More 'Boys from Brazil' in Y.'s future?

The Cougars are two for two with Brazilian basketball players this decade.

Will 6-foot-9, 215-pound Arizona Western forward Fernando Malaman make it three in a row?

Could be.

BYU has been very successful in tapping Brazil for volleyball players and other sports. Could going south of the border bring other recruiting nuggets to hoops?

Why not?

Others are going outside the boundaries of the U.S., to places like Croatia, Germany and Australia. Brazil could be BYU's new marketplace, if it isn't already so.

Luiz Lemes, the transfer guard from a juco in Oklahoma was a productive find in the Cougar back court in 2003 and 04. Rafael Araujo became a dominating MWC center and NBA lottery pick last season.

Former head coach Steve Cleveland, before he left for Fresno State, planned to tap into Brazil this year. His replacement, Dave Rose, picked up Cleveland's plans, since he was in charge of the duty in the first place. With the most recent Brazilian recruit, Rose was front and center in recruiting of the Arizona Western star.

Rose wants to turn Malaman, a finesse forward into a true power forward the next two seasons.

But Brazil for basketball talent?

Well, the NBA's got Brazilians Nene (Denver), Araujo (Toronto), Leandro Barbosa (Phoenix) and Anderson Varejao (Cleveland). BYU's director of basketball operations, Walter Roese, is a former Brazilian basketball player, fluent in Porteguese.

Brazil is known for outstanding talent, guys with 40-inch verticals and speed outside of soccer. Look at just a few of BYU's "Boys from Brazil" athletes of — volleyball standout Rafael Paal earned all-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation honors in 2003, one-upped by fellow contrymen Fernando Pessoa and Carlos Moreno, who were 2004 all-Americans. In fact, Moreno was named NCAA and MPSF player of the year last season.

And Cougar track jumper Rodrigo Mendes currently boasts the nation's top mark in the triple jump, going 56 feet — more than 15 inches beyond the next-best NCAA performance this season — at last week's Robison Invitational in Provo.

"In Brazil, the athletes are fabulous," said BYU volleyball coach Tom Peterson, adding "there are more male volleyball players in Sao Paulo, Brazil, than in our entire country. The experience (of players) is pretty amazing and the potential is great."

Rose just returned from a recruiting trip to Brazil. He's going back this year.