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PROVO — BYU opened the 2018-19 men’s basketball season a head shorter and several hairs lighter Thursday in the Marriott Center.
The No. 10 on the court that ranked among the three shortest players on the roster? That was not Ryan Andrus.
The 6-foot-11, 240-pound center who prepped at American Fork High School has not been cleared to return to the Cougars after battling injuries all last season, and doctors have advised him to end his basketball career, head coach Dave Rose told the media after practice.
“It was pretty unfortunate,” Rose said of Andrus, who will apply to BYU’s Marriott School of Business this winter. “But he’s doing well; I talked to him the other day, and he’ll still be around. He just won’t be part of this group.”
Andrus spent the entire 2018-19 season battling knee injuries, but his days in a Cougar uniform are done. The junior-to-be played in 21 games as a freshman, averaging 1.9 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.5 minutes in 2014-15 before serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Philadelphia.
Andrus joins forward Braiden Shaw, who also left the team in the offseason. Shaw, a 6-foot-9, 210-pound forward from Eagle, Idaho, averaged just 1.1 points and 1.5 rebounds per game in three seasons, but he missed all but one game of the 2017-18 season while battling an ankle injury.
With Andrus absent, Luke Worthington rates as the Cougars’ biggest player at 6-foot-10 and 235 pounds. The Cougars also added former Timpview High dunk artist Gavin Baxter (6-9, 210) and Idaho prep standout Kolby Lee (6-9, 240) in the offseason.
And they are hoping they won’t miss a beat, especially with a roster primarily made up of upperclassmen.
“I like the way that our roster breaks down,” Rose said. “I think we’ve got a good guard line, experienced up-front guys and some young front-line guys that I think will develop into something pretty good.
“But the most excited I am is just the experience coming back. We’ve got a lot of upperclassmen on this roster, and that feels good to go into a tough opener and a tough preseason. We’ve got a challenging schedule, and I think the guys know what they are in for.”
For the first time in two years, BYU has two seniors to go along with eight juniors — a roster that has seen early pro departures recently like Eric Mika (Italy) and Elijah Bryant (Israel) is back to having a significant junior and senior class.
“I love Ryan; I lived with him last year, and he’s a great guy,” Worthington said. “But I think we are going to be just fine. Obviously, I respect his game, but I’m happy that he should be able to get a hardship scholarship and everything will work out.”
And of course, the Cougars return top rebounder Yoeli Childs, the All-West Coast Conference first-team selection who averaged 17.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore in 2017-18.
“This is probably the best group I’ve been a part of with guys knowing what they have to do, and getting it done,” Childs said. “I don’t think we had a bad practice all summer, and guys are getting after it and getting better. We’ve got high-character guys and guys who want to get better.”
Beehive Lunch
Tipoff for BYU’s annual rivalry clash with Utah is set for noon MT on Saturday, Dec. 8 at Vivint Smart Home Arena as part of the second edition of the Beehive Classic. The game will air live on ESPNU, according to a release from the Pac-12, and will be followed by Utah State’s date with Weber State at approximately 2:30 p.m. MT on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.
The Cougars have 10 games announced on the ESPN family of networks, as well as its opener Nov. 6 at Nevada on CBS Sports Network.
#BYU coach Dave Rose informing the media that former American Fork center Ryan Andrus has been “advised by his doctors that he should probably move on.” pic.twitter.com/4g1XNEpFee
— KSL SportsBeat (@kslsports) September 27, 2018
Nick’s back
Perhaps two of the most prolific offensive players running the first day of practice won’t be eligible for the Cougars when the season openers Oct. 24 in an exhibition against Saint Martin’s.
Nick Emery and Jesse Wade were wearing gray “practice-squad” jerseys Thursday, but Rose said the duo have been contributing plenty in practice.
Emery, who sat out the 2017-18 season for personal reasons while the NCAA investigated allegations of improper benefits, will be ineligible to play for the first nine games of the season. He’ll be eligible to return Dec. 5 against Utah State.
Wade, the former Davis High star who signed with Gonzaga before serving a two-year church mission in France, returned to his home state in the offseason after playing sparingly his freshman season in Spokane, Washington.
“They’re both very good offensive players, and so the scout team is going to have two really good, quality guys,” Rose said. “These guys are both top-level players.
“I believe that Jesse is going to fill a spot that we’ve been really good at, as far as bringing guys along that have been able to sit out for a year. Elijah was pretty good for us after sitting out for a year, Matt Carlino before him, Kyle Davis; we’ve got a pretty good track record, and I think Jesse’s right in that same caliber.”
Returning players: G/F Rylan Bergersen (So.), G McKay Cannon (Sr.), F Yoeli Childs (Jr.), G Jahshire Hardnett (Jr.), G TJ Haws (Jr.), F Dalton Nixon (Jr.), G Zac Seljaas (Jr.), G Evan Troy (Jr.), C Luke Worthington (Sr.)
Newcomers: G/F Gavin Baxter (Fr.), G Connor Harding (Fr.), G Nick Emery (Jr.), F Kolby Lee (Fr.), *F Taylor Maughn (Jr.), +G Jesse Wade (So.)
Key losses: G Elijah Bryant, F Payton Dastrup, F Braiden Shaw, C Ryan Andrus
*Transfer from BYU-Hawaii
+Transfer from Gonzaga, will sit out 2018-19 season per NCAA transfer regulations
