CougarCorner

Two VTF articles:

Marquette Forward Keeyan Itejere is in the Transfer Portal — Will BYU Pursue?
Potential BYU Basketball Transfer Targets

Marquette forward Keeyan Itejere is LDS and has entered the transfer portal. He's supposedly very athletic, but also very raw. But he's 6-9 so I kinda think we have to go after him at least as a plan B. He was a 3 star prospect out of NC in HS.

Some other targets per VTF:

Kerr Kriisa — Guard, Arizona. Not very likely. Heard he also has a bit of an attitude so not sure he's a good fit here. Probably goes to Xavier where his previous coach is.

Josiah Allick — Forward, New Mexico. BYU was one of his finalists last year.

Khalif Battle — Guard, Temple. One of the top players in the portal. Probably goes elsewhere.

Dalton Knecht — Guard/Forward, Northern Colorado. Has loose connections to BYU's staff, but if he's looking to command top NIL dollars then BYU isn't the place.

Joseph Girard — Guard, Syracuse. Has a close relationship with Jimmer so that's a plus for us.

Justice Hill — Guard, LSU. Played with Spencer Johnson at SLCC, but struggled at LSU.

Jae’Lyn Withers — Forward, Louisville. Has a connection to Kahil Fennell.

We've got to hit a homerun (or two) to be competitive in the Big 12. If we go in with the current talent we are going to be dead last.

There was also a kid from Portland and another transfer who's first name is Moses. Can't remember what school he is from.

Moore goes to ORU

Charlotte Transfer Aly Khalifa Commits to BYU

He wasn't on the original list, but Aly Kkalifa is a very good get. He's 6-11 so immediately that's a plus just in of itself.

Listed at 6-foot-11 and 230 pounds, Khalifa is a versatile stretch big man. He was one of the top players for a 49ers team that won the CBI, averaging 11.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists on 51% shooting from the floor and 38% shooting from three

He's from Egypt and has two years to play. I'm excited for him. This was the must-get that we needed.

Per a Charlotte reddit user he said the following about Khalifa when I asked him his honest takes on him including the good and bad:

Gonna need to lose some weight to do well in the big 12. I think his court vision and three point shooting will transition just fine, he's great at threading passes the average big guy wouldn't even see. I am pretty massively concerned he might struggle mightily around the basket. He's slow, overweight and can't jump. Absolutely worth taking a shot on him though if you're BYU because he's so dynamic and unique to guard, he was great for us.

Also, I believe that the VTF article states that Charlotte played a very slow tempo. That means that his stats are likely understated, but also means that he may not be used to or even be able to handle playing up tempo especially if he's overweight.

I'm interested in seeing where Steven Ashworth and Dawson Baker end up. Both seem like natural fits for BYU; but having been spurned in the past, they may not look favorably upon the BYU coaching staff.

jadesroom wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 8:42 am I'm interested in seeing where Steven Ashworth and Dawson Baker end up. Both seem like natural fits for BYU; but having been spurned in the past, they may not look favorably upon the BYU coaching staff.

I just saw that Ashworth is transferring to Creighton. He was the best available player left in the portal per one source. That's too bad, I thought BYU had a decent shot at getting him, April's Fool joke and all.

UC Irvine Guard Dawson Baker Commits to BYU

Dawson Baker is a 6-4 combo guard who averaged 15.3 points on 47%/37%/80% shooting. He's LDS and a return missionary. BYU has lots of guards so I don't think that he's a for-sure starter, but depth is always good.

I'm still surprised that Waterman is on the roster. I think that he was our weakest player last season and the business/analyst part of me says that we need to use his scholarship on a more talented player.

Waterman or Steward may be on the way out. Robbie mentioned that BYU is not finished recruiting so that means at least one scholarship will need to be freed up.

Samford Transfer Ques Glover Commits to BYU

BYU gets 6 foot PG from Samford. He had a great junior season averaging 19.2 PPG and 4.4 APG. Last year as a senior he partially tore his meniscus and even when he came back his numbers weren't quite as good. Plenty of P5 schools were offering including a late push from Florida. He is a graduate transfer with one year to play. He will most likely be the starting PG.