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Speaker 1: Is Cougar Sports with Ben Kretel, and it's time for

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the Cougar Beat getting the dish from the local reporters

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that cover Cougar athletics. Welcome back, Ugar Sports. What O

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three nine ninety two point three ESPN the van I've

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met fortal broadcasting from our Vanderwelt Studios Vanderwelt dot Com.

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Get on that free Q and A, no obligation to

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advest Q and A with our tax small Wealth Advisor

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Certify Financial Planners NFLPA Certified Financial Planners. He's been aiding

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and supporting Blaine Blaine Anderson's been aiding supporting the student

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athletes for a long time. Now he wants to support

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Cougar Nation. Hit him up, call him, set up a

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Q and A today. It is top for a little

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Cougar Beat. Gonna welcome into Cougar Sports Insider to delve

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into what's going on on the beat all day, every day,

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representing the desert Red News got to be brought to

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off your product, your service when you mentioned myself or

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business today. Eight oh one, eight hundred nine to seven

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dot com. They also do Window ten as well as

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chrome deletes. Let's get out to the hot line. Welcome

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in Cougar Sports Insider representing the Desert News. We got

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Jay Drew on the line. Jay, how you live it?

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Speaker 2: I'm doing fantastic.

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Speaker 1: It's a great day to talk some BYU football and

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BYU basketball. Jay, where's your where's your bandwidth been allocated?

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Over the last couple of weeks?

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Speaker 2: I would say mostly the words basketball. I am working

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on a football story right now, but a couple actually,

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But yeah, basketball's taking up a lot of my time,

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and and not to lubb it on Saturday morning for

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the that game, so that'll even keep me more involved

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with YU basketball. But then looking forward to next week

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when YU has a kind of a mid week by

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They don't play until Saturday against Utah, so that'll be

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a little bit more time to get back into football

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a little bit. So that's kind of where I am

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right now.

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Speaker 1: Basketball be a your ranks tenth in ESPN's latest men's

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basketball Power rankings. The ap pole hasn't been so friendly

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to BUYU. What gives J Drew?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the media voters, guys and gals that

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vote on that probably looking at the game against Utah

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where BYU was a double digit favorite and only one

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by five, I think that might have nicked them a

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little bit. And I think, let me, let's face it,

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up until that point, a couple other teams kind of

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elite frogged them. I think it was Nebraska and Villanova

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if I'm not mistaken. So yeah, there's just so many

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elite teams this year. There's so many teams with zero

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or one law that it's just hard to break into

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that top ten. There's it's just this is as many

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good teams as I can remember in a long time

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in college basketball.

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Speaker 1: Great players, great teams. This by basketball team the best

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in BYU basketball history. Do you think are you willing

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to go.

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Speaker 2: On record on that, I would say it's the most talented.

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I don't think it's the most accomplished yet. So when

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you say you know best, I you know, until they

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get to the lead eight like that Danny h Steve Trumbull,

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Fred Roberts team did and I was it nineteen eighty

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eighty one, I think I'm not ready to go that far.

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In fact, I'm not even sure. We were talking about

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this last night Darnell and me. If this team is

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better than last year's team, obviously with Rob and AJ,

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they're probably more talented. But man, last year you had

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Foos who was a really good low post scorer, Dallen

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Hall was a valuable guy off the bench, Dawson Baker

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was healthy, and obviously you had Yegor, who you know

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is really turning ahead to the NBA right now. So

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I think it's more talented this year than last. But

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until this group does what last year's group did, which

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was get to the sweet sixteen, I'm I'm gonna have

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to say the jury is out on that one.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, what is missing do you think from this roster?

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If you could put your finger on it, what's missing?

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Is it a particular style, particular you know, you know,

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type of player, What do you make of it?

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Speaker 2: I think they're missing a sniper, a guy off the

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bench that can come in like Trevin Nill did last year,

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hit a bunch of threes in a row. I you know,

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they were obviously counting on Tyler marss and to do that.

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And then obviously with Dawson Baker and Nate Pickens getting

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hurt and suffering season ending injuries, that's hurt him a lot.

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But I would just say, I just don't know if

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the Big three is sustainable moving forward of scoring. You know,

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all ast what is it, seventy percent of their points.

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They just need some other scoring from somewhere off the bench.

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Just one of those guys that can just instant offense.

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Type of guy. Maybe you substitute a little defense. I'm

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not saying that Dawson Baker was not a great defender,

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because he was adequate, but a guy that can just

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come in like he did and give you some points

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and or like Trevin Nell did. And I just don't

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see that right now. Maybekennard Davis can pick up offensively

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a little bit. He obviously averaged eighteen points a game

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at Southern Illinois last year, So we're kind of still

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waiting for that. And granted, you know, he's not gonna

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get the ball, he's not going to be priority one

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when he got three superstars on your team. But but yeah,

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that's where I think they need just they need something

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off the bench. They need I would I haven't looked

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it up, but I bet they're one of the ten

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least productive benches in the country or somewhere in that

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range of maybe ten percent in that range of teams,

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So that that's where they really need some help with.

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Speaker 1: Yes, me, is there anyone that is on the roster

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currently that you could that you think could step into

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that role and become that bench bucket getter for by U?

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Speaker 2: You know, I mentioned that Tyler Marrass had a good

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career up in Idaho. I know the costitch is it

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alexis Uh. He showed a few signs early in the

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season preseasons on conference. I don't think we've seen him

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on the court for quite a while. Uh So no,

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I you know, I mean, I totally frank with you,

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I don't I just don't see it. I just they're

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just gonna have to ride or die with with uh.

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They got one of the best starting fives in college basketball.

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It's not the best with you know, especially when Keba

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is going good and out of foul trouble. But there's

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just a big drop off now and uh, you know,

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obviously all Matt has come in and been a good

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valuable back up to Cada, really valuable because Cada gets

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some tout trouble a lot. But he's not a type

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of guy that's going to fill up the you know,

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the basket with points for you. So yeah, frankly, I

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don't you know, I don't want to be a negative nelly.

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I don't want to be an e or. I want

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to be positive, as we've gone over in the past.

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But I don't know what about you guys, who do

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you see maybe is on that bench that could do that.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I keep on leaning into Mihilo bucket Viitch.

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I'm like, bro, like, you're better than this. Bro, Step up, bro,

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get it get it straight. Like you have the skill set,

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you have the ability to do so much defensively offensively,

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got to be that stretch five. Obviously you can block shots.

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You've seen that pretty consistently over the last couple of games.

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He's got good length, He's never seen a shot he

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doesn't like. He's just got to get that stroke back.

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And also, you know, have a head on a swivel,

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be a distributor when given the opportunity. When if he

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does start hitting, you know, defenses will collapse. I'm at

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my Hilo bucket, Viitch. I've been saying this from the beginning.

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We need Mahilo to be my highlight bucket, Viitch. If

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he's not, I agree with you, we're going to struggle

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in the NCAA tournament.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. And to be fair, he did have a huge

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bucket last night in that second half, a huge three

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pointer that really got him going, like Kevin said, when

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they were struggling a little bit to score. So I

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agree with you, Ben, I think it's in him. If

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you look at you know, his playover in Europe and

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the Surbbian leagues, and that he could do that. He's

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definitely got that ability. I had. I wrote a story

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about him last week and had a good conversation with him,

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and I think it's just with him. It's just a

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confidence thing. I think he can he knows he can

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do it. But I think he gets in there and

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he gets a little bit worried about what happens if

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I missed? Am I going to get pulled? And that's

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just every college basketball player goes through that. It's just

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something you have to work through. But I definitely think

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he has the potential to be honest with you, When

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I was just talking about guys, I kind of forgot

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about him a little bit because I picture him more

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of the as an inside player, although he does step

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out and shoot threes quite often.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, how devastating do you think now that we know

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what we know? How devastating was that Dawson Baker injury?

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Hate that one.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's big. I hope it's not the

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difference between you know, last year Sweet sixteen and their

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their stated goal of Final four or beyond, but it

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very melt very well might be. I mean, that could

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be the difference. He's you know, Dawson was the what

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do they call him? The bucket maker Dawson.

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Speaker 1: Dawson the bucket the bucket Baker, the bucket getter Baker,

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That's what I called. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just sad because that was a huge injury,

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and uh it's probably the repercussions are going to be

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felt for for quite some time.

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Speaker 1: J Drew desrat News here on your Utah being Ready

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Network discussing b WAU men's basketball and uh uh b

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y U athletics and by you is trending in an

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awesome direction right now in both football and basketball, and uh,

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you know, I feel like football, their retention efforts were

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pretty pivotal. Uh. Everyone was fearful what Jay Hill and

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Gennaro with their departures. You did retain Gary Anderson, but

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you lost two key cogs and in the wheel that

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really made b Why you go over the last two seasons? Uh?

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What how would you evaluate the retention efforts of this

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coaching staff and the culture that Kloone's built.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that the retention rate it's been fabulous.

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I mean, uh, you know, there are a few guys

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that have left that maybe could have helped them. Max Alford, Uh,

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somebody on X excuse me of being a Max Alford lover,

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but I just think he you know, I thought it

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was a valuable contributor when he got in there and

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helped him out a lot until he got hurt. So, uh,

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of course he's going to Michigan to be reunited with

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his uncle, who's the running backs coach. There Tony Alford,

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but I would give I would give him an A

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A minus maybe B plus uh range for roster attention.

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It's in fact, I got a good mone a. I mean,

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I can't think of one, especially in the day and

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age where everybody's losing guys. I mean we're talking about everybody.

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Uh even Texas Tech. To only lose what they've lost

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eleven so far and no starters, it's been pretty it's

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been pretty great, no.

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Speaker 1: Doubt about it. Uh. Which one are you most optimistic

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about here in the next few years? Is it basketball?

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Is it football? Which one has the better trajectory right

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now in sustainability? Do you think? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: I definitely think it's football. You know, you got beaar Bachnier,

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you got some really good up and coming players. Thoughts Walla,

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it's basketball, you know, it's the one and done. H.

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You know, obviously Aj is probably not going to be

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back here next year. Uh, he's a generational talent. I

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just don't see by you getting a guy like that

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every year. So Rob Wright, who knows what he's going

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to do, but he's obviously a great talent, and they'll

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they'll lose Richie. I don't really see anybody in the

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pipeline coming up at least on the roster is now

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constituted that can replace any of those big three guys.

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So so yeah, I would have to lean towards football.

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It's uh, you know, football, it seems like a really

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solid foundation. They're developmental. They got not only bringing in

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valuable transfer portal guys, kind of more plug in guys,

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but the basis of this program is and the culture

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of this program is still getting guys developing them. A

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guy like Parker Kingston just gets better every year. Satuala,

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It's got a lot better you go just down the list.

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So I think football, I would say, has a better

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trajectory right now because of the nature of the beast.

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I mean basketball. All throughout college basketball, it's like the

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Kentucky and the Dukes and by you kind of joining

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those is using one and done players and that's kind

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of hard to sustain from year to year to maintain

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a high level of excellences. As football, I think you

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can do once you get that foundations set like BYU have.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting. It feels like bou basketball is more

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I don't even know if this is a word like mercenario,

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like it's all, but it's based on more like acquisition

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via the portal and maybe recruiting. I mean, AG is

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a refreshman and football seemingly is more retention base. It's

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more developmental based in a get old, stale manner. It

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seems like a little bit different. I'm not to say

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that there wasn't retention. There was with Richie and and

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Dawson and Mihailo and others, but it does seem like

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there's a little bit more mercenarial type of activity in basketball.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. I often wonder, you know, Mark Polpe's

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been a little heat down there at Kentucky in his

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second year, and I always wonder if what if Richie

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had and he was close to going to Kentucky, What

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if Richie had gone to Kentucky, what would the trajectory

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of these two programs are where they are right now?

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Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, I.

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Speaker 2: Think I just think that was a whoever convinced Richie

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to stay, and I guess it was Kevin Young. I'm

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not positive that was huge. That's absolutely huge and really

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changed two programs pretty pretty pretty immensely.

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Speaker 1: You wonder like the type of impact that Richie would

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have had the last two years at Kentucky. Does it

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get Kentucky last year to an elite eight because the

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top Kings going off, does does that Kentucky team that

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has struggled a little bit this year have a leader

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to look towards, to be a stabilizing force, a creator,

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a facilitator, a culture guy, a glue guy with playmaking

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ability to get them into uh, you know, to keep them,

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you know, in that elite status of college basketball. So

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really point at commentary and obviously we know what he's

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done for BYU over the last two seasons. He's been

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a massive boon. I think you're right, man, that's like

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a keystone. It would have been a keystone for either

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one of the programs, and luckily BYU retained the top king.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, it's I mean you kind of look

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at Colin Chandler and the height that he got out

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of high school and coming and by you got him

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and then he went on the mission and obviously he

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went followed Pope to Kentucky. But the Richie Saunder story

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is pretty amazing. I mean, you know, when he signed

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with BYU out of watchach Anatomy and then obviously went

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on a mission. But I'll bet very very few BYU

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fans could have realized just how good this kid could get.

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I know I did, and I watched him as freshman

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year even at BYU, and you know that's a role

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player for life. So the Richie Saunders story, it is

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going to be a good movie someday, and obviously it'll

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be sponsored by Tater.

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Speaker 1: Talks, no doubt about it, Jay Drew, Ladies and gentlemen, Jay, Jesus,

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what are you going to be writing about? You're surely

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what's going to be dropping on the Desert News website.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mentioned I'm going to Lovevick, So I'll be

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writing about that game. But then next week earlier, I'm

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writing this thing kind kind of like a history of

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historical perspective of that week where Kyle Whittingham signed with

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Michigan and all that transpired. I'm kind of calling it

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the week that shook the college football landscape in Utah

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with all the repercussions. I mean, it touched every program

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in the state. We were stayed so in Utah, Utah State,

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just one man's decision and all that kind of weaving

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that tale of and following those shock waves, trying to

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trying to write about that and called a couple of

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old buddies Kurk Kragthorpe from the old Salt Lake Tribute

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columnists and Mike Sorenson and tapping into Dick Harmon's kind

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of knowledge and trying to weave kind of kind of

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like almost like a written history, oral history of a

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week that will really reverberate for years and years in

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Utah College football.

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Speaker 1: No doubt about it. J Drew. Ladies and gentlemen, Jay,

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we appreciate you, We salute you man. Thanks for hopping

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on for Cougar Beat.

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Speaker 2: My pleasure. Thanks for having me on having.

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Speaker 1: That's J Drew. Make sure you're following the mix and

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make sure you're reading them at the deseretnewsdezrat News dot com.

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We'll be back. It's a Thursday, January fifteenth edition of

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Cougar Sports. Here on you're one of three nine ninety

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eight point three ESP