?
Speaker 5 (16:56):
Up for? WASSATCH oh, Man, I appreciate yes i think
the best way to stay in tune with what's going
On with wass hatch is through following us through our.
Social media accounts We have our INSTAGRAM Is w a
tigers b b, as in basketball, so follow us keep
(17:18):
up with us. On the socials it's the Same, handle for,
twitter and yeah we'll post all, of our, games our
schedule anything that's posted online, or streaming online we'll post those.
Links as well, so just yeah for everyone who's interested
in what, wasspatch is doing please just stay involved in our.
Social media, accounts and yeah we just we. Appreciate the
support we appreciate having this platform to come on and
(17:40):
just give highlights of how our season is going and.
Highlight our players we just, are truly, thankful and yeah
hopefully we can stay healthy and close out. This year strong.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Hopefully you can i'm Gonna Be watching junior county, lookout.
For him.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Hopefully you know sorry for those of you, kids out
there you're going to be on, a highlight tape.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
But it's. Okay i'm, on tyler says you listen.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Highlight tape if you go, look At It AND jalen
brunson's i had learned VERY quickly that i was not
going to make it and play at.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
The next level.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
But THAT'S okay so i see those GUYS play and, i,
WAS like hey I could say i played against the
likes of That And watched. Jabari parker dunk jabbar was,
In my award so it's a little bit doesn't. Hurt
As Much but jalen brunson was cooking me before he
was cooking everybody else. IN the league i like to
take that with the with, the GREAT assault so i
like to be funny.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
With that one.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
I'm not lying you guys are on the. Same floor.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
TOGETHER that's hey i got, to SAY yes and i
made A team that i saw, THESE guys like i
was doing a. LOT of cardio i got Good cardio
with but that. Was, about It Guys follow Anson Wander.
On watstatch basketball It's W a tigers bb, check it
out follow them, on social media And Stay.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Up todate andson thanks for, the.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Time today brother we'll get caught up with you in
the next couple of weeks after the holiday season and
had the.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Tournaments have, gone of, Course of course happy holities, to
you Guys And. Happy new, Year Take Care.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Happy new Year We'll let.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Anson wander Go That was anson WANDER The by u
men's FORMER basketball gu i got to get him in
the STUDIO WITH. BY a tv i. Know he's busy
we'd love to see him break down on the pre
and you know in. Half in post would love. To see,
that but guys that was you're keeping Up with the
cougar segment brought To You By Odion menshwear guys odion.
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one more segment to Get to dre. Bledsoe coming up
You're Listening To cougar sports guys right Here ON Your
Utah espn radio network, one oh three nine and ninety EIGHT,
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