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PROVO — BYU will be down a point guard for at least the immediate future as it opens the second half of West Coast Conference play.
Cougar graduate transfer L.J. Rose will have knee surgery Friday to repair a torn meniscus, the program announced Wednesday afternoon.
“He’s had it for a few weeks here, and now we are trying to pinpoint it,” BYU coach Dave Rose said after practice Tuesday. “He had some swelling, and so we are trying to figure it out.”
Rose, a transfer from Houston, has experienced discomfort and pain in his right knee for several weeks, prompting a magnetic resonance imaging scan Monday that revealed a torn meniscus. BYU scheduled the surgery for Friday, at which time they will determine a timeline for his return to the court and any necessary follow-up to the procedure.
A starter of all 25 games in the Cougars’ 17-8 season, Rose averaged 5.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and a team-high 4.5 assists per game in his lone season at BYU. Prior to this season, he played at Houston, when he led the American Athletic Conference as a sophomore with 5.5 assists per game.
A product of Texas’ Westbury Christian High School, Rose originally signed with Baylor, where he played as a freshman in 2012-13 before transferring to Houston.
Rose graduated from Houston in 2016 with a degree in health and enrolled in graduate school at BYU.
TRAVELING BUG: BYU center Corbin Kaufusi was unavailable at practice Tuesday, suffering from a bug that also sidelined starting wing Nick Emery prior to the game against top-ranked Gonzaga.
“Corbin’s got what Nick had,” said coach Rose, adding the illness affected assistant coach Tim LaComb as well. “We are hoping it doesn’t go through the whole team. Hopefully, we can stop this before it gets to anyone else.”
STAY HEALTHY — Emery said the worst thing about his sickness, which has only been described as “flu-like symptoms” on the team’s medical report, was the lack of energy.
“It was a rough week. I felt sicker than a dog and couldn’t move,” Emery said. “I’m just thankful for the trainers and the medical staff for getting back. Today, I felt good.
“I slept longer than I’ve ever slept before, and that’s all you can do to get better.”
The sophomore guard returned to the starting lineup Saturday against Portland and has fully participated in practice all week.
“He was great. It was good to hear him in practice,” Rose said. “We got about halfway through, he made a couple of really strong plays, and he said to one of his teammates that it feels good to have a little energy. I think that’s a really thing for him. Hopefully, he can get back to full strength.”
