Speaker 1: This is Cougar Sports on kov O pro Bo ku
d d h D two one O three nine at
ninety eight three ESPN. We Fan, this is Cougar Sports
with Ben Kretel, and it's time for the Cougar Beat.
Getting the dish from the local reporters that Copper Cougar Athletics.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Cougar Sports here on one O three
nine and ninety eight three esp and.
Speaker 3: The fan Ronald the three man Weaver here Brett always
bringing a hammer by my side. Gonna continue on with
the show, Gonna get into the third hour here. It's
a beautiful Wednesday, March twenty fifth edition of Cougar Sports again.
I'll say it man, it's it's nice outside. I hope
everybody is able to get out and enjoy themselves. I
mentioned it yesterday Me and the family did go for
a walk and rightfully so, it's a beautiful time here
in the state of Utah.
Speaker 2: Spring is really upon us.
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Speaker 2: Without further ado, let's get out to the.
Speaker 3: ESPN the Fan Hotline and welcome in our second guest
of the program. We have Casey Lunquiz representing BYUSSI dot Com. Casey,
thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 2: Hey guys, how's it going going good?
Speaker 3: You were at springball? Actually, before I do that, let's
I don't ever get a chance to ask you some
basketball questions. So we're gonna do that first, and then
we'll get into football. We do know that it's getting
to the off season and spring ball is going on,
but it's still a basketball season. Your thoughts and your
overall takeaway from the BYU basketball season, Casey, did BYU
basketball get the return on investment with aj De Bonsa?
There's a lot of stuff right there in the national
media that that doesn't think.
Speaker 4: So, yeah, I think two things can be true. I
think BYU got there. I think BYU got their ROI
out of a j De Bonsa while also not getting
the ROI on the team.
Speaker 2: As a whole.
Speaker 4: And that's not necessarily the fault of Kevin Young per
se that I think the injuries were the biggest factor
in that. Like if you go back to that game
against Wisconsin when BYU was fully healthy and they beat
a good Wisconsin team by you know, nearly forty points,
that team either that game had you know, a dynamic
performance from Dawson Baker, Richie Saunders was also shooting it well,
like that's what BYU was supposed to look like. And
so no, I don't think b YU got the ROI
on this team, and that's because of injuries. And that's
also kind of the risk that you run the nil era.
I think it's going to be really interesting to see
how the donors feel about the basketball roster next year,
knowing that, you know, maybe the outcome wasn't what they
hoped it would be. But that's also kind of the
game you have to play. There are teams like take
LSU last year. LSU had one of the most expensive
football rosters in college football, and they were, you know,
a really bad football program. So if you're going to
win in the nil era, you have to invest at
a level high enough to compete. Even after those years
where the outcome wasn't what you hoped.
Speaker 3: Bring up a good point with LSU football and even
think of that, Yeah, you got to invest the right way.
But just because of a down year of things don't
go the way doesn't mean things change. You do have
to make an adjustment, but what does that adjustment look like.
The victory you're talking about is the one of the
Bad Boy Mower series in Salt Lake where BYU number
nine behave you at the time. It's crazy that was
number nine and then they finished not even in the
ap top twenty five.
Speaker 2: They blew him out in ninety eight to seventy.
Speaker 3: You heard to Richie was twenty six points that game,
ten of sixteen from the field, five of nine from three.
AJ had eighteen points. He went eleven to twelve from
the charity stripe. Rob Wright had ten points, eleven assists.
Dawson Baker was four or six from the field. He
chipped in eleven points and added three rebounds as well
two offensive rebounds. Man Dawson getting on the boards there.
And then you add you look at the bench production.
You know, Dominique had six, hadem Malihilow had three, Tyler
Maruss had six, Xavion had two, Alexi Kosch had three.
That you're right, that is what you expect the BYU
to be when they're fully healthy, and is just unfortunate.
So where do you go from here?
Speaker 2: Then? Because I asked this question yesterday to Jay Drew
and I'll ask it to you. If Rob Wright.
Speaker 3: Does come back and you have kJ, Perry Bruce Branch
is also coming and I assume he's gonna do a
little point four, not like AJ, but he can handle
a little bit. You got Dawson, you got Night. That's
a lot of guards or a lot of guys to
have the ball in their hand. Can all of those
guys coexist on his team together.
Speaker 4: I think probably not. I think you'll you'll probably see
at least a few of them enter the transfer portal,
or you know, in the case of Dawson Baker, like
who knows where his eligibility stands, where his health will
will be by the time the you know, the basketball
season comes around. It's easy to forget that Dawson Baker. Yes,
he was dealing with an acl that to the end
of his season, but throughout his BYU career he's had
a foot problem that has kept him out for extended
periods of time. So his situation is complex, and I
think there's a there's probably not enough you know, just
dribbling to go around for all those all those ball handlers.
And I would say, I think based on how this
last season went, I don't know that you need to
play kind of the game that BYU football played after
a rough twenty twenty three season, which was, hey, stick
to the plan, maintain the roster, because roster continuity will
be the strength in basketball. There's just more turnover. And
Kevin Young, you know, he knows how to get a
lot of pieces playing together well and so I would say,
it's hard to know what you could go out and
get not knowing who's going to be in the portal.
And that's the challenge with nil. Unlike you know, NBA
free agency, you know what the market's going to look like,
you know how many you know, players at each each
position are going to be out there, and so you
can kind of make a plan accordingly. But this is
very different. And so I would say if I were
in charge, and it's a good thing I'm not, But
if I were in charge, I don't know that I would,
you know, feel a lot of heartburn if there was
some roster turnover in the next few weeks, that could
open up some some spots for potentially replacements that might
be you know, better suited for for a BA basketball
program that's hoping to make another run in the tournament
next year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, how does his roster maintain?
Speaker 3: And then what I'm leading at is you pen to
peace on s I B y U SI dot com.
You can check all of Casey Lunquist's work out there.
Dallen Hall at Virginia Cannon catching as we know that
one didn't work out, He's at Georgia Elijah Crawford's at U,
I see close by my home, Ali Khalifa. When Kevin
Young came and decided to go to Louisville, Tanner Toolson's
at TC, You obviously Jake guaileina Utah went to Clemson.
Carter uh what is it? A Welling also went and
joined him at Clemson. How does BYU maybe keep these
local guys? They got Dean Ruger, they got will open shop.
But a lot of a lot of fans, you know,
would have liked to see Dollan Hall on this roster.
They would have liked the you know, Tanner Toulson to
be on this roster, and and that just doesn't seem
the case. It seemed to be the case these days.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we felt, you know, the what what the absence
of Dawson Baker was for this team. And I think
you look at someone like Tanner Toolson and well he's
a little bit different. He probably could have provided a
similar impact off the bench. So there's definitely some you know,
what could have been if you look at guys that
could have been in the program. But it's it is
going to be a balancing act, and I think you
have to find two or three guys in every recruiting
class that you are willing to wait it out and
stick with their development, like a Dean Ruckert, Maybe like
a Brodie Kazlowski. You know, he's still around the program
and injuries have kind of derailed his career so far.
But I think going forward, the ideal scenario for BYU
is you have someone like a Richie Saunders who's experienced
in the program for four years. You have a core
of three or four of those guys every year that
are veterans and have been around the block of BYU.
And then you add on to that those transfers that
fit the needs that that group has.
Speaker 2: It's a great breakdown.
Speaker 3: We got Casey Lanklis at Bousi dot com on the
line with us here in a Cougar Beat segment Wednesday,
March twenty, fifth edition of Cougar Sports on the one
of three nine ninety eight three Now work, You bring
up a good point of having veteran guys, guys around
the program.
Speaker 2: I would love to see Brody come back. I hope
that's the case.
Speaker 3: Would love to see Dawson take that last year that
he could have. They said, obviously on the Kevin Young
show earlier this season. If he wants that sixth year
he could take it or fifty year, whichever one it is.
I hope he does because I think those guys like
you mentioned could help with these younger guys like a
Bruce Branch coming in. Even Rob who's been around for
a year and having known can do that and KG,
I think that is going to be able to help
let's transition to football. Though you were down there at practice,
what did you observe from the Monday observation session that
they let the media see, Casey?
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I as you know, we had kind
of a tough angle of a practice we did, but
we were able to because they were kind of going
on drives. We were able to kind of follow the
progress that we're making. And I was taking some notes
and then some of my notes were corroborated by some
of the practice footage that by you shared out. And
you know, for first of all, it is it is
cool to still be able to attend a portion of practice.
I know, you know, some some years we get more
than others, but you know, there are programs that have
completely shut out the media. So I do think it's
cool that the b YU does give us those snippets,
and I thought the one the other day was, you know,
pretty insightful by far. To me, the headline was, man,
bear Bachmeyer is really good and he looks like he's
taken a notch or two just in the last few
months from where he left off at the bowl game,
which where you know, he was the MVP. He was
playing at a really high level, but he was he
was just really efficient. He was really good, and he
led two drives that were quite impressive. One came up short,
you know, a couple of yards and it's hard to
know because they're playing they're playing tag, right, so we
don't see, you know, the defense have to tackle a
bear Bachmeyer and they marked them a yard short. So
I think in real contact football, I think bear Bachmeyer
probably leads to touchdown drives against the first string defense.
So I was really impressed by Bear. That was definitely
my primary takeaway.
Speaker 2: Bear has been phenomenal.
Speaker 3: Obviously, I think that's going to be the MVP of
springball from what you reserve, from what you're written about,
who's the newcomer. You know, obviously Bear completed the pass
to Reggie Frishneck.
Speaker 2: You know in the middle of the field.
Speaker 3: There's been talking about Kyler Casper, Legend Glasker has turned
some heads. You know, these freshmen are phenomena that are
coming in. Who's I guess I can't really say MVP
because they's going to be bear. I guess you're a newcomer.
Who's the guy that's made the biggest impact you think
so far at springball?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'll give you two answers. Want to transfer newcomer?
For me, it's just the easy answer is Kadu Luave.
He looks as good as advertised. He's really fast, he's
really solid, and he's going to be an impact player
from the get go. I'm very high on him. And
then as far as the incoming freshman class, I if
you've read my articles, you know that I've been very
high on legend Glasgar. But even I have been surprised
at how quickly he has just stepped up and started
making plays. I don't know that we've had a media
window where he didn't make at least some sort of play,
which is quite hard for a freshman to do. I
would say, in a normal camp setting, if a freshman
flashes once or twice, that is noteworthy. Enough that you
know it's worth paying attention to. And he has flashed
pretty much every practice and that's been really impressive to me.
He is, you know, he's pretty thin. He came into
the program, you know, wanting to add some weight. He
told me. You know, I had the chance to chat
with him after practice and get an interview, and he
came into the program hoping to add some weight. And
I think that's going to be a goal of his
in the summer. And if he can, I think he's
a freshman that can contribute right away and as a
guy that might be able to take the top off
a defense. It seems like whenever he's on the field,
he's able to get behind the defense.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Legend is definitely one of those guys. I think
that's gonna see time a rod. You know, you've been
there in the media availabilities he's mentioned. I say, we
got to hear from the horse's mouth. You know, Festi's
a hockey, the wide receivers coach of what he's you know,
seen on tape from Legend being Cruta caught up with him.
I caught up with Trayson yesterday. Were gonna play actually
interview in the next segment and Trayson mentioned on Monday,
you know it's hard for freshmen to come and make plays,
and he mentioned legend Glasker and he's like, I don't
say that, you know, with the slight to anybody else,
but it's really difficult to come in and make an impact.
So it looks like that's a guy that could crack
that ro wide receiver rotation. When you have guys like
Kayla Casper in the room, you got Josiah Phillips, you
have Reggie Fishnek Taya Kouh has been making some plays.
I saw that you mentioned Tay and in your article
the we know what the name Nikoua can do.
Speaker 2: What do you like?
Speaker 3: What have you liked from Tay so far in springball?
A Rod I think has mentioned him a few times.
Speaker 4: Yeah, to me, Tay just looks so much more comfortable
than he has in camp's past. I think the opportunity
that's in front of him has probably motivated him to, uh,
you know, have right in front of him a clear,
clear path to playing time. And you know, Bear tends
to create, you know, really solid relationships with three or
four guys, and I think last year we saw that
was Jojo Phillips, Chase Roberts, and Parker Kingston. And if
I had to name the three or four that he's
connected with so far in spring camp, I think Tainakua
would be one of those three or four. So I
expect Tay to play. Typically BYU rotates five or six
and they start three. And I don't know that I
would put him in this starting lineup quite yet, but
I do expect him to be in the rotation.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Tekoa, he can move, he can play, He's a player.
So we'll see what happens. The last thing on spring
ball before asking a couple of recruiting questions, what is.
Speaker 2: Who do you think?
Speaker 3: I guess from the offensive line, it's very interesting to
you know, preface his question very carefully. But pockey Fee,
now you know, has been mentioned a handful of times.
But they also got junior, They got, you know, Zach
Yamauchi from Stanford. You got trevn Ostler, you have obviously
Kyle safarchunk back. Kilani says they want to have eight
to ten.
Speaker 2: Guys and t J. Woolds will get We'll get them ready,
But how do you do that?
Speaker 3: Even Bob Mulatal because Klanie's mentioned him, but you like
bod and what he can bring. But then you you
hear Pockey's name mentioned, and a guy that has experience
at Washington. Is the offensive line room the toughest that's
going to be to get playing time? Is that going
to be the toughest position group.
Speaker 4: Yeah, there's a lot of bodies there. I think T J.
Woods has done a really good job of just worrying
about bringing in as much talent as it can and
then letting it kind of rise to the surface whoever
is most ready to play. I think what we know
today for sure is that Bruce Mitchell and Andrew Gentry
are going to start. That's we knew that coming into camp.
I would expect Kyle's choke to start at one of
the guard spots, and then I would also, you know,
I would expect Pockey fee now to start at left tackle.
That's my expectation as of today. Those things could change.
We know to who to who, excuse me, We know
who two starters are. We have a pretty good idea
for who the other two might be. That that last
guard spot could go to Treman Ossler, it could go
to Zachi Mauchi, it could go to a handful of people.
Joe Brown and I think that's something that will probably
go into fall camp. But as it stands today, I
think by the time we get to week one, BYU
will probably have eight to nine offensive linemen that they
feel really good about playing.
Speaker 3: It's a lot of good offensive Liney mentioned a lot
of good names. We'll see what Kialani and them able
to come up with. Is in t J Woods down
to stretch, any of those guys could start. I mean
I said they're going to have a whole hockey line change.
They can go out and put a whole five guys
out there and rotating five and honestly, I know that's
what you do on the defensive line, but offensive line,
they could do it to a lot of good bodies.
Speaker 2: And you need depth, You need depth. So we will
we will see.
Speaker 3: Let's get into a little bit of a recruiting news.
What's the update on the latest recruiting cycle. It looks
like there's a certain offensive lineman that's rising, you know,
on BYU's radar.
Speaker 2: He just he discussed a visit with you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, caught up with Henry Fraser, who is an offensive
line product out of Arkansas. He actually preps at the
same high school where Braxton Lindsay was a star last year. Braxton,
of course signed with BYU December and has been you know,
speaking of freshman standouts, he's been the guy that's been
mentioned numerous times by the coaching staff, so he has
that connection to the program, and his recruitment has taken
off in the last three weeks. You know, this time
a month ago, he didn't have any P four offers.
He had I think, you know, Louisiana Lafayette was probably
his his top offer, and now he's got offers from Arkansas,
Kansas State BYU Navies in the mix. So I don't
think his recruiting profile will just stop here. He's probably
going to continue to see his stock rise. But just
a week after getting a BYU offer, he was on
campus per visit, so I had a chance to catch
up with him about that. And whenever you have, you know,
a chance to sit down with Kilani Satake and visit,
which he did. You know, there's a that gives BYU
a chance. So he's definitely a name I'm keeping an
eye on.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is good news for BYU getting in the
state of Arkansas. I already got Brax and Lindsay. I
know between you it looked like it was BYU and Arkansas.
You pull a kid from SEC school and you get
him to come to Provo and then in the pipeline
that helps having Braxton here as well. You mentioned if
this guy was what six foot four, two hundred and
ninety pounds is a twenty twenty five All State selection
playing left tackle over there at Rogers High School.
Speaker 2: We'll get you out of here.
Speaker 3: On this last you also caught up with a with
a certain cornerback that just got a new b YU offer.
Speaker 2: Yep, yep.
Speaker 4: So that is a Texas native, John Catlin. He's a
dual sport athlete. He stars on the track and field team.
He has a personal best ten point six one hundred meter,
which for a junior is really fast. He's kind of
an undersized cornerback. I wouldn't even say undersized, but I
think Gennaro Guildford was someone who liked to recruit someone who's,
you know, six' two or, taller and he's more in
the five ten five eleven, range but really, quick and
he's able to come up and be physical as. WELL
i really liked his. Film he he stars as a
punt returner and kick. Returner something that he does is
a high enough LEVEL i think he could maybe even
do at the next. Level and his instincts really stood
out to, me AND i THINK byu is in a
pretty good position at this. Point he only has one
other people offer In Iowa, state AND i would expect
his offer list to grow as. Well but he's telling
me that he's trying to put, down you, know a
plan for an official, visit SO i THINK byu will
certainly be one of the finalists.
Speaker 3: There definitely good when you offer, early you're one of the.
First got to get it sooner rather than, later AS i,
say in the recruiting, world especially when you got a
sprinter who runs a ten to six one hundred meters
like you, said speedy, flash you can definitely use, that
especially when you See Mary bomber run a four to two.
Speaker 2: Seven you gotta like.
Speaker 3: That if you're a guy coming INTO byu and seeing
that with the DEVELOPMENT.
Speaker 2: Casey appreciate your time today BEFORE i let you.
Speaker 3: Go where can people follow all of your work at
and where you posted that on social media as?
Speaker 2: Well sure you.
Speaker 4: Can find our stuff AT. Byu want TO Si thanks
to all the readers that have read our stuff so.
Far we not do what we do without your.
Speaker 2: Sport thank, You. Casey appreciate your time. Today we'll catch
up with you in a few.
Speaker 4: Weeks, hey thanks, guys see.
Speaker 2: You we'll see.
Speaker 3: Ye that Was Casey lunkliss THE byusi dot com and
a Little Cougar beat segment that was.
Speaker 2: Great if you missed any of.
Speaker 3: It if you're just tuning into the, show you can
download on the podcast here momentary where we get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: From Appreciate casey joining us. TODAY a lot of good
stuff out of.
Speaker 3: There Bar, Bachmeyer, Yeah springball DEFINITELY. Mvp they got a
few more, practices but that's gonna be the. Guy the
question is gonna BE i guess transfer a. Newcomer you
gotta have to split those up because there's a lot of,
guys he Said. Cade obviously you know you Got, kyler
you got, LEGEND i Asked jared. Yesterday the wide receivers
have been making. Place Jojo Walker lyons has been. Great
This buoy football offense is gonna be. GREAT i don't
Think Steve klements was Wrong Bear bachmeyer four thousand. YARDS
i definitely think it can be, possible AND i do believe,
that EVEN i believe out of, everybody And i'm, serious.
SERIOUS i Like Kyler, CASPER i Like, JOJO i Like,
TECHNICOUA i Like Legend. Glasker gimme number seven because that's
the number he's wearing from What i've. Seen Gimmey walker
lyons as the best red zone threat on this. TEAM
i think he's gonna be up. There he could be top,
three but we will. See that's why the boys go.
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