BYU men’s basketball finished the 2018-19 season with a record of 19-13 overall and tied for second in the West Coast Conference at 11-5. Following the season, Dave Rose retired as one of the most successful coaches in program history.
Over the past 14 years, Rose guided the Cougars to a record of 348-135, including eight trips to the NCAA Tournament and five bids to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). Rose also won four conference titles, was named conference coach of the year three times and led BYU to 13 20-win seasons and eight 25-win seasons. He retired as BYU’s all-time leader in winning percentage at 72.0 and second all-time in victories at 348.
In addition to the team success, Rose and the Cougars achieved, his players collected numerous accolades. Jimmer Fredette was the nation’s scoring leader and the 2011 Consensus National Player of the Year and he and five other players received All-America recognition under Rose. Five players were named conference player of the year under Rose and 13 players collected 22 first-team all-conference honors.
Junior forward Yoeli Childs led the Cougars throughout the 2018-19 season, averaging team highs of 21.2 points and 9.7 rebounds while posting 17 double-doubles and 18 games with 20-plus points. He was named to the All-WCC First Team and the NABC and USBWA all-district first teams. Childs had a streak of three-straight games scoring 31 points against Weber State, Utah State and Utah, after which he was named the NCAA.com March Madness Player of the Week.
Junior guard TJ Haws started all 32 games in 2018-19, giving him a start in all 101 games played in his BYU career. Haws has also not missed a single game during his time as a Cougar. Haws averaged 17.8 points and 3.5 rebounds while leading the team in assists (5.1) and steals (1.2) per game. The 6-foot-4 guard was a team captain and earned All-WCC Second Team accolades and a spot on the NABC All-District 9 Second Team. Haws was also recognized for his success in the classroom as he earned Google Cloud Academic All-District 9 First Team and WCC All-Academic Team honors.
The 2018-19 roster featured a pair of seniors in Luke Worthington and McKay Cannon. Worthington was a four-year letterwinner for BYU and a team captain his junior and senior seasons. He appeared in 131 career games and started 63. As a senior, he averaged 2.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and shot 49.3 percent from the field. Worthington also earned a spot on the WCC All-Academic Team.
Cannon was a two-year letterwinner at BYU after transferring from Weber State. In 2018-19, he started 18 games, including the last 17 of the season. He averaged 3.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists. In league play, he shot 47.4 percent from 3-point range.
Key contributions from upperclassmen also came from juniors Zac Seljaas and Nick Emery. Seljaas contributed 7.1 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 37.3 percent from 3-point range. He was second on the team with 44 makes from downtown. Emery returned after missing the 2017-18 season and pitched in 6.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
The Cougars opened the season at No. 7/9 Nevada. BYU played even with the top 10 Wolfpack in the first half before falling behind in the second. The Cougars won their next five at home before suffering through a three-game losing streak. BYU bounced back with three-straight wins, including a home victory against Utah State before defeating Utah at Vivint Smart Home Arena in the Beehive Classic. BYU finished the nonconference season with an 8-7 record.
The Cougars won at Pacific to open WCC play and jumped out to a 4-1 record. After losing two of three, BYU won five-straight games, capped with comeback wins at San Diego and LMU. The Cougars trailed by as many as 14 at San Diego before coming back to win 88-82 in overtime. BYU trailed by 12 at LMU before rallying to win 70-62. The Cougars won at home against San Diego in the final game of the season to claim a tie for second in the WCC standings.
As the No. 3 seed, BYU fell to San Diego in the quarterfinals of the WCC Championships.