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PROVO — Wednesday night’s exhibition game against BYU-Hawaii will be the second live-action game of the season for the BYU men’s basketball team.
But one player is looking forward to his first time suiting up in a Cougar uniform.
Point guard LJ Rose has been cleared to play for BYU, and he’ll make his debut at 7 p.m. MT in the Marriott Center after transferring from Houston this past summer.
“It’s been a long time and a lot of work getting back,” said Rose, who averaged 3.5 points, 2.0 assists and 1.0 rebounds in just two games in 2015-16. “But I’m happy to be with my teammates and on the court.”
When Rose takes to the court at the Marriott Center, he’ll also do so with something different than when he played at Houston — or his freshman season at Baylor. He’ll suit up for the Cougars as a team captain, one of three alongside fellow senior Kyle Davis and sophomore Nick Emery.
“It meant a lot,” Rose said. “I feel like every year, I’ve had some type of setback that took me away from being a team captain. It was to my detriment, but I think this year, I made a point to be at every lift, do extra, and I think the guys saw that. It’s an honor; it really is.”
BYU coach Dave Rose has been impressed with his new point guard’s work ethic since an ankle injury this summer. But the son of former Houston teammate Lynden Rose Sr. has impressed the BYU coach as he worked through three weeks of partial practice, and the past week of full practice since a 102-82 win over Seattle-Pacific in the Cougars’ first exhibition game.
“He’s been practicing more and more with our guys, and he’s starting to get a pretty good feel with what he can do with this group,” coach Rose said. “I think our guys are excited to get him out there.”
BYU wing Elijah Bryant, who sat out last season after transferring from Elon, remains questionable for Wednesday night’s game — but could see action for the Cougars soon, even as early as next Monday’s regular-season opener against Princeton.
“Eli’s got a doctor’s appointment (Wednesday), and that’s a big day,” Dave Rose said. “We’ll know what his status is moving forward, and we’ll see how it goes. To this point, he’s responded really well and we’ll see what the doctors tell us to do.”
Wednesday’s game is the final time for the Cougars to tweak their lineup, scheme and season expectations as they prepare for the ESPN Tipoff Marathon and the 2016-17 season — one that brings high expectations in Provo.
But BYU is up to the challenge, post Jamal Aytes said, with an inside presence that is as good or better than he’s seen since arriving in Provo.
“I think we’ve got great chemistry,” Aytes said. “We like doing our jobs. We don’t care who gets the shot. We all just focus on winning, which is awesome.”
