PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball returns an experienced core and welcomes a talented crop of newcomers in 2013-14. The Cougars will be looking to continue their current streaks of eight-straight 20-win seasons and eight-straight trips to the postseason.
Under Dave Rose, BYU has averaged 26 wins since 2005-06 and had a streak of six-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament (2007 to 2012) sandwiched by trips to the NIT in 2006 and 2013. In 2012-13, the Cougars finished 24-12 and advanced to the semifinals of the NIT at Madison Square Garden.
Returning Players
Returning to lead BYU is junior Tyler Haws, a contender for the nation’s leading scorer. Haws played his freshman season in 2009-10 before serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines. In his first season back, Haws averaged 21.7 points per game to lead the West Coast Conference and finished seventh in the nation. The Alpine, Utah, native shot .483 from the field, .381 from three and .877 from the free throw line.
Also back is junior point guard Matt Carlino. The native of Arcadia, Ariz., averaged 11.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.8 steals in his second year as BYU’s starting point guard. He currently ranks among the program’s all-time leaders in career assists and steals per game.
Other returnees from the 2012-13 squad include junior forwards Josh Sharp and Nate Austin and junior guard Anson Winder. Sharp emerged as a starter after playing sparingly as a freshman. He averaged 4.4 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting .567 from the field. Austin got off to a slow start last season due to shoulder surgery during the summer of 2012. He came on strong in the NIT where he started all four games, shot .727 from the field and averaged 7.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steals per game.
In two seasons at BYU, Winder has seen action on the wing and at the point. His sophomore campaign never got on track after dealing with an ankle injury in the preseason as he averaged 2.1 points and 1.0 rebounds. Winder will be hoping to return to his freshman-year form when he posted averages of 4.3 points, 1.6 boards, 1.7 assists and 1.0 steals.
Also returning to the Cougar lineup is 6-foot-6 guard Kyle Collinsworth, who started as a freshman on BYU’s 2011 Sweet 16 team before serving a two-year mission for the LDS Church in Russia. Collinsworth proved to be an athletic and versatile player in 2010-11 as he averaged 5.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals. He will give BYU another steady and creative ball-handler who has the ability to get to the rim and defend multiple positions.
Newcomers
The newcomers are headlined by 6-foot-9 big-man Eric Mika, who comes to BYU from Lone Peak High School in Alpine, Utah, the 2013 MaxPreps National Champions. Mika averaged 16.4 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks and shot .671 from the field, while earning MaxPreps.com third-team All-America honors. ESPN.com and Scout.com ranked him third among high school centers in the 2013 class.
Guard Skyler Halford comes to BYU after a decorated sophomore campaign at Salt Lake Community College. An NJCAA first-team All-American, Halford led SLCC to a 29-5 record and SWAC and Region 18 titles. He averaged 17.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting .461 from the field, .393 from three and .908 from the free throw line.
Freshman Frank Bartley IV is an athletic wing from Baton Rouge, La., who played last season at Future College Prep in California. A 6-foot-3 wing player, Bartley will give BYU versatility on the wing, proven by his impressive numbers in one season at Future College: 19.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 3.3 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.
At 6-foot-9, 240, freshman Luke Worthington will give BYU a physical presence in the post. The Mequon, Wis., native averaged 13.6 points and 10.0 rebounds at Homestead High School and was ranked in the top 50 nationally among power forwards by ESPN.com.
Also new to the program is Wake Forest transfer Chase Fischer. The 6-foot-3 guard played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Wake Forest where he averaged 6.3 points as a freshman and 4.5 points as a sophomore. Fischer enjoyed a highly successful high school career at Ripley High School in Ripley, W.Va., where he was named a first-team Parade All-American as a senior in 2011 when he averaged 32 points per game. Fischer will sit out the 2013-14 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
Rose added two nonscholarship players to the roster in Andrew Johnston and Graham Pingree. Johnston, a 6-foot-3 guard from St. George, Utah, was a member of the practice squad in 2009-10 before serving a mission in Chile. Pingree is a 6-foot-8 freshman forward from Greenwood Village, Colo.
Schedule
BYU’s nonconference schedule is highlighted by matchups with in-state foes Weber State, Utah State and Utah, road trips to play Stanford, UMass and Oregon, a home game with Iowa State and the College Basketball Experience Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City. West Coast Conference play begins on Dec. 28 at Loyola Marymount.