PROVO — BYU coach Dave Rose walked into the bowels of the Marriott Center to address his media responsibilities Saturday night after a 73-62 win over Portland, and quietly sat down.

After a brief opening statement, the topic turned to the night’s win: It was Rose’s 300th since taking over for former head coach Steve Cleveland. What did it mean?

Rose shifted in his seat, visibly uncomfortable. He loosened his tie, then breathed a long sigh. The second-most winning coach in BYU basketball history didn’t like to talk about these things, but here he was.

“Right now, it means that now we can move on to what is next,” Rose said. “You get approaching something like this, and for two-three weeks, people are talking to me about it. Media, fans, people in general; it’s not really comfortable for me. I’m glad that we have it and now we can work on the next challenge and not need to talk about it.”

Then Rose stopped, realizing he had a lot more support in his corner. And he was grateful for it.

“I do feel really grateful,” said Rose, listing off names like athletic trainer Rob Ramos and equipment manager Steve Bushman, among the cast of characters who aren’t always noticed. “I feel gratitude to the players — unbelievable players we’ve had over the years that have been committed to winning.

“And my staff — I feel like every year, I have one of the best staffs in the country.”

After that, the questions quickly turned to his team: the uptick defensive performance sparked by Davin Guinn; the emergence of Eric Mika as one of the top centers in the country, a semifinalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award; and the health of guard Nick Emery, who was recovering from a flu-like illness.

Rose looked visibly more relaxed. But his players know how big of a deal the 300-win mark is to a coach at BYU; only Stan Watts, who won 371 games from 1949-72, has won more in program history.

“Coach Rose is a pretty humble guy and doesn’t say a whole lot about that kind of stuff,” Guinn said. “But it has got to feel good, and we’re happy for him.”

Freshman post Yoeli Childs didn’t know about the accomplishment until the support staff told him to stay on the court following the win over the Pilots. He saw something about it a few days previous on Twitter, but there was never a mention of it in practice — from his head coach or anyone else, for that matter.

“It’s awesome for him,” Childs said. “The season is 30-something games, so 300 wins is hard to do. I don’t know how many coaches have done that, but he’s in a select few. We have some great coaches, and a great staff, and I’m happy for him.”

In Rose’s 11 full seasons in charge of BYU basketball, he’s averaged about 25 wins per year, with 20-plus win seasons — the 12th-most among active Division I basketball coaches. He rebuilt a program into a perennial postseason contender, with 11-straight postseason berths that includes eight trips to the NCAA Tournament.

But is the 300-win mark a big deal?

Dixie State coach Jon Judkins just celebrated his 500th win, but more than 100 of them came at the junior college level while coaching at Snow College.

500 wins

Dixie State basketball coach celebrates 500th career victory

Dixie State head coach Jon Judkins celebrated the milestone victory Saturday with the Trailblazers' 81-72 win over Hawaii-Hilo. Judkins' wins are scattered across 24 years of coaching in the Beehive State, including 195 wins at Dixie State (with wins over Division I and Division II opponents) and 284 wins as head coach at Snow College.

Add in his own tenure at Dixie State, and the two-stop college basketball coach Rose has 467 collegiate wins. There’s little doubt the 500-mark will be within his reach, so long as he stays at BYU long enough.

So yeah, 300 means something.

“It is a big deal; 300 of anything is a lot,” Mika said. “One win at this level is not easy, so coach has done a tremendous job having a winning year every year and getting us to the postseason every year. It shows how good of a coach he is.

“I’m excited to see how many more he accumulates throughout the rest of his career.”

More important than the number of wins, however, are the players Rose has coached. His 300 career wins have come at BYU, with all the recruiting restrictions, academic and spiritual disadvantages, and constant roster juggling to accommodate two-year church missions at the LDS Church-owned school.

“Coach welcomed a punk kid with open arms and sent me out as a college graduate, but most importantly, as a man,” said BYU alum Jonathan Tavernari, now a seasoned pro in Italy. “It's humbling to know that I was a part of about one-third of his wins. I truly learned what it meant to sacrifice for the good of the team under his tutelage, and it is something I try to pass on to all my teammates as a pro.”

But like their head coach, the Cougars know they are only as good as the next team they beat. And for BYU, that includes winning a doubleheader road trip at San Francisco and Pepperdine, without a starting point guard who will undergo knee surgery Friday.

“I think it’s been good to be back at home,” said Emery, now fully recovered from his bout with illness. “To get back on the road with a doubleheader, we’ll have to be ready. But we’re definitely looking forward to it.”

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