Talk to Utahns aged 40 and up, and the sports fans among them tend to be amazed by one thing: How football has taken over the state’s interests.
But when the boss assigns a story on the most influential moments in the state during the past school year, think about how often basketball comes back to the forefront.
Yes, a packed Marriott Center at BYU (back to the glory days) revolving around a boyish-named legend (from Danny to Jimmer in 30 years) was a big part of the blueprint.
Football played a hand in some cases, as well. But looking back from August to June, and off into the future, hoops still has its special place of importance.
Here’s why:
Off to the next adventure: As Darnell Dickson pointed out in his BYU year in review, the Cougars amassed 140 Mountain West Conference tour- nament and regular-season championships. Rival Utah was second with 49.
The Cougar basketball team, which claimed at least a share of its fourth MWC title in six years under head coach Dave Rose, will now try to pry West Coast Conference dominance from Gonzaga, which has been going more than a decade strong in what will become the next big challenge after keeping pole position against the likes of San Diego State, UNLV and New Mexico in recent years.
Why the change? Of course, BYU football’s rare and daring move to independence — after Utah jumped ship for the Pac-12 during the summer of realignment — precipitated it.
Now, though, basketball will be a key part of the venture. Say what you will about the possibilities of BYUTV, and all of the newfangled equipment, but Rose’s crew will be at the front lines of the venture to “exposure” — a big buzzword around Provo for these moves — by appear- ing on ESPN several times a winter.
The WCC just signed an especially lucrative eight-year extension, as the nine-team league capitalized in part on the Cougars’ addition in coming off a Sweet 16 appearance.
There will be some late night games on the west coast for Cougar fans (remember fans grousing about those “Big Monday” ESPN games for several years in the MWC?) but the opportunities appear to be a good thing. The contract is for a minimum of 48 games, and the league has averaged 38 over the past three seasons.
It should also bolster the national-landscape possibilities for early-season games in November and December.
Jimmer-mania, and consequences, continue: We all know what an impact Fredette had on college basketball around the country, maybe even the world, let alone Utah.
But the tangents from his season and mushrooming pop- ularity also impacted the state on several levels.
Beyond just BYU recruiting, which must have a broader net now because of Fredette’s impact, there is this to consider.
BYU’s top assistant, Dave Rice, got his big break in April — returning to his alma mater, no less — with a great deal of fortuitous timing behind six strong years in Provo operating the highly entertaining Cougar offense along with coaching this season’s consensus national player of the year plus the country’s leading scorer. Could some more players from our state find their way to Las Vegas, instead of just the opposite occurring?
Also, the good people of Sacramento, Calif., are learning about Utah as their struggling NBA franchise just got a big dose of Jimmer-mania by the Kings picking him with the No. 10 pick last Thursday. He appears to already have taken the town’s mind off the philandering Gover-nator.
That decision by Sacramento figures to have greatly impacted at least the bottom line of the local Utah Jazz, which couldn’t reach him (assuming they would have taken him, if available) with the No. 12 choice.
Those ticket sales reps for Utah at the team’s public NBA draft party would have been a lot busier, for certain, if Fredette stayed close to Provo. Instead, there was’t a whole lot of reaction when the Jazz drafted 19-year-old Alec Burks, a good scorer (about 20 points per game, nearly 10 shy of Fredette last winter) who doesn’t exactly possess Jimmer range. Burks fired about 30 percent from 3-point range. Jazz fans seem excited about No. 3 pick Enes Kanter, but the 19-year- old from Turkey doesn’t exactly have a huge following, or even a big resume, at this point.
How else did Fredette impact the state? For a brief moment, he tran- scended the rivalry. It was at the Huntsman Center in January that he went off for a wild 32-point first half against the Utes. He ended the opening 20 minutes with a swish from near half court.
As calm as if he’d just drained a free throw, Fredette strolled back to the locker room as BYU fans and even many in red chanted his first name, sure they had seen something to remember and excited to share in it.
The future: Lone Peak won another boys’ basketball state championship. Two of its standouts are T.J. Haws and Nick Emery, younger brothers of Cougars that could have the option to attend a lot of universities in upcoming years.
Maybe they wind up at BYU, too. But their prowess during the winter, then in the AAU circuit during the summer, could land them as two of the biggest names in the country to watch in upcoming years.
Similar Posts:
- WARNER: Bezzant goes against the book
- Porter named 2011 Daily Herald Utah Valley Baseball Player of the Year
- PHOTOS and VIDEO: 2011 Utah High School Rodeo
- Glades Central, Glades Day will share the stage
- 2011 All-Valley Team filled with top performers
Post Comment