Blue roundup: Bracing for life without Jimmer Fredette

While Jimmer Fredette is preparing for the NBA draft on June 23, the BYU basketball program is bracing for life without the consensus national player of the year.

ESPN.com's Andy Katz takes a look at Cougar hoops P.J. (Post Jimmer).

"The first-name-only phenom is done at BYU and (coach Dave) Rose is left to rebuild his perennial NCAA tournament team in a way he hasn't had to do since he took over in 2005," Katz writes. "The Cougars had won Mountain West titles before, but never had they relied so much on one player as they did the past two seasons. Fredette dominated the ball and with good reason. He was instant offense. He was the face of the program — and this past year, of the entire BYU athletic department and university as a whole."

Katz also notes that BYU's ability to contend for a West Coast Conference championship next season may depend on the possible return of Brandon Davies.

The first NBA team that Fredette will work out for is the New York Knicks, on June 2. He also has workouts scheduled with the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers and Portland Trail Blazers.

ESPN.com examines the possibility of Big 12 expansion. A poll indicates that if the league were to expand from 10 to 12 teams, 39 percent would want Arizona and Arizona State to join, while 28 percent are in favor of BYU and Air Force. Read more about what fans think about Big 12 expansion here.

Meanwhile, the league BYU left behind, the Mountain West Conference, is preparing for major changes in the next couple of years. The league loses BYU and Utah and adds Boise State. In the future, the MWC loses TCU and gains Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii. Here's a report about the MWC's new logo that will be unveiled June 6.

As reported Monday night, Dylan Collie, the younger brother of former BYU receivers Austin and Zac Collie, verbally committed to the Cougars. Here's the Sacramento Bee's take on this news.

The Calgary Herald reports that wide receiver Jimmy Ralph, a product of Raymond High School, is planning to arrive at BYU in the fall. Ralph is a big fan of new Cougar receivers coach Ben Cahoon, the Canadian Football League's all-time leading receiver.