BYU basketball: Cougars build on success

PROVO — Dave Rose will remember his team that repeated as MWC champion as a group of guys who were unselfish, competitive and extremely consistent.

The Cougars finished 27-8 overall and 14-2 in conference before bowing out to Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Anaheim, Calif. In the course of the season, the Cougars set marks for 3-point shooting and rebounding, a school record for most regular-season wins and also established the nation's longest home win streak.

"When you end up with a player who is perceived as your best player (Lee Cummard) who becomes your most unselfish player, you have a chance," Rose said. "We had two seniors in Ben Murdock and Sam Burgess who also put the team in front of themselves."

The Cougars return the core of this year's championship team that won 18 of their last 21 games. Returnees include Cummard, the Mountain West's co-MVP. The other junior, center Trent Plaisted, who is in position to graduate, is weighing his options of turning professional and will announce his intentions later this spring or summer, according to Rose. "He'll do what's best for him."

While freshman Chris Collinsworth is headed for a mission in Australia, two other freshmen, Jimmer Fredette and Michael Lloyd, return along with third-leading scorer Jonathan Tavernari, center Chris Miles and swingman Archie Rose.

Point guard Lamont Morgan and forward/center James Anderson return after redshirt seasons, and coach Rose will welcome back two missionaries — former Mr. Utah Basketball Jackson Emery, a guard, and Oklahoma all-state 6-foot-8 forward Noah Hartstock — and former Logan High all-state guard Charles Abouo, a native of the Ivory Coast, who attended Brewster Prep Academy this past year and will have four years eligibility.

Rose said his squad, which returned just two starters from the 2007 MWC championship team, found consistency this past year.

"I think it's something we talk about a lot and when it kind of goes over heads, we talk about it again. But I don't think people understand how difficult it is to be consistent over the course of three months when you are trying to win a championship," said Rose of his squad.

"You have illness. You have travel issues and emotional issues with your players. In order to be consistent over that period of time, it is a real compliment to players and to the coaching staff and players. When you talk about back-to-back championships, you talk about players who have really put that team in front of themselves and have gone out and been consistent. That is an accomplishment."