BYU's Dave Rose confirms 4 player departures, 5 additions to hoops program


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

PROVO — If recruiting is the lifeblood of college basketball, transfers are quickly becoming the plasma donation centers scattered around the country.

Even a team like BYU, which had just two seniors on its roster in 2016-17, seems to be hit by departures.

BYU coach Dave Rose confirmed the departure of four players from his program Tuesday during his annual season wrap-up with local media — and each of them have eligibility remaining.

Forward Jamal Aytes and guard Steven Beo will both seek to transfer for this upcoming season, with Aytes doing so as a graduate transfer after being the first in his family to obtain a college degree this month.

“He wants his role on next year’s team to be bigger than what I think he would serve for us,” Rose said of Aytes. “He’ll try to finish his eligibility somewhere else.”

Beo, who averaged 2.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per game as a freshman, will seek to transfer after the early return of Zac Seljaas from an LDS Church mission gave the Cougars seven scholarship players in one class.

In addition, swingman Davin Guinn — who came to BYU as a walk-on following one year at UC Riverside and eventually become a scholarship-worthy contributor — will leave the program as he prepares to graduate in August and go to law school.

Rose didn’t specify that Guinn will attend law school at BYU, but seemed to infer it when he referenced last year’s saga with Jordan Chatman — who transferred to Boston College after BYU’s program wouldn’t let him play basketball during the first year of his graduate program.

Brigham Young Cougars guard Zac Seljaas (2) dumps in another three-pointer as BYU and San Francisco play at the Marriott Center in Provo Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
Brigham Young Cougars guard Zac Seljaas (2) dumps in another three-pointer as BYU and San Francisco play at the Marriott Center in Provo Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

“It was a really tough decision for both of us,” Rose said. “Law school and basketball don’t go together, and it’s funny that we go two years in a row with a law school issue and a player.”

Rose didn’t completely shut the door on Corbin Kaufusi’s return to basketball — but the possibility now seems unlikely as the head coach said the defensive lineman will prefer to focus on football for the upcoming season and beyond.

“He’s going to leave here with a real special place in the hearts of coaches, teammates and fans. Not too many are 3-0 in the Kennel,” Rose said, referring to the Cougars’ record at Gonzaga with Kaufusi on the court.

“We left with big hugs and big smiles, and hopefully it works for him exactly as he wants it. But if things change, he’s got 70-something games under his belt, and that’s a good thing to have if you need it.”

All of these changes occur as Colby Leifson prepares to depart for a two-year mission in June, and Eric Mika’s future remains uncertain as he entertains offers from the NBA.

Returning missionaries

Of course the Cougars aren’t just allowing players to leave with nothing left. Four players will return from LDS missions and join (or rejoin) BYU’s roster in time for the fall. In addition to Seljaas, power forward Ryan Andrus returned this week from a mission, while Dalton Nixon and Luke Worthington are expected home in May — just in time to join BYU’s current roster for team workouts in June.

Rose said Andrus’ position is still up in the air. Though the Cougars recruited him as a power forward, the 6-foot-11, 215-pound American Fork product played a lot of minutes as a post-up center prior to leaving for a mission in Pennsylvania.

“We’ll see how he comes back, but his body looks really good compared to some big guys,” Rose said. “He looks pretty much the same, and he’s a skilled kid. We’d love to have him in a position to spread the floor and give more space to our guards.”

Boise incoming

The four returned missionaries won’t be the only newcomers found at BYU, either. Rylan Bergersen, who played high school ball at Boise’s Borah High School before spending the past season at a prep school, signed with the Cougars and will join the team this fall.

The 6-foot-6 guard most recently of Branson, Missouri, averaged 15.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 blocks and 2.3 assists per game as a senior at Borah before enrolling at Link Year.

“He plays long and can defend multiple positions,” Rose said. “His size is really good for our guards; we’re not always the fastest or quickest, but our size has really given us an advantage.”

Bringing in Bergersen and Seljaas bolsters a guard line that already includes stars Nick Emery, T.J. Haws and Elijah Bryant in what could be BYU’s line under Rose.

“Our guard line could be as good as it’s ever been with the group of guys we have,” the head coach said. “We have good experience, some good young guys, and I think Zac and Rylan will really add to Nick, Eli and T.J.”

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

SportsBYU Cougars
Sean Walker

    ARE YOU GAME?

    From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast