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In a 20-minute question-and-answer session with the media this afternoon, BYU basketball coach Dave Rose said the main reason that rising star guard Michael Loyd Jr. is no longer a member of the Cougar basketball team is one of accountability.
“The situation with Mike basically came down to accountability issues and responsibility issues, and things that we had discussed many times and when it came right down to it, we just felt that the direction that we were going as a team and as a program, and the things that we felt were really, really important....Mike struggled with some of those issues,” Rose said. “So the best thing for us to do was kinda go in different directions. And that is kind of how it happened.”
Before the 4 p.m. news conference, Loyd was playing a pickup basketball game in the Richards Building with several members of the team, along with players from Utah Valley University and Utah State (Tai Wesley).
Loyd agreed to be interviewed, and I will have more on what he said in a later post. Suffice to say, what Loyd said about leaving did not contradict what Rose said later in the day. Bottom line, though, is that Loyd said he was happy at BYU and did not want to leave.
He gave the impression that the primary reason he was pushed out was an academic one, saying several times that he could not see himself staying eligible academically if he were to continue at BYU.
He also believes that he was pushed out by “higher-ups” at BYU, and not the coaching staff, although he could not offer any evidence for those assertions.
But back to Rose.
The coach also addressed the academic issue, saying school was always a challenge for Loyd, as it is for every student and student-athlete at BYU. But Rose stressed that Loyd is academically eligible right now to attend any school he wants to.
“It was consistency that was an issue” with Loyd, Rose said.
The coach said the ouster “was as difficult as they come,” but said his relationship with Loyd remains strong.
Asked if Loyd’s presence on the team was becoming too divisive, Rose said, “The best way to explain this is that if Mike felt like this was the best place for him, he would still be here.”
Other tidbits from Rose today:
* No word yet on what Jimmer Fredette will do. Rose said Fredette worked out for Oklahoma City on Monday and for Boston on Wednesday. He did not want to say the teams Fredette will work out for on Thursday and Friday. He said all four teams have paid or will pay the expenses for Fredette to travel to their cities for the workouts.
* Rose said Fredette did well in the first two workouts, having talked to representatives of the teams he worked out for. He also said that Fredette had to turn down a couple other invitations because there was not enough time to get them in, given that Saturday is the deadline for deciding whether to stay or go.
* Rose said he has had discussions with BYU athletic administrators about possible conference expansion/change, but that his opinion really doesn’t matter anyway.
* Finally, the best news of all. Rose said he recently had another scan for cancer, and was happy to report that “it was clear.”
“That was a real good thing,” he said.
“The situation with Mike basically came down to accountability issues and responsibility issues, and things that we had discussed many times and when it came right down to it, we just felt that the direction that we were going as a team and as a program, and the things that we felt were really, really important....Mike struggled with some of those issues,” Rose said. “So the best thing for us to do was kinda go in different directions. And that is kind of how it happened.”
Before the 4 p.m. news conference, Loyd was playing a pickup basketball game in the Richards Building with several members of the team, along with players from Utah Valley University and Utah State (Tai Wesley).
Loyd agreed to be interviewed, and I will have more on what he said in a later post. Suffice to say, what Loyd said about leaving did not contradict what Rose said later in the day. Bottom line, though, is that Loyd said he was happy at BYU and did not want to leave.
He gave the impression that the primary reason he was pushed out was an academic one, saying several times that he could not see himself staying eligible academically if he were to continue at BYU.
He also believes that he was pushed out by “higher-ups” at BYU, and not the coaching staff, although he could not offer any evidence for those assertions.
But back to Rose.
The coach also addressed the academic issue, saying school was always a challenge for Loyd, as it is for every student and student-athlete at BYU. But Rose stressed that Loyd is academically eligible right now to attend any school he wants to.
“It was consistency that was an issue” with Loyd, Rose said.
The coach said the ouster “was as difficult as they come,” but said his relationship with Loyd remains strong.
Asked if Loyd’s presence on the team was becoming too divisive, Rose said, “The best way to explain this is that if Mike felt like this was the best place for him, he would still be here.”
Other tidbits from Rose today:
* No word yet on what Jimmer Fredette will do. Rose said Fredette worked out for Oklahoma City on Monday and for Boston on Wednesday. He did not want to say the teams Fredette will work out for on Thursday and Friday. He said all four teams have paid or will pay the expenses for Fredette to travel to their cities for the workouts.
* Rose said Fredette did well in the first two workouts, having talked to representatives of the teams he worked out for. He also said that Fredette had to turn down a couple other invitations because there was not enough time to get them in, given that Saturday is the deadline for deciding whether to stay or go.
* Rose said he has had discussions with BYU athletic administrators about possible conference expansion/change, but that his opinion really doesn’t matter anyway.
* Finally, the best news of all. Rose said he recently had another scan for cancer, and was happy to report that “it was clear.”
“That was a real good thing,” he said.
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