Busting Brackets
Fansided

BYU Basketball: 3 biggest offseason storylines for Cougars in 2020

By Tristan Freeman

LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 27: The BYU Cougars bench celebrates during the second half of the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 27, 2019 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 27: The BYU Cougars bench celebrates during the second half of the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 27, 2019 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
NCAA Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA – FEBRUARY 08: Matt Haarms #32 of the Purdue Boilermakers (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

1. Plenty of depth in the frontcourt for the Cougars

One of the biggest transfers this offseason was BYU landing Matt Haarms, a 7’3 center who has been a major part of Purdue in the past three seasons. He averaged 7.5 ppg and 4.4 rpg but most importantly, over two blocks a game. Haarms is a great defender and will provide the Cougars a true center inside.

But he’ll have to compete for minutes in what has grown to be a large frontcourt for next season. Last year, with both Childs suspended and former top-50 recruit Gavin Baxter missing most of the campaign with shoulder surgery, BYU only had sophomore Kolby Lee and Dalton Nixon to use inside. This time around, there are six players competing for two positions in the frontcourt.

Besides Haarms, Baxter, and Lee, there are two transfers from Utah Valley who also followed Coach Pope to Provo. Richard Harward is a 6’11 center who averaged 7.0 ppg and 5.0 rpg off the bench. And 6’10 Wyatt Lowell was the WAC Freshman of the Year with the Wolverines and has the ability to spread the floor with his shooting, something that separates him from the others. That doesn’t even include Caleb Lohner, a three-star combo forward who originally committed to Utah before recently changing his mind.

The overall depth will be needed for BYU to compete with Gonzaga down low. It’ll be interesting to see how the minutes play out, considering that with the exception of Lohner and Lowell, the others are upperclassmen who are expecting a role in their own right. In order for the Cougars to be an NCAA Tournament team, one of the bigs will have to become an All-Conference player.