August 12, 2025 • 25 mins
Ben Criddle talks BYU sports every weekday from 2 to 6 pm.
Today's Co-Hosts: Ben Criddle (@criddlebenjamin)
Subscribe to the Cougar Sports with Ben Criddle podcast:
Apple Podcasts:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cougar-sports-with-ben-criddle/id99676
Today's Co-Hosts: Ben Criddle (@criddlebenjamin)
Subscribe to the Cougar Sports with Ben Criddle podcast:
Apple Podcasts:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cougar-sports-with-ben-criddle/id99676
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
This so marches right around the corner and the Cougars
are in the metal of it.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
It's time to talk some college basketball on Cougar Sports
with Ben cripton Welcome Back Cougar Sports one O three
nine ninety eight point three ESBN The Fan, I'm mad
Crital broadcasting from our Banderwall Studios, Banterwealth dot Com.
Speaker 4 (00:16):
Get on a free q.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
And a no obligation to invest q anda with our
tax War Wealth Advisors Today, Ronald the three man Weaver
in the house. Let's stalk some buckets, some basketball, some
Brigham Young University hoops news. We're gonna welcome in a
former BA you rate to discuss it all. And this
segment's going to be brought to you by Utah Protective
Films Utah Protective Films dot Com. Jared bled So, former
b YU wide receiver, is an expert in car wraps,
(00:41):
car tents for your windows as well as chrome deletes.
So if you have a vehicle you want to make
look very nice, pristine and beautiful, head on over to
Utah Protective Films. You get fifteen percent off when you
mentioned myself for ESPN the Fan. All right, let's get
out to the hotline, and I know this man drives
(01:02):
a high performance vehicle. He may need a wrap from
Utah Protective Films, maybe some new ten, maybe a chrome delete.
Let's welcome in the Brazilian bomber former BYU Great on
the Hardwood. Jonathan Tabernari on the show, JT, what's up man?
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
JT is a firm believing in wrapping it up then,
so I love it. It looks great and you know,
shout it out to a former BYU Great that's doing
this right now. So yeah, appreciate you having me on
my brother.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Always a pleasure talking ball, talking Brigham with my guy JT.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Now, JT, I don't know if you saw.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
The news, but BYU's heading out to Orlando, going to
be playing Miami in their invitational to start the season
over Turkey Day weekend. What do you make of it?
Pretty nice location to begin the season at.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
You know, I related to run the three man Weaver,
you know, in terms that you know, my ESPN defan
boss is not very very happy. Uh, you know he's
gonna have to fly to Orlando to go see Mickey
Miles and buy U play. You know, all junks aside.
I think it's a fantastic team. You know, obviously Miami
you know the real you, right, and uh they it's
(02:17):
it's it's one of those things that they're not a
household name. It's not like they've made incredible noise, consistent
noise in the last decade. But it's none of the
less a big school, right, You're playing against you know,
a bigger entity, you know, the University of Miami, the Hurricanes,
(02:38):
the U and so to have BUYU play against them,
to have BUYU go to one of these tournaments, you know,
it reminds me a lot of the year after Hoppa.
You know, back in two thousand and four, two thousand
and five they got to go to Maui. They have
all sorts of all situations going on, and you know,
this is this is the A J effect, this is
(02:58):
the Kevin Young impact effect. And so to have BYU
highlighted in one of these holiday tournaments, I think it's
a fantastic thing. And it's only only beneficial to grow
the BYU brand.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
It's huge to grow that BYU brand, get national if
you will, and rep the y throughout the country. Doesn't
hurt that you're going to be in a warm weather destination.
You can go check out Harry Potter World and Disneyland
if you want a disney World rather. So, you know,
where do you stand right now with the schedule? What
do you like about the schedule? Is there anything you
(03:33):
dislike about the non conference schedule for BAU basketball.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
I mean, I to be one hundred percent honest with you,
I can't imagine anybody not being set aside with this schedule,
not being over the moon with this schedule. You know,
you look at the types of games are going to play,
you know, going to the to the Celtics gym to
play Yukon, going to Medica Square Garden, you know, for
a massive challenge. I mean when you look at the
(03:59):
tie of of of of teams that they're playing, you know,
playing North Carolina for an exhibition game, you know, interest
squad scrimmage. I mean the level of the level of
height that is surrounding this team. And I think it's
very much earned and very much you know, on par
with the way the season is going to go. Ron
made a point the last time I was on the
(04:20):
show last week. He said, you know, Kevin Young is
preparing the last year he prepared for the season, for
the postseason, doing Big twelve, the second part of Big twelve,
you know, the Big twelve play. And so it feels
like he is anticipating, not like anticipating in the sense of,
you know, he's waiting for something, but he is starting
(04:42):
the process of prepping for a lot of success much
earlier in the season. And so you look at the
way that the the year ended, they were peeking, you know,
at the in the middle of February and of February
they were going on, they were they were super high, right,
and so you know, talking to b Ham the other
(05:03):
day as well, looks like they're doing all of this
and you may be able to challenge Houston for the
Big Twelfth crown at this point, right with North Carolina
coming in early, you know, facing Yukon, facing all of
these teams early in the year, it will allow you
to be more battle tested. You know, when those dog
days of January that you know it is, knowing outside
(05:27):
it's cold, it gets dark at two thirty in the afternoon,
and you have Baylor coming in, you have Houston coming in.
You know, you have all of these different all of
these different massive programs that are coming in, and so
Kevin Young is you know, starting early the process of
getting these guys to peak so that when they peak,
they can stay at the high level and not crash
(05:49):
it down. So what an amazing schedule has been put
has been has been you know, organized and put together.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Now we know JT the Big Twelve schedule won't come
until I believe it's a second weekend, so Tember, it
won't come until a little bit later. We got the
non con. I want to jump the conference play because
the metrics say they're supposed to go twelve and one,
if not thirteen and O. Do you expect this team
to finish number two in the Big twelve? It's hard
to bet against Houston what Kelvin Sampson has going. But
(06:15):
do you anticipate that Big twelve, you know, championship game?
You know, Colm March, do you think you'll be BYU
in Houston?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
So I very much expect to be BUYU in Houston.
I think there are a lot of factors that you know,
we can't consider it at this point, you know, especially
in the middle of August. You know, injuries is one performance,
you know, maybe a dark force that comes out of nowhere, right,
that we're not expecting. But I will say is ron
I think my answer what may satisfy you, which is
(06:46):
if BYU doesn't finish in the top four of the
Big twelve, that is in itself as a red flag.
Now is it a massive red flag? Not necessarily, but
it is one that if everybody's healthy, everybody's playing, and
they're not in the top four, you're like, you know,
I'm most like the Scooby Doo, like you know, like
what's going on here? Like what you know? And so
I think there are certain metrics that you're expecting to see, right,
(07:11):
is it going thirteen and oh twelve and one? Is
that one of the metrics? I don't know. I will
very much expect them to probably be you know, eleven
and you know, eleven and three, maybe twelve and two,
maybe you know, twelve and one, thirteen and one. I
remember exactly how many non conference games they have, But
I was very much you know, if they lose more
than two games on their non conference schedule, I think
(07:33):
that's a red flag. See, okay, you know what is
going on here? Right? I mean you look at New
PRAWLN and you look at the game of medicine square gardens.
Those are the ones that you're like, you know, this
is a test, and I'm okay with those tests. Even
Miami in Orlando. I don't think that's a massive, massive test, right,
you know, mainly because excuse me, guys, maybe because the
(07:57):
Kevin Young abready to prove he can win. That reminds
me of the the UCF game last year for b
YU desperitely needed to win. UCF is not a powerhouse.
They went and got the job done and they were
able to win, and they were able to move on, right,
and and that's finally happened. And I think that's what
I'm seeing here. You know, I see that game with
(08:17):
Miami as a game that you're supposed when you should
win and unless there is something you know, odd, like
there is injury or there is somebody not playing or whatever,
or maybe Miami has you know, someone that's playing, like
a top ten pick, you know, it won't explain that
(08:37):
loss to Miami. And so that's my expectation. And then
you know, obviously going to conference just to reach away
what I said, if YU doesn't finish in the top four,
at that point, you have to look in and go wait,
a minute, What is happening here? Why is this not
a top four team in a Big twelve conference? And
so I think those those types of things, right, those
(08:57):
types of checks you know, through all the seas are
going to tell us a lot about you know, where
this team has the potential. And then we talked about
this a lot, you know, back in May, back in
June when all of this was coming together. To me,
the ceiling of the team is in the national Championship.
That's always the ceiling for every team, right. I think
if this seam you know, goes to the final four,
(09:19):
that is them really maxing out their potential, you know,
to an incredible level. Right. And and then again if
they don't, if they have more than two losses in
the non conference schedule, if they don't finish in the
top four in conference play, and then if they don't
(09:40):
make you know, to the second round of the NCAA Tournament,
to the round of thirty two, I think that, you know, this,
this season needs to be needs to be reevalued, you know,
in terms of a success.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah, you definitely look at all of those when you
finish technically time for third, but your fourth in the
Big twelve, the expectations, the bars raised, you know, with
a great ah More Trencher point guard, getting Richie back AJ.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
I want to stay on Richie.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
We've talked so much about Rob Aj, rightfully so, but
I feel like Richie has gotten left out at times
this summer, not all the way, you know, because Rob
and AJ posting one on ones. Rich's kind of a
silent killer, just works hard. But then I see a
video of him being guarded by Canard right dom, and
he just gets the ball, dribbles right, pulls up right
in their face and hits a three. Please give some
(10:25):
love to Richie and just having him back, because I
feel like he gets lost and sometimes people even refer
to him as the third option on a team, which
I just don't believe is going to be true.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Well, I mean, so you know, perspective is reality, right
and the perspective right now is that AJ is the
number one player in the country from high school, rightfully so.
And Robert Wright is, you know, a lottery pick in
the making. Right when you look at Richie, he is
(11:00):
not as hyph as those guys, and I think I
think that's that's not a bad thing. Right now. The
difference is he's been there, He's done that. I mean,
Richie Saunders is gonna go through a gauntlet of a
season where he already went to a gauntlet of the
season and he was able to deliver one for the
record books. Right. The fact that he wasn't an All
(11:22):
American is you know, is a travesty. And so it's
but it's a typical Richie rounders. You know, Richie Saunders,
you know story, it's the narrative around him. You know,
nobody thinks much of him, you know, for whatever reason
that's unknown to men, and he goes and proves everybody wrong.
I mean even last year, if you guys remember and
(11:43):
we were on the show all the time talking about this,
he wasn't even the number one guy that was being
talked about as the main returning guy for Kevin Young.
It was Dellan Hall. And so it's the narrative around Richiet,
which is the absolutely know underdog, and he thrives on that,
thrives on that. Think about the little smirk right now,
(12:06):
the Richie Saunders, you know, you know, spirit animal in
me is giving a little smirk, just like he was
giving a little smirk when he was walking up to
the free throw line in that Arizona game in Tucson.
And so that's just the way it is about Richie Saunders.
And obviously it's not the way that you know, you
want it to be, not the way that he should
(12:27):
be because of how good he is, because of the
way that he played last year, you know. But what
it remains to be seeing. What remains to be seen
is with Robert Wright, with aj with all the weapons
that they have on the arsenal right now, with you know,
Luke Bernard and Dominique Diamante and all of these guys.
(12:53):
Richie is still under talked about. We haven't even mentioned Xavion,
we haven't really talked about KaDee. We haven't really mentioned
a ton of Keba, you know, like we you know,
we're barely mentioning Alexei because because he just got here.
But there are multiple things you haven't even talked about
in Brodo Kelablowsky, who should have a bigger role this year,
(13:16):
and so all of these things. You also have the
tires kid, the new kid, the shooter, and so there
are there are so many weapons on this team. And
that's why I say it is And then we haven't
even talked about Baker yet, and so there's so many
This team is so loaded that if you know, when
(13:37):
Kevin Young get these guys buying into they're gonna be
like a well oiled machine, you know, just performing and
playing well. And I just want to I just want
to ch rate something that you know, it was very
much done last year. Trey Stewart never got upend of
playing time until mid January, right until mid January or
(13:58):
early February, and then he turned out to be a
massive contributor. And so you know, it's not how you drive,
you know, it's it's how you arrive. And but again,
there are some metrics during the season that as you
count on that you will see how this team is progressing.
And for these guys to be where they should be,
Richie is going to have to be the Richie that
(14:19):
we saw last year. Anything else less than that, then
you know, expectations gets cute.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Speaking of Trey Stewart, he just signed a professional contract
to play overseas. I thought that was interesting thing, right,
that guy that didn't play a ton in.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
His career, was a role player. How did he get
a professional contract?
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Do you think? Well, because he does all the little things.
Let me tell you guys something. One of the the best,
one of the best American players I ever faced in
Italy was someone that couldn't shoot to save his life.
Wasn't a score. He was someone that became a defensive specialist.
(15:03):
And his name is David Moss. I don't remember where
he went to college. You guys can look it up.
Look it up, David Moss basketball Sienna. You guys are
in front of a computer. I'm not, and you can't
see that. David Moss became one of the best players
in Europe, making a million dollar plus a year over
and over again, making to the euro League Final four
(15:24):
because he became a role player, because he was a
defensive specialist that shut down the other team's best player,
knew how to play basketball, knew how to make smart plays.
That is the definition of Tray's tours. And so beyond
excited for Trey. I'm sad because some of the some
of our favorite hats will now take longer to be released.
(15:44):
But you know, very very proud of him out of
mag for also getting a contract. We knew about Foos
going to France to Strasbourg. Trey krav is doing the
three or three thing. And obviously, you know Yegor, I
think he is going to pay play New York next year. Guys,
I don't remember now playing Brooklyn or Queens one of
(16:07):
those teams Yegar is going to be playing for, right, So.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah, I was, I was, you know, looking at those
five players that signed, uh you know contract professional. Abviously
Trev's going to play in the three on three circuit,
which is awesome. Trey getting signed overseas, I thought that
was great. We know Yegor was going to be a
lottery pick. But b way, you continue to produce even
(16:32):
you know, I would say over the last twenty years,
continue league produces high level talent that can at least
play overseas at the highest levels.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Absolutely been and that's something that you know, I'm glad.
And I don't remember who he was. I don't know
if it was Will Voyd or if it was a
B D. I don't remember exactly who it was. But
you know, provo doesn't mean NBA because the NBA is
not the only way for you to make a living
playing basketball. Yours truly happened to be the living proof
(17:01):
of that, and so you know, it's it's it's a
place that you can come And I think that's the
type of that's the type of pitch that you can
give to a lot of the guys you know who
happened to be maybe a three star or a four
star of a crew. You know, typical guys that they
may be a rubber right in the making. You know
that they probably wouldn't be b YU type players in
(17:23):
the first place. But you're like, look, you can come here.
You have a chance to go make money overseas. You know,
money is money, doesn't matter if it's eros or if
it's rubies or if it's the dollars. Having the chance
to know the world and to see the world, and
and I'll tell you this then to be exposed to
the b y U network, you know, to to the
LDS network around the world, it's a phenomenal thing. Obviously, Ben,
(17:47):
you've been around the world. You know, for as long
as we've known each other, you knew about you know
about the experiences I had, you know overseas with the
church with you know, different area, you know, being a
part of the Rome Temple, and that process was a
blessing in our family. But it's a part of the
b YU connection. And once you're a part of this network,
(18:08):
then you know, as long as you don't do anything stupid,
you're going to be a part of it for the
rest of your life.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Love that perspective.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Love the comments from Jonathan Tabinari here on ESPN the
Fan real quick, give us some perspective on where Mowat,
mag Foostraer and Trey Stewart are gonna be playing, Like
what what are we seeing here as far as location
level of play? I think, uh, what is with Karen's
type hands FOS And I'm not I'm probably completely butchering
(18:41):
the name Fustrera is with sig Strasburg and then Trey
Stewart with SBB Baskets.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Yeah. So I actually know the teams for for FOS
and for the teams for FOS and the teams for
for Trey really well, and mainly because when you do
preseason in Europe, you go to random areas all of
the continent and you play there, and so Trey, you know,
Trey will be playing, you know, in the in the
(19:09):
second division in Germany, and uh, you know it's a
solid team and as you know, your Europeans have relegation
and promotion. And so these are teams that you know,
I look at look at Excelius, who was able to
literally go from you know, rags to riches and now
he is going to be a euro League player. And
we got to see you know, Zach playing you know
(19:31):
with the BYU team in practicing with them, and so
uh Pray has a chance to really build a career there.
And he's going to start from a place that will
expect a law from him. You know, you're coming in
as an America and you best deliver or they will
send you home very quickly. Fus is expected to contribute
right away. I know that just because of the type
of team he's going to and also because of who
(19:53):
he is. And you know, I'm not one hundred percent
sure Charles Abul who confirmed that maybe Fus because of
is you know, African roots, he may be able to
play as like the TONU, which is an agreement that
which is an agreement that France has with African African countries,
(20:16):
which is stem from Derek Times as colonies. And so
Sous is expected to contribute right away. That's a team
that you know used to be in the euro League,
euro Cup, you know, plays on plays on a lot
of a lot of different high level leagues. Mag I
believe is going back to Australia and uh, you know
(20:38):
he is going to play at at almost like a
home league for him. But you know, don't don't sleep
on the Australian League. If you remember, that's where LaMelo
Ball went to perfect his game before joining the NBA.
That's a very up and that's a very up and
coming league. It's a place where a lot, a lot
(20:58):
of a lot of kids. You know, just before the
n I L D n I L wave hit college,
a lot of kids were going to Australia to be
able to to get paid and develop their game. And
so these guys are off to incredible leads, incredible leads
right I personally, you know, in all my conversations with Trev,
I thought that he was gonna be able to get
(21:19):
and he may still he may still have an opportunity
to do what Spencer Johnson you know, is doing. We're
going to a league that's not very well known, although
it is London, but the British League, you know, it's
I mean, it is very very very very very low
on the total pole. But nonetheless, Spencer Johnson had a
fantastic year and he's able to build himself, and so
(21:41):
I hope that that Trevin Nell has an opportunity to
do that as well. And then obviously you know our
boy jeg Or. You know our boy Yegor shining in
the NBA. This is impressive, guys. You know my senior year,
my senior year, obviously, you know I signed a three
year deal to go to Italy to go you're a
Cup team. And then Lamar didn't have a really a
(22:03):
chance to go. Chris Miles went to Germany and so
uh but Ben, to your point, buy you guys been
doing this year after year, and Ben, I'll never forget this.
We were at the Thanksgiving Force Golf studios. You were
having an Arnold Palmer, which I had no idea what
it was at the time. And uh, I remember having
(22:24):
a conversation with Brian Keele and Brian kill said something
about about football, about football teams going far and having
a success, and Brian Kle said, if you have a
QB that's a pro QB, your team is going to
do well. And what Brian meant by that is as
long as you have you have a QB that we'll know,
(22:44):
we'll get Bade to play professional football, be it in Canada,
being as a as a as a practice squad guy.
But if he play, if he gets Bay to b QB,
you're gonna be okay. And that stuck with me because
that's the same thing about b y U basketball. As
long as you have pros in your team, you're gonna
be fine. Then go look at the times and the
(23:05):
seasons that BUYU has had incredible years. Greatest season at
BYU history is the one with Denny Ainge, who is
you know, considered one of the greatest, one of the
top five white boys to ever play basketball in history
of the NBA. And then he also had Michael Smith,
and he had Andy Toolsen, and he had Devin Durant,
(23:27):
and he had Jeff Chatman. He had all of these
guys that ended up playing professionally. And then you look
at you look at you know, the back to back
thirty win seasons, which has never been done in BYU history.
You know, when you go back to my senior year
and then Jimmermania and then you had me, you had
Jim Er, you had Charles Abuoh, you had Noah Hartsoft,
(23:49):
you had Lamont Morgan. You know, the list goes on
and on about people that played professional basketball, and then
you had Kyle Pollosworth in that team as well, who
became an NBA player. As long as you have more
than two, as long as you have three or four
pros in a college team, and he doesn't mean if
it's NBA or Europe. As long as you have four
(24:12):
pros in your team, you should have a good season.
And when you look at the roster of this year, Ben,
they probably have about seven or eight pros at least.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Love that breakdown that only Jonathan Tebinari can give. Make
sure you're following him on x and try to connect
with him on LinkedIn if you're in if you're a
business professional, Jonathan Tabinari Lady, ladies and gentlemen talking to
some by U Basketball.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Great segment.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
J T.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Let's get you hooked up with the Utah Protective Films.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Hey, let's do it man. Like I said, you know,
wrapping wrapping up is extremely important. I'm a firm believer
on it, and let's definitely do it. I'll connect with
you afterward and then I'm always in Forever Gold Tunes Ago.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
That's Jonathan Tabnari, and that segment was brought to you
by Utah Protective Films, U Top Protective Film com hit
up my guy Jared bled Show.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
He's gonna take care of you.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
If you need a car wrap, window tint or a
chrome delete, you get fifteen percent off those products, those services.
When you mentioned myself for ESPN the Fan, let's take
a brief time out.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
We'll be back. Don't go anywhere.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
This is Cougar Sports one O three nine nine to
two point three, ESPN the Fan
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
This so marches right around the corner and the Cougars
are in the metal of it.
Speaker 3 (00:04):
It's time to talk some college basketball on Cougar Sports
with Ben cripton Welcome Back Cougar Sports one O three
nine ninety eight point three ESBN The Fan, I'm mad
Crital broadcasting from our Banderwall Studios, Banterwealth dot Com.
Speaker 4 (00:16):
Get on a free q.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
And a no obligation to invest q anda with our
tax War Wealth Advisors Today, Ronald the three man Weaver
in the house. Let's stalk some buckets, some basketball, some
Brigham Young University hoops news. We're gonna welcome in a
former BA you rate to discuss it all. And this
segment's going to be brought to you by Utah Protective
Films Utah Protective Films dot Com. Jared bled So, former
b YU wide receiver, is an expert in car wraps,
(00:41):
car tents for your windows as well as chrome deletes.
So if you have a vehicle you want to make
look very nice, pristine and beautiful, head on over to
Utah Protective Films. You get fifteen percent off when you
mentioned myself for ESPN the Fan. All right, let's get
out to the hotline, and I know this man drives
(01:02):
a high performance vehicle. He may need a wrap from
Utah Protective Films, maybe some new ten, maybe a chrome delete.
Let's welcome in the Brazilian bomber former BYU Great on
the Hardwood. Jonathan Tabernari on the show, JT, what's up man?
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
JT is a firm believing in wrapping it up then,
so I love it. It looks great and you know,
shout it out to a former BYU Great that's doing
this right now. So yeah, appreciate you having me on
my brother.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Always a pleasure talking ball, talking Brigham with my guy JT.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Now, JT, I don't know if you saw.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
The news, but BYU's heading out to Orlando, going to
be playing Miami in their invitational to start the season
over Turkey Day weekend. What do you make of it?
Pretty nice location to begin the season at.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
You know, I related to run the three man Weaver,
you know, in terms that you know, my ESPN defan
boss is not very very happy. Uh, you know he's
gonna have to fly to Orlando to go see Mickey
Miles and buy U play. You know, all junks aside.
I think it's a fantastic team. You know, obviously Miami
you know the real you, right, and uh they it's
(02:17):
it's it's one of those things that they're not a
household name. It's not like they've made incredible noise, consistent
noise in the last decade. But it's none of the
less a big school, right, You're playing against you know,
a bigger entity, you know, the University of Miami, the Hurricanes,
(02:38):
the U and so to have BUYU play against them,
to have BUYU go to one of these tournaments, you know,
it reminds me a lot of the year after Hoppa.
You know, back in two thousand and four, two thousand
and five they got to go to Maui. They have
all sorts of all situations going on, and you know,
this is this is the A J effect, this is
(02:58):
the Kevin Young impact effect. And so to have BYU
highlighted in one of these holiday tournaments, I think it's
a fantastic thing. And it's only only beneficial to grow
the BYU brand.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
It's huge to grow that BYU brand, get national if
you will, and rep the y throughout the country. Doesn't
hurt that you're going to be in a warm weather destination.
You can go check out Harry Potter World and Disneyland
if you want a disney World rather. So, you know,
where do you stand right now with the schedule? What
do you like about the schedule? Is there anything you
(03:33):
dislike about the non conference schedule for BAU basketball.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
I mean, I to be one hundred percent honest with you,
I can't imagine anybody not being set aside with this schedule,
not being over the moon with this schedule. You know,
you look at the types of games are going to play,
you know, going to the to the Celtics gym to
play Yukon, going to Medica Square Garden, you know, for
a massive challenge. I mean when you look at the
(03:59):
tie of of of of teams that they're playing, you know,
playing North Carolina for an exhibition game, you know, interest
squad scrimmage. I mean the level of the level of
height that is surrounding this team. And I think it's
very much earned and very much you know, on par
with the way the season is going to go. Ron
made a point the last time I was on the
(04:20):
show last week. He said, you know, Kevin Young is
preparing the last year he prepared for the season, for
the postseason, doing Big twelve, the second part of Big twelve,
you know, the Big twelve play. And so it feels
like he is anticipating, not like anticipating in the sense of,
you know, he's waiting for something, but he is starting
(04:42):
the process of prepping for a lot of success much
earlier in the season. And so you look at the
way that the the year ended, they were peeking, you know,
at the in the middle of February and of February
they were going on, they were they were super high, right,
and so you know, talking to b Ham the other
(05:03):
day as well, looks like they're doing all of this
and you may be able to challenge Houston for the
Big Twelfth crown at this point, right with North Carolina
coming in early, you know, facing Yukon, facing all of
these teams early in the year, it will allow you
to be more battle tested. You know, when those dog
days of January that you know it is, knowing outside
(05:27):
it's cold, it gets dark at two thirty in the afternoon,
and you have Baylor coming in, you have Houston coming in.
You know, you have all of these different all of
these different massive programs that are coming in, and so
Kevin Young is you know, starting early the process of
getting these guys to peak so that when they peak,
they can stay at the high level and not crash
(05:49):
it down. So what an amazing schedule has been put
has been has been you know, organized and put together.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Now we know JT the Big Twelve schedule won't come
until I believe it's a second weekend, so Tember, it
won't come until a little bit later. We got the
non con. I want to jump the conference play because
the metrics say they're supposed to go twelve and one,
if not thirteen and O. Do you expect this team
to finish number two in the Big twelve? It's hard
to bet against Houston what Kelvin Sampson has going. But
(06:15):
do you anticipate that Big twelve, you know, championship game?
You know, Colm March, do you think you'll be BYU
in Houston?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
So I very much expect to be BUYU in Houston.
I think there are a lot of factors that you know,
we can't consider it at this point, you know, especially
in the middle of August. You know, injuries is one performance,
you know, maybe a dark force that comes out of nowhere, right,
that we're not expecting. But I will say is ron
I think my answer what may satisfy you, which is
(06:46):
if BYU doesn't finish in the top four of the
Big twelve, that is in itself as a red flag.
Now is it a massive red flag? Not necessarily, but
it is one that if everybody's healthy, everybody's playing, and
they're not in the top four, you're like, you know,
I'm most like the Scooby Doo, like you know, like
what's going on here? Like what you know? And so
I think there are certain metrics that you're expecting to see, right,
(07:11):
is it going thirteen and oh twelve and one? Is
that one of the metrics? I don't know. I will
very much expect them to probably be you know, eleven
and you know, eleven and three, maybe twelve and two,
maybe you know, twelve and one, thirteen and one. I
remember exactly how many non conference games they have, But
I was very much you know, if they lose more
than two games on their non conference schedule, I think
(07:33):
that's a red flag. See, okay, you know what is
going on here? Right? I mean you look at New
PRAWLN and you look at the game of medicine square gardens.
Those are the ones that you're like, you know, this
is a test, and I'm okay with those tests. Even
Miami in Orlando. I don't think that's a massive, massive test, right,
you know, mainly because excuse me, guys, maybe because the
(07:57):
Kevin Young abready to prove he can win. That reminds
me of the the UCF game last year for b
YU desperitely needed to win. UCF is not a powerhouse.
They went and got the job done and they were
able to win, and they were able to move on, right,
and and that's finally happened. And I think that's what
I'm seeing here. You know, I see that game with
(08:17):
Miami as a game that you're supposed when you should
win and unless there is something you know, odd, like
there is injury or there is somebody not playing or whatever,
or maybe Miami has you know, someone that's playing, like
a top ten pick, you know, it won't explain that
(08:37):
loss to Miami. And so that's my expectation. And then
you know, obviously going to conference just to reach away
what I said, if YU doesn't finish in the top four,
at that point, you have to look in and go wait,
a minute, What is happening here? Why is this not
a top four team in a Big twelve conference? And
so I think those those types of things, right, those
(08:57):
types of checks you know, through all the seas are
going to tell us a lot about you know, where
this team has the potential. And then we talked about
this a lot, you know, back in May, back in
June when all of this was coming together. To me,
the ceiling of the team is in the national Championship.
That's always the ceiling for every team, right. I think
if this seam you know, goes to the final four,
(09:19):
that is them really maxing out their potential, you know,
to an incredible level. Right. And and then again if
they don't, if they have more than two losses in
the non conference schedule, if they don't finish in the
top four in conference play, and then if they don't
(09:40):
make you know, to the second round of the NCAA Tournament,
to the round of thirty two, I think that, you know, this,
this season needs to be needs to be reevalued, you know,
in terms of a success.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah, you definitely look at all of those when you
finish technically time for third, but your fourth in the
Big twelve, the expectations, the bars raised, you know, with
a great ah More Trencher point guard, getting Richie back AJ.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
I want to stay on Richie.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
We've talked so much about Rob Aj, rightfully so, but
I feel like Richie has gotten left out at times
this summer, not all the way, you know, because Rob
and AJ posting one on ones. Rich's kind of a
silent killer, just works hard. But then I see a
video of him being guarded by Canard right dom, and
he just gets the ball, dribbles right, pulls up right
in their face and hits a three. Please give some
(10:25):
love to Richie and just having him back, because I
feel like he gets lost and sometimes people even refer
to him as the third option on a team, which
I just don't believe is going to be true.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Well, I mean, so you know, perspective is reality, right
and the perspective right now is that AJ is the
number one player in the country from high school, rightfully so.
And Robert Wright is, you know, a lottery pick in
the making. Right when you look at Richie, he is
(11:00):
not as hyph as those guys, and I think I
think that's that's not a bad thing. Right now. The
difference is he's been there, He's done that. I mean,
Richie Saunders is gonna go through a gauntlet of a
season where he already went to a gauntlet of the
season and he was able to deliver one for the
record books. Right. The fact that he wasn't an All
(11:22):
American is you know, is a travesty. And so it's
but it's a typical Richie rounders. You know, Richie Saunders,
you know story, it's the narrative around him. You know,
nobody thinks much of him, you know, for whatever reason
that's unknown to men, and he goes and proves everybody wrong.
I mean even last year, if you guys remember and
(11:43):
we were on the show all the time talking about this,
he wasn't even the number one guy that was being
talked about as the main returning guy for Kevin Young.
It was Dellan Hall. And so it's the narrative around Richiet,
which is the absolutely know underdog, and he thrives on that,
thrives on that. Think about the little smirk right now,
(12:06):
the Richie Saunders, you know, you know, spirit animal in
me is giving a little smirk, just like he was
giving a little smirk when he was walking up to
the free throw line in that Arizona game in Tucson.
And so that's just the way it is about Richie Saunders.
And obviously it's not the way that you know, you
want it to be, not the way that he should
(12:27):
be because of how good he is, because of the
way that he played last year, you know. But what
it remains to be seeing. What remains to be seen
is with Robert Wright, with aj with all the weapons
that they have on the arsenal right now, with you know,
Luke Bernard and Dominique Diamante and all of these guys.
(12:53):
Richie is still under talked about. We haven't even mentioned Xavion,
we haven't really talked about KaDee. We haven't really mentioned
a ton of Keba, you know, like we you know,
we're barely mentioning Alexei because because he just got here.
But there are multiple things you haven't even talked about
in Brodo Kelablowsky, who should have a bigger role this year,
(13:16):
and so all of these things. You also have the
tires kid, the new kid, the shooter, and so there
are there are so many weapons on this team. And
that's why I say it is And then we haven't
even talked about Baker yet, and so there's so many
This team is so loaded that if you know, when
(13:37):
Kevin Young get these guys buying into they're gonna be
like a well oiled machine, you know, just performing and
playing well. And I just want to I just want
to ch rate something that you know, it was very
much done last year. Trey Stewart never got upend of
playing time until mid January, right until mid January or
(13:58):
early February, and then he turned out to be a
massive contributor. And so you know, it's not how you drive,
you know, it's it's how you arrive. And but again,
there are some metrics during the season that as you
count on that you will see how this team is progressing.
And for these guys to be where they should be,
Richie is going to have to be the Richie that
(14:19):
we saw last year. Anything else less than that, then
you know, expectations gets cute.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Speaking of Trey Stewart, he just signed a professional contract
to play overseas. I thought that was interesting thing, right,
that guy that didn't play a ton in.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
His career, was a role player. How did he get
a professional contract?
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Do you think? Well, because he does all the little things.
Let me tell you guys something. One of the the best,
one of the best American players I ever faced in
Italy was someone that couldn't shoot to save his life.
Wasn't a score. He was someone that became a defensive specialist.
(15:03):
And his name is David Moss. I don't remember where
he went to college. You guys can look it up.
Look it up, David Moss basketball Sienna. You guys are
in front of a computer. I'm not, and you can't
see that. David Moss became one of the best players
in Europe, making a million dollar plus a year over
and over again, making to the euro League Final four
(15:24):
because he became a role player, because he was a
defensive specialist that shut down the other team's best player,
knew how to play basketball, knew how to make smart plays.
That is the definition of Tray's tours. And so beyond
excited for Trey. I'm sad because some of the some
of our favorite hats will now take longer to be released.
(15:44):
But you know, very very proud of him out of
mag for also getting a contract. We knew about Foos
going to France to Strasbourg. Trey krav is doing the
three or three thing. And obviously, you know Yegor, I
think he is going to pay play New York next year. Guys,
I don't remember now playing Brooklyn or Queens one of
(16:07):
those teams Yegar is going to be playing for, right, So.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah, I was, I was, you know, looking at those
five players that signed, uh you know contract professional. Abviously
Trev's going to play in the three on three circuit,
which is awesome. Trey getting signed overseas, I thought that
was great. We know Yegor was going to be a
lottery pick. But b way, you continue to produce even
(16:32):
you know, I would say over the last twenty years,
continue league produces high level talent that can at least
play overseas at the highest levels.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Absolutely been and that's something that you know, I'm glad.
And I don't remember who he was. I don't know
if it was Will Voyd or if it was a
B D. I don't remember exactly who it was. But
you know, provo doesn't mean NBA because the NBA is
not the only way for you to make a living
playing basketball. Yours truly happened to be the living proof
(17:01):
of that, and so you know, it's it's it's a
place that you can come And I think that's the
type of that's the type of pitch that you can
give to a lot of the guys you know who
happened to be maybe a three star or a four
star of a crew. You know, typical guys that they
may be a rubber right in the making. You know
that they probably wouldn't be b YU type players in
(17:23):
the first place. But you're like, look, you can come here.
You have a chance to go make money overseas. You know,
money is money, doesn't matter if it's eros or if
it's rubies or if it's the dollars. Having the chance
to know the world and to see the world, and
and I'll tell you this then to be exposed to
the b y U network, you know, to to the
LDS network around the world, it's a phenomenal thing. Obviously, Ben,
(17:47):
you've been around the world. You know, for as long
as we've known each other, you knew about you know
about the experiences I had, you know overseas with the
church with you know, different area, you know, being a
part of the Rome Temple, and that process was a
blessing in our family. But it's a part of the
b YU connection. And once you're a part of this network,
(18:08):
then you know, as long as you don't do anything stupid,
you're going to be a part of it for the
rest of your life.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Love that perspective.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Love the comments from Jonathan Tabinari here on ESPN the
Fan real quick, give us some perspective on where Mowat,
mag Foostraer and Trey Stewart are gonna be playing, Like
what what are we seeing here as far as location
level of play? I think, uh, what is with Karen's
type hands FOS And I'm not I'm probably completely butchering
(18:41):
the name Fustrera is with sig Strasburg and then Trey
Stewart with SBB Baskets.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Yeah. So I actually know the teams for for FOS
and for the teams for FOS and the teams for
for Trey really well, and mainly because when you do
preseason in Europe, you go to random areas all of
the continent and you play there, and so Trey, you know,
Trey will be playing, you know, in the in the
(19:09):
second division in Germany, and uh, you know it's a
solid team and as you know, your Europeans have relegation
and promotion. And so these are teams that you know,
I look at look at Excelius, who was able to
literally go from you know, rags to riches and now
he is going to be a euro League player. And
we got to see you know, Zach playing you know
(19:31):
with the BYU team in practicing with them, and so
uh Pray has a chance to really build a career there.
And he's going to start from a place that will
expect a law from him. You know, you're coming in
as an America and you best deliver or they will
send you home very quickly. Fus is expected to contribute
right away. I know that just because of the type
of team he's going to and also because of who
(19:53):
he is. And you know, I'm not one hundred percent
sure Charles Abul who confirmed that maybe Fus because of
is you know, African roots, he may be able to
play as like the TONU, which is an agreement that
which is an agreement that France has with African African countries,
(20:16):
which is stem from Derek Times as colonies. And so
Sous is expected to contribute right away. That's a team
that you know used to be in the euro League,
euro Cup, you know, plays on plays on a lot
of a lot of different high level leagues. Mag I
believe is going back to Australia and uh, you know
(20:38):
he is going to play at at almost like a
home league for him. But you know, don't don't sleep
on the Australian League. If you remember, that's where LaMelo
Ball went to perfect his game before joining the NBA.
That's a very up and that's a very up and
coming league. It's a place where a lot, a lot
(20:58):
of a lot of kids. You know, just before the
n I L D n I L wave hit college,
a lot of kids were going to Australia to be
able to to get paid and develop their game. And
so these guys are off to incredible leads, incredible leads
right I personally, you know, in all my conversations with Trev,
I thought that he was gonna be able to get
(21:19):
and he may still he may still have an opportunity
to do what Spencer Johnson you know, is doing. We're
going to a league that's not very well known, although
it is London, but the British League, you know, it's
I mean, it is very very very very very low
on the total pole. But nonetheless, Spencer Johnson had a
fantastic year and he's able to build himself, and so
(21:41):
I hope that that Trevin Nell has an opportunity to
do that as well. And then obviously you know our
boy jeg Or. You know our boy Yegor shining in
the NBA. This is impressive, guys. You know my senior year,
my senior year, obviously, you know I signed a three
year deal to go to Italy to go you're a
Cup team. And then Lamar didn't have a really a
(22:03):
chance to go. Chris Miles went to Germany and so
uh but Ben, to your point, buy you guys been
doing this year after year, and Ben, I'll never forget this.
We were at the Thanksgiving Force Golf studios. You were
having an Arnold Palmer, which I had no idea what
it was at the time. And uh, I remember having
(22:24):
a conversation with Brian Keele and Brian kill said something
about about football, about football teams going far and having
a success, and Brian Kle said, if you have a
QB that's a pro QB, your team is going to
do well. And what Brian meant by that is as
long as you have you have a QB that we'll know,
(22:44):
we'll get Bade to play professional football, be it in Canada,
being as a as a as a practice squad guy.
But if he play, if he gets Bay to b QB,
you're gonna be okay. And that stuck with me because
that's the same thing about b y U basketball. As
long as you have pros in your team, you're gonna
be fine. Then go look at the times and the
(23:05):
seasons that BUYU has had incredible years. Greatest season at
BYU history is the one with Denny Ainge, who is
you know, considered one of the greatest, one of the
top five white boys to ever play basketball in history
of the NBA. And then he also had Michael Smith,
and he had Andy Toolsen, and he had Devin Durant,
(23:27):
and he had Jeff Chatman. He had all of these
guys that ended up playing professionally. And then you look
at you look at you know, the back to back
thirty win seasons, which has never been done in BYU history.
You know, when you go back to my senior year
and then Jimmermania and then you had me, you had
Jim Er, you had Charles Abuoh, you had Noah Hartsoft,
(23:49):
you had Lamont Morgan. You know, the list goes on
and on about people that played professional basketball, and then
you had Kyle Pollosworth in that team as well, who
became an NBA player. As long as you have more
than two, as long as you have three or four
pros in a college team, and he doesn't mean if
it's NBA or Europe. As long as you have four
(24:12):
pros in your team, you should have a good season.
And when you look at the roster of this year, Ben,
they probably have about seven or eight pros at least.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Love that breakdown that only Jonathan Tebinari can give. Make
sure you're following him on x and try to connect
with him on LinkedIn if you're in if you're a
business professional, Jonathan Tabinari Lady, ladies and gentlemen talking to
some by U Basketball.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Great segment.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
J T.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Let's get you hooked up with the Utah Protective Films.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Hey, let's do it man. Like I said, you know,
wrapping wrapping up is extremely important. I'm a firm believer
on it, and let's definitely do it. I'll connect with
you afterward and then I'm always in Forever Gold Tunes Ago.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
That's Jonathan Tabnari, and that segment was brought to you
by Utah Protective Films, U Top Protective Film com hit
up my guy Jared bled Show.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
He's gonna take care of you.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
If you need a car wrap, window tint or a
chrome delete, you get fifteen percent off those products, those services.
When you mentioned myself for ESPN the Fan, let's take
a brief time out.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
We'll be back. Don't go anywhere.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
This is Cougar Sports one O three nine nine to
two point three, ESPN the Fan
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.