BYU has big expectations even without Jimmer

By Lynn Debruin

Associated Press

Published: Friday, Nov. 4 2011 3:57 p.m. MDT

FILE - In this March 18, 2011 file photo, BYU basketball coach Dave Rose answers questions during a news conference for the Southeast regional third round NCAA tournament college basketball game, in Denver. BYU begins life without the national player of the year, Jimmer Fredette.

Julie Jacobson, File, Associated Press

Enlarge photo»

Summary

Jimmer has gone pro, and all-time steals leader Jackson Emery has gone green, trading in the basketball court for compost at a company called EcoScraps.

PROVO, Utah — Jimmer has gone pro, and all-time steals leader Jackson Emery has gone green, trading in the basketball court for compost at a company called EcoScraps.

Where does that leave BYU a season after the Cougars won a record 32 games, advanced to the NCAA round of 16 and finished No. 10 in the AP poll?

Gunning for another title, insists coach Dave Rose, even if the Cougars lose a sensational backcourt and jump from the Mountain West to the West Coast Conference where perennial powers Gonzaga and Saint Mary's await.

"We expect to win the league," Rose said matter-of-factly. "That's why we practice, why we recruit, why we do what we do."

His optimism comes from having replaced good players before — though never a national player of the year like Jimmer Fredette.

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