Estimated read time: 2-3 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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 — The BYU men’s basketball team lost half of its senior leadership for the season, head coach Dave Rose said Tuesday night during his weekly coach's show on KSL Newsradio.
Senior team captain Kyle Davis will undergo knee surgery that will end the remainder of his season, Rose said during “BYU basketball with Dave Rose.”
The injury, which Davis sustained following the Cougars’ 114-101 loss to Utah Valley, ends the collegiate career of the former Utah State post.
“I feel so bad for Kyle,” Rose said. “Those are the hardest ones, when you have surgery in the middle of the year and there is no eligibility left.
“He is determined to be with the guys and to help us in a leadership role. But actual time on the court, he’s seen his last minutes.”
Davis started the first six games of the 2016-17 season, when leadership was at a premium. The one-time Southern Utah signee and Houston transfer L.J. Rose are the only seniors on the team’s roster, with Davis being the only senior with previous BYU experience.
He averaged eight points and 4.5 rebounds while starting, including a breakout 22 points, three rebounds and two steals in a 92-62 win over Saint Louis in Las Vegas.
But the veteran’s troubles began after the stunning home loss to the Wolverines.
Davis did not play during the Cougars’ 77-63 win over the Aggies, many of them his former teammates, and came off the bench for four-straight games as his minutes and production gradually decreased.
He did not play in wins over Idaho State and Cal State Bakersfield last week.
“I’ve dealt with this quite a few times in my career,” Rose said. “It’s tough; you spend basically your whole life preparing for that, and then get to that point and it doesn’t work out.
“What I do know is this is an unbelievable young man. He is prepared for life. His degree will be terrific for him. But I’m really disappointed that he can’t finish his senior season.”
Davis finishes his BYU career with 11.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in two seasons of eligibility. He began his career at Southern Utah, when he paced the Thunderbirds with a team-high 5.3 rebounds and 8.5 points per game.
After a two-year mission for the LDS Church in Detroit, Davis transferred to Utah State, where he averaged 9.1 points and 7.6 rebounds for the Aggies in 2013-14.
The former Alta High standout eventually made his way to Provo, where he sat out the 2014-15 season per NCAA transfer regulations and immediately started all 37 games at power forward as a junior.
