Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
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BYU closed up the spring football shop almost a month ago, making it easy to overlook the fact that a third of BYU's 2012 opponents are still popping the pads and preparing for their spring games.
While 2012 foes Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Washington State, Utah and Idaho closed their spring slates with games this past weekend (Weber State, San Jose State and Boise State ended earlier in the month), four programs--Utah State, Hawaii, New Mexico State and Oregon State--will culminate their spring exercises with games this coming Saturday.
BYU's scaled-back spring scrimmage (a short, 34-play, offense v. defense affair featuring almost no first-stringers) stands in contrast to some of the more prominent programs on the Cougars' 2012 schedule, with most of the big-name programs using the spring game as a publicity-building and seat-filling attraction.
Of the eight spring games already played by BYU's 2012 opponents, five drew more than 10,000 fans:
Attendance for Spring Football Games, BYU and Notable 2012 Opponents
| Team | Date | Attendance |
|---|---|---|
| BYU | March 24 | 7,500 |
| Boise State | April 14 | 17,123 |
| Georgia Tech | April 20 | 18,125 |
| Notre Dame | April 21 | 32,000 |
| Utah | April 21 | 13,503 |
| Washington State | April 21 | 10,713 |
With eight of the teams on the Cougars' docket now done for the spring, here are a few links to articles wrapping up the respective programs' spring games:
Washington State recap, plus some extras
Weber State recap (by the way, the head coach quoted in that story isn't the Wildcats' head coach any more)
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While BYU players embark on their off-season conditioning and practice routines, coaches will use most of the next month few weeks to recruit and begin advance game prep for the opponents during the season to come. June is a camp-heavy month, while July represents the last occasion for coaches to take some bulk time off before fall camp begins in August.
Head coach Bronco Mendenhall will be involved in a pair of upcoming fund-raising events to benefit families helped by the Holly & Bronco Mendenhall Foundation. May 19th will feature both the Gridiron Rumble and Cowboy Ball.
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As we transition into some basketball notes, it's always a good time to tout the simultaneous success of BYU's two marquee athletic programs.
Bronco Mendenhall's 66-24 record gives him a 73.3% win rate, good for 8th among active FBS head coaches.
Dave Rose's 185-54 record gives him a 77.4% success rate, which stands him 3rd among active D1 head coaches.
BYU is one of only three programs whose football and basketball coaches are both ranked among the active top ten in career coaching win percentage. Wisconsin (Brett Bielema-5th, and Bo Ryan-6th) and Ohio State (Urban Meyer-2nd, and Thad Matta-4th) are the only two other programs who can claim top ten coaches in both major sports.
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The 2012-13 BYU Basketball roster is coming into clearer focus with the news that Colorado high school star Cory Calvert will join the Cougars this coming season.
Forward Chris Collinsworth remains the only significant question mark heading into spring and summer workouts, as he continues to rehabilitate a knee that has undergone two substantial surgeries in the last 16 months. Wing Stephen Rogers recently underwent a second meniscus repair surgery, but the prognosis for his anticipated return is a little more certain at this point.
With head coach Dave Rose bringing Calvert into the fold, it appears the spring signing period (ends May 16) may pass without additional signees. Currently, all 13 scholarships are accounted for, including one for Collinsworth, whose playing status is still up in the air, although he and Coach Rose are hopeful the Provo High product can return to the floor.
In his end-of-season interview with me, Rose said of Collinsworth: "Last week of April, he'll jump in with the team, doing strength and conditioning, open gym...(May) will be a really important month for Chris, to see how he responds, not as his own pace, but at the pace of the group. If he can do that, then June, July, August should be great months for him to get him ready for September," adding that "basically, it's been four years since he has been able to play."
Considering the hit-and-miss nature of micro-fracture surgery and recovery, Collinsworth's grant-in-aid is the one wild card in Rose's personnel deck. Should BYU not sign any more players this spring, and were Collinsworth judged to be physically incapacitated and not unable to continue his playing career, his athletic scholarship would be made available. There are no indications such a situation is in the offing, but it is a logistical possibility in accordance with NCAA regulations.
Meantime, here's how the 2012-13 roster is coming together:
Projected BYU Basketball Roster, 2012-13
| Name | Position | Height | Weight | Eligibility in 2012-13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Carlino | PG | 6'2" | 175 | Sophomore |
| Craig Cusick* | PG | 6'2" | 185 | Senior |
| Cooper Ainge* | PG | 6'0" | 170 | Freshman |
| Raul Delgado | SG/PG | 6'2" | 195 | Junior |
| Anson Winder | SG | 6'3" | 195 | Sophomore |
| Cory Calvert | PG/SG | 6'3" | 185 | Freshman |
| Brock Zylstra | Wing | 6'3" | 210 | Senior |
| Tyler Haws | Wing | 6'5" | 200 | Sophomore |
| Stephen Rogers | Wing | 6'8" | 195 | Senior |
| Josh Sharp | Wing | 6'7" | 185 | Sophomore |
| Agustin Ambrosino | Forward | 6'8" | 225 | Junior |
| Nate Austin | Forward | 6'11" | 230 | Sophomore |
| Chris Collinsworth | Forward | 6'9" | 235 | Junior |
| Brandon Davies | Center | 6'9" | 235 | Senior |
| Ian Harward | Center | 6'11" | 220 | Freshman (RS in 2011-12) |
*non-scholarship player
Rose has assembled a roster with multiple proven or promising options at every position. If there was a weakness of this past season's injury-challenged squad, it was that too frequently, players not shooting well continued to play, and struggle, for lack of other scoring options. The 2012-13 team should have not shortage of alternatives when looking for some offensive punch. The roster above now features a collection of noted shooters, including four who were not a part of last season's squad (Haws, Delgado, Calvert and Ambrosino).
The season is still six months away, but it's easy to get excited about a collection of talent that could be the deepest of the Rose era.
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The BYU Basketball schedule for the coming season is still a work in progress, with a handful of games yet to be solidified. It appears that the 2012-13 slate will mirror the model of recent seasons, with seven or eight non-conference away/neutral games, and seven or eight non-league home games.
The known "true" away games are at Weber State, Oregon and Baylor, with two neutral court games on tap at the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament in New York City, and two neutral floor contests at Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City. Head coach Dave Rose previously noted that in addition to Virginia Tech's visit to ESA, BYU will play a now-annual late-November/early December game there, as "Christmas Around the World" makes the Marriott Center unavailable on a yearly basis around that time.
Since BYU is again participating in an exempt tournament this upcoming season, the Cougars will once again play 31 regular season games, including 16 West Coast Conference contests. NCAA regulations allow teams to play either:
29 regular season games
or
27 regular season games, plus up to four games in a "regular-season multiple-team event" (Coaches vs. Cancer tourney, this season). BYU regularly chooses the latter option.
The NCAA allows teams to open practice on Friday, October 12th, with the first regular season games taking place on Friday, November 9th. BYU traditionally holds an intra-squad game (Cougar Tipoff) and two exhibition games preceding the regular season opener.
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