BYU basketball: Brock Zylstra, Logan Magnusson help Cougars in many ways

PROVO — Even though their minutes were few, Brock Zylstra and Logan Magnusson know, and have been reassured many times, that the role they played on last year's 30-6 BYU basketball team was vital.

Teams need guys who make other guys better in practice. Zylstra and Magnusson did exactly that, and coach Dave Rose has commended them for their exemplary team attitude.

"It's tough knowing you're working as hard as everyone else every day in practice and then when you come to the games you don't play," said Zylstra, a sophomore swingman from La Verne, Calif., who walked on at BYU four years ago. "But after a while you understand your role. Logan and I knew that if we played hard that we'd prepare everyone for the games. It made it more enjoyable, knowing that our work made our team better."

Magnusson added, "Last year I just did whatever I could to help our team win. I loved my job and I loved my role, and I saw my team succeed and saw my team winning. I loved preparing guys for whatever they were going to see in the game, and I was fine with that. If we were losing maybe it would have been a different story."

Those statements, however, don't mean that Zylstra and Magnusson are not hungry for bigger roles. Both want to showcase their skills a little more this season in the spotlight of games.

"It would be hard (being mainly a practice player) season after season, but then again winning is winning. But I still want to play and that's what I'm working for," Zylstra said. "I want to win, but I also want to be a major contributor, and that's why I work so hard on my game. I'm not satisfied with just being there and being a college athlete. But at the same time, I want to help this team get better, at whatever role that might be."

Zylstra played only 63 minutes all of last season, took only 18 shots and scored a grand total of 19 points. Magnusson, a senior who prepped at Wasatch High and ended up at BYU after stints at Dixie State and Salt Lake Community College, played 90 minutes and scored only 13 points.

"Inevitably I think it's up to me," Magnusson said. "It's totally my destiny. If I play my hardest and improve my game, there is time there for me to play. But I'm the only one who can determine that. I know it's ultimately the coach's decision, but it's me who needs to get better and improve on certain things, and I know that."

Few, if any, BYU players worked harder on their games in the offseason that Zylstra and Magnusson.