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Speaker 3: Let's get out to the hot line. Welcome in double D.
Speaker 2: Darnell Dixon of The Daily Herald The Daily heralding was
up double D.
Speaker 1: It's a great term of the year. We've got all
the sports kind of interchanging on top of each other
with football and basketball and so lots to do, lots
going on.
Speaker 3: I love it, man.
Speaker 2: Well, the most conturable thing, the controversial thing, happened yesterday
we have heard about a car crash early yesterday and
it was confirmed that there was a car accident with
one of the BAU men's basketball players. What ensued after
that is that basketball player Kennard Davis Junior was taken
back to the police station was essentially arrested, I believe
for Duy, who's under investigations for Duy, and his vehicle
was impounded. He was later released to address some of
the minor injuries that he sustained in the car accident.
According to eyewitnesses, it was not his fault. He was
the driver, but it was not his fault. Someone else
maybe ran a red light and impacted him. But he
was cited for driving under the influence. We don't know everything.
We don't know about what substance or you know, whether
it was a prescribed medication. You know, he had been
suffering through a achille soreness, kind of a lower extremity injury.
Speaker 3: He was held out of the Delaware game.
Speaker 2: Could have been taking some anti anxiety or sleep medication
prior to boarding the flight that he was supposed to
board in the next I don't know, ten fifteen to
twenty minutes as he was driving to Provo Airport to
hop on the charter. But what do you know about
what's occurred with Kennard Davis junior double d Well.
Speaker 1: The first thing is we all need to kind of
hold off until we know all of the details for sure,
and the Provo police are supposed to be perhaps today
releasing more information. The other thing to consider is this
kind of thing happens all over the country, and with
all kinds of athletes at BYU, it gets amplified quite
a bit because of the honor code. So we do
have to kind of hold off until we know all
the details. But certainly this is a new experience for
Kevin Young to have to soldier through. I don't believe
he's had anything happen even remotely close to this in
the course of his one and a half years with
the program. And so not only the on court implications
of not having someone that is a starter available, but
also the off court implications doesn't mean off the court
to the program and you know those kind of things.
So in the next few days we'll find that out. Unfortunately,
it does happen the day before the Cougars are to
play number four or number three actually this week Yukon,
and so it is a distraction for the team as well.
So there's a lot of moving parts to this, you know,
in terms of how it impacts on the court. The
Cougars were already without Nate Pickens, who has gone for
the year after having surgery. He's another one of those
three and D kind of guys that be what you
recruited to play that sort of the defensive stop er,
three point shooter position, and that's what Kennar Davis had
shown he was able to do. Without both of those guys,
now it falls to somebody else to step up and
take some of those minutes. They might have to adjust
the starting lineup obviously as well. When they did that
on earlier this week when they played Delaware, it was
kind of a disaster. They were down seventeen four to
a team that lost to a Division two team just
a few days earlier. B Why you recovered in you know,
one by eighteen, I think, and so they recovered from that,
but it does upset kind of the system they're trying
to produce and the kind of thing that Kevin Young
wants to do to have a team that gets into
a routine. Then people know they're defined roles. So we're
looking at maybe someone like Tyler Russ, who has not
shot the ball well so far this year, coming in
with a reputation and a shooter. He's six seven, can
play some of those those positions. Kadeem Boop has some skills,
but he's pretty young in his basketball learning phase, and
so this will be something to monitor on the court obviously,
as well as how it impacts the Cougars and off
the court. We're just waiting for the Provo police to
clarify exactly what's going on.
Speaker 2: One thing I'll say about this is it's never justified
to drive under the valance. Whether it's a prescribed medication.
Let's say he was, you know, having trouble with sleep,
he was having trouble with soortness. Like I've taken certain
medications that impaired me. Whether it's ambient or it's a
muscle relaxer or anti anxiety medication, you're still driving under
the influent.
Speaker 3: That is the baseline.
Speaker 2: You should never get behind a vehicle and operate it
if you are under any sort of prescribed and or
if you've drank alcohol or consumed illegal drugs, or even
if it is legal, and it's THC based marijuana edibles,
whatever it is.
Speaker 3: For whatever's been prescribing.
Speaker 2: You cannot get behind the wheel and drive, okay, But
these are things that from a moral stance within a
community that is extremely conservative and religious, and even outside
of that, people want to know about.
Speaker 3: They want those details.
Speaker 2: Do you think that those details will come out about
you know, whether or not he's at fault. It doesn't
sound like he was at fault for the incident, but
then he was later evaluated being under the influence and
he was essentially, you know, held accountable for that. Whether
it was prescribed or not, it doesn't matter. But what
other details do we need to know about this?
Speaker 1: Do you think? Well? I think the point to make
here is that because this is a police matter, now
it's public record. B why you can't I don't want
to say hide it because I just they can't control
the message, is what I'm saying. So whatever comes from
the Pro Bowl police, any information is public record that
anybody can request, and you know that's it's going to
be made public exactly what happened. So that's one thing
to consider as we look at this. You know, this
is not somebody who is you know, an eighteen or
nineteen year old freshman Cannard Davis is a junior in eligibility.
He's played two or three years already of college basketball,
So it is it isn't somebody who's of age as well.
So what we need to know, I mean, you know,
as far as a journalist, I want to know what happened,
what what the control substance was, and and uh, you
know how how B WHYU tends to react in these
situations as it is related to the honor code is
also something that we don't know, and it may be
something that requires, you know, a couple of game suspension,
it may require more, we don't know. So until those
details are made and then this is interesting because B
why you can make a lot of decisions about honor
code issues that we don't know all the details about,
and we see a two games suspension and we just think, Okay,
I guess that's all right. But this information is going
to come out and it's going to be public record.
So how B why you react in this situation will
be interesting to follow as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt about it. You hate seeing this type
of stuff. It's darnold you've been covering the coops for
a long time, right, There's been plenty of times that
you've been covering the team and they seem to be
on the right track basketball, football, and something like this happens.
Individuals make poor decisions, could be an auto code violation,
could be a legal issue, and it becomes a bit viral.
You know, those that want to hate on BYU. It's
honor code, it's it's policies they put funder the see
I told you so, they can't live up to their
own standards. And if they don't live up to those standards,
they're not they're not holding the individual accountable as they should, right,
that's what they want to say. And there's a lot
of controversy that surrounds these issues. Now, this is a
legal issue, right, so it's a little bit different. There's
autocode issues and there's legal issues, and sometimes they cross
over and they're both. But you've been around the block
many times. It's unfortunate when this stuff happens.
Speaker 1: You remember back when Brandon Davies, that situation rose up
when BYU was just about to be ranked number one
in the country. I think they were like three years something,
and the situation came to light and I did an
interview with a national radio program, and the attitude of
those interviewing me, they were just dumbfounded that anything that
in regards to a sexual act would be grounds for
dismissal from a team. I had a really hard time
explaining the honor Code to them over the phone because
they just didn't understand why that was a big deal.
And so the Honor Code, when it does interact with
these legal matters, becomes, as you said, it becomes a viral.
People under they're like, well, why would you do that
to a college student? That's what being a college student
is all about. And how can they be so harsh
on these young kids. Well, these young kids know exactly
what they're getting into. They sign the Honor Code. It's
clearly spelled out for them. And we, again, we don't
know all the details behind what's happening with Kennard Davis.
And you know, if there's a penalty to be paid
in terms of the Honor Code, he'll have to decide
if that's worth it to stay here or transfer, as
Jake Reslof did with football when he decided he didn't
want to have that seven game suspension, his senior year,
and no one really blames him for leaving, So so
it is difficult sometimes to explain to the outside world
why this is important. And no one at b YU
was saying that they're better than anybody else. They just
try to hold themselves to a higher standard and when
they fail it becomes a topic of much derision by
youth fans especially. But anybody on social media that, well, look,
they can even live up to their own standards.
Speaker 3: Yep.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's always you know, there's always accountability and all
these things. And sure, you know, sometimes it's merited. Sometimes
I don't other times it's not. It's not merited from
from those that are accusatory in nature. But Darnell, where
does by you go from here? Like let's say Canard,
Let's say worst case scenario, Cannard is not playing basketball
for BAU this year due to this.
Speaker 3: What does that spell for for b A and A.
Speaker 2: Pickens now officially out due to injury, he's done. Connard
Davis Junior also a prized possession via the portal. How
good is BAU basketball without Nate Pickens and Cannard Davis Junior.
Speaker 1: It's interesting to note, and we've heard Kevin Young say
this several times that this roster was built specifically to
address certain things that that came up last year in
terms of defense, in terms excuse me, in terms of
the three point shooting, in terms of the rotation, last
year's team was eleven deep, and that it was a
really big deal. This year's team probably not going to
be that same level of depth in terms of the rotation.
The scoring we've seen in the first few games has
pretty much been a Richie Saunders and Robert Wright the
third and AJ Devonsa. They're the big three. They scored
seventy of the eighty five against against Delaware the other night,
So scoring wise, probably it doesn't impact as much as
it does defensively. And as I mentioned, Tom ross In,
the six foot seven inch junior, who told me when
I interviewed him this spring after he signed Boyu that
he really prides himself on his defense, and he came
in with the reputation as a three point shooter. He
struggled with his three point shooting so far. Kadam Boop
at six point nine is a really good talent, but
obviously just kind of early in his development as a player.
He might have to accelerate his learning and excel his
ability to contribute Alexi Costik to another guy who has
international experience, a really good three point shooter, he may
have to step up this game. So there are some
options there, but it does mess with kind of the
way and even Kevin Young has admitted over the course
of this preseason he's still learning about this team, because
we ask him, you know, what have you learned in
the first three games, and he's like, I'm still kind
of learning how to approach these guys, how to go
through the rotation, the best plays that work for them,
all those things, and that has to be adjusted now.
And going into a game against Yukon on Saturday does
make that a little bit problematic because now you're asking
other players to step up in their roles against a
top ten team. And so as we take in that
game tomorrow, we'll see kind of how Kevin Young wants
wants to run that and that may change over the
course of the next couple of weeks as we find
out more about Kennar Davis and as other players learn
about their roles. Many deal Monday another guy who is
kind of young in his basketball development, but a lot
of potential. Again, those players are going to have to
accelerate what they can do if BYU wants to stay
in the top ten and continue to go along their
path to get to the NCAA Tournament and advance quota.
Speaker 2: Who I think be what you basketball this year is
to get to I think an Elite eight. I think
that's quota maybe Sweet sixteen. I don't know how you
feel about that. Just quote it then well yeah, and
I mean, look, no, I think that that's the hope.
Speaker 3: I don't know if that's I don't know if that's quota, right.
Speaker 2: I think I think getting to an Elite eight is
probably quota. You got Sweet sixteen last year? One step,
one more step in the right Jorge now AJ wants
to win a Natty. If you don't win a Natty,
then it's a failed season. So but let's say that
quota's Elite eight. Does Canardievis Junior's absence in Nate Pickens's
absence lead you to believe that quota maybe should change.
Should the expectation change to more of a Sweet sixteen
type of run this year.
Speaker 1: I don't think the expectation will change, but I do
think it creates the problem in reaching that quota. I
really think that, again, this team was built to take
advantage of the skills of the players on the roster,
and as we go into a little further into the
nil era and the transfer portal era, every team is
doing this and to some extent, whether it's replacing five
guys or twelve guys, you build the roster to take
advantage of what you think that team can do, and
adjusting mid stride is difficult. I don't think the expectations
will change, but I do think that it's going to
be a lot more difficult if Canara Davis isn't able
to play this year, or even you know, for a
few games, if you suspended. We don't know how that
will play out, but that will make it harder for
them to reach any of their goals.
Speaker 2: Do we have any president set within BYU's athletic department
for legal issues such as this, How the honor code
or BYU's basketball or athletic department or its institution will
react to these situations?
Speaker 3: Do what's the president?
Speaker 2: Because like when the j rst LAF thing came down,
it was like like I got calls, right, I got
plenty of calls like, hey, well, Brandon Davies, you know
you have that one. So he's got to you know,
he's got to be suspended, can't play, You should be
kicked out of school, like you know what I mean,
Like people want to hold you to you know, these
prior standards. So do you think there has been a
president's stet for legal issues such as this.
Speaker 1: I don't think so. I don't think there's been enough
empirical evidence to show this is how BYU will react.
And the other thing to consider ben is Connar Davis
is being paid to play basketball at BYU. I mean,
I don't know how that changes things, but I certainly
think that it's it's a consideration in terms of of accountability.
What does it mean for a college student who is
not on scholarship and working three jobs and gets in
trouble as opposed to an athlete who is very visible
and is being paid in the nil era to compete
at BYU. I don't know, but I don't think that
this is something that you can look back and say
this is how BAU is going to react to this.
I think it's unprecedented and it will be interesting to
see the results as we move further into this process.
Speaker 2: Donald Dixon, Darnelle, best way to support you what you do,
how you do it.
Speaker 3: Appreciate you hopping out for a cougar.
Speaker 1: Beat Darnell Dixon. Yeah, me, I I write for the paper.
Check this out, Ben, You're gonna love this. I talked
to Johnny Harlen a couple of days ago. I know
he's he and you were instrumental in this. He's gonna
play the national anthem at the TCU game on his
guitar on Saturday, and it was a great story. I
love writing about this because Johnny he could have walked
into Brian Santiago's office and said, hey, I want to
play the national anthem. Instead, he went to a cattle
call audition this summer with about one hundred other musicians
auditioned to play the national anthem before by you ev
it's crazy that that Johnny would do. But you know, Johnny,
he's not gonna do you know who I am, and
that's not him. But I just find it interesting that
he would. Yeah, I'm just gonna go wear a name
tag that says HI, my name is Johnny and audition
to play the national It's gonna be fantastic. I can't
wait Saturday to hear his rendition of the national anthem
on his guitar.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I've been I've been promoting this for
a while. I chatted with a number of indiviual Hey.
I was like, guys, like, this needs to happen. I
need to get my my face melted by a guitar
solo at Lavelle Edwards Stadium.
Speaker 3: I need it.
Speaker 1: I want it gonna It's gonna be you know what
I mean.
Speaker 2: So I've tried, look without stepping on anyone's toes too,
cause you know how it is. It's like, you know,
you know, you bring up certain things and you don't
want to be the guy. Ah Ben's kind of pushing
this thing a little bit too far. I'm like, guy,
it's like it's just it's gonna be great. Everyone's gonna
be grateful for it. He's a legend. He's one of
the best who've done it in Royal Blue and he's phenomenal,
phenomenal on the guitar. Johnny Harlen has the largest hands
I've ever seen in my life, and he has so
much dexterity on that guitar. I've seen Johnny play live
multiple times like he rips it bro he melts faces
with that guitar, So it's gonna be glorious anyways, Darnell,
love and appreciate you. Appreciate you writing about Johnny Harlean
playing the national anthem at the TCU game.
Speaker 3: We'll see you there in the press.
Speaker 1: Box, yep, harolextra dot com. That story will be in
tomorrow's paper.
Speaker 3: Both boom shaka laka love it.
Speaker 2: Let's go to break, guys, great segment, Love and appreciate
my guy, Darnell. That segment was brought to you by
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