BYU ends Wilcox's season where his hoops career began


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Moby Dick was a tough fish to catch, Everest is hilly and C.J. Wilcox has ties to BYU.

I'm not sure which understatement is greater.

To begin with, Wilcox starred at Pleasant Grove High School (class of 2009), located in the heart of Utah County.

Wilcox's father, Craig, played for the Cougars in the mid-90s.

After losing to BYU in the first round of the NIT, both teams lined up for the routine postgame handshake. Wilcox was bombarded with familiar faces, beginning with Dave Rose, who recruited C.J. out of high school.


I'm used to being on the court with him. We go all the way back to sixth grade.

–Tyler Haws


"We were involved early in the process and they did commit early (to Washington), but we would have loved to have him. He's a terrific player." said Rose.

Next stop on the handshake line was Craig Cusick (class of 2006) who starred at Orem High School. C.J. was just a freshman, but no doubt saw Craig scoring in bunches for the Tigers, leading 4A and 5A in scoring his senior season.

Raul Delgado (class of 2010) was a junior at Springville High School when C.J. was piling up 24 points-per-game for the Vikings.

C.J. and Ian Harward (class of 2009) were seniors while Harward was at Orem.

Then comes the Lone Peak guys, Nate Austin (class of 2009), Josh Sharp (class of 2008), and Tyler Haws (class of 2009). "I'm used to being on the court with him. We go all the way back to sixth grade," said Haws, "We've played a lot together, won a lot of games together, I have a lot of respect for him."

The reunions weren't over as Timpview's Bronson Kaufusi (class of 2010) gave a handshake and a bro-hug.

Finally, Provo's Brandon Davies (class of 2009) wrapped up the homecoming. "We're all pretty good friends you know, growing up here around the valley. We've played against each other growing up in high school. We even played a little bit on the same AAU team. We have a good relationship. We're all friends."

Leading up to college, Haws and Wilcox forged a friendship. "Obviously (C.J.) and Tyler are really close." said Rose.

"We've had lots of great battles over the years." Haws said, " I have a lot of respect for C.J. and his family. I talked to him a little bit when I got home from my mission; we've kept in touch that way. I've followed him this season. I was able to see him before our shootaround, so we were able to catch up. It's been about four years since I've seen him."

"Ever since he went on his mission we stopped talking, but when he got back, we got back in touch. Previous to that we were really close growing up through high school and junior high, so, we've always been pretty good friends." said Wilcox.

Both players led their team in scoring this season, Wilcox averaged nearly 17 points-per-game (16.8) and Haws was the 11th leading scorer in the nation with nearly 21 points-per-game (20.9).

Each player sounds eerily similar in his analysis of the other.

"I remember how competitive he is, he wants to win and he's a shooter, you can't leave him open anywhere on the court" said Haws.

"He added some new aspects to his game that makes him really hard to guard." said Wilcox, "He has a really good pull up game and he was executing (on Tuesday) and hitting a lot of shots. It's tough to slow somebody down when they get going early."

"C.J. is a competitor and he wants to win and you can't leave him no matter where he is on the court. He's always a threat from wherever he is. He knocked down a bunch of shots, especially in the second half trying to get his team back in it." said Haws.


"(Wilcox) is a great player and a potential league (NBA) guy." said Davies.

Both players are expected to return next season, Haws is a sophomore and Wilcox is a junior.

Rose is pleased to see Wilcox succeed, even if it's for an opponent. "He's a very talented player and has had a great career and has really improved as a player. I've watched a lot of film and watched a lot of games and I'm really happy for him and the success he's had there at Washington."

"He's a great player and a potential league (NBA) guy." said Davies.

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