BYU Basketball

BYU has had quite a bit of success with in-state recruiting lately. Just last week, the Cougars picked up a commitment from center Ryan Andrus of American Fork, Utah.

That success continued on Sunday night, as small forward Zac Seljaas of Bountiful High became the first BYU commit of the 2015 recruiting class.

The 6'7", 200-pound Seljaas plays the wing and has excellent sharpshooting skills. In his sophomore season for the Bountiful Braves, Seljaas averaged 15 points, four rebounds and three assists a game.

Seljaas is ranked by Scout.com as a 3-star prospect, and he has seen his stock rise lately. 

He impressed at last month's AAU Fab 48 Tournament in Las Vegas, where he hit 15 three-pointers over a two-game span. That included going 8-of-9 from beyond the arc in helping his Utah Prospects team get an overtime win in the quarterfinals.

That performance garnered Seljaas national attention, including a shout-out from ESPN high school basketball scout Joel Francisco.

So far, Seljaas has received offers from BYU, Utah, Utah State and San Francisco. It is unclear if he will receive any further offers after his verbal commitment to BYU.

Seljaas is still growing into his frame, and he has two years of high school ball remaining. He then plans on serving a two-year Latter-day Saints (LDS) mission, after which he will begin his BYU career.

Seljaas should be fully developed physically by that time, giving BYU a big man who can really shoot the rock.

Dave Rose is one heckuva coach.

And, as BYU fans are often reminded, we are sure lucky to have him.

Rose didn't show much flash during the 2012-13 season, as the Cougars failed to beat anyone in the Top 25 but finished with a decent 21-11 record.

But calling 20-plus wins "decent" in the first place is a testament to what the BYU program has become with Rose at the helm.

Dave Rose lost predicted starters Chris Collinsworth and Stephen Rogers to injury before the season began and played the entire year without potential-filled guard Damarcus Harrison because of a lost scholarship.

The trio may have brought BYU to a whole new level, and their absence definitely hurt.

On top of that, the Cougars faced controversy at the point guard position all year, and never really found a rotation in the frontcourt that clicked.

But somehow, someway Rose banded together a young, undersized squad to a 20-win season and a likely postseason birth. It is hard to count all of the teams in the country that would give anything to have that kind of success, even more so when this is considered a "down year" at BYU.

It's worth noting that the year before Coach Rose was appointed the head coach at BYU the Cougs lost 21 games. This season they have won 21, and for that to be considered a failure is blasphemy.

This season has had its high points and its low points. Kind of like a supreme pizza; some toppings taste good but you pick off others, only to get a bad aftertaste.

Say all you want about the losses to San Diego and San Francisco, it's worth noting that BYU hung all game with both Gonzaga and Notre Dame.

Give the credit to Rose; it's hard to even compete when you don't have a good coach.

I am sure glad that BYU has a classy guy like Dave Rose at the helm, who not only wins on the court, but also molds winners off of it. He doesn't get as much respect as he deserves, and he excels at a really tough job.

I wish the Rose and the Cougs the best in their postseason and hope they make the deepest run as possible in the NIT or wherever they land.

And hopefully this postseason won't have the aftertaste of that pizza.