I was talking sports with my brother a while back and he asked what had happened to USU basketball. In a word I summed it up with recruiting. When I was there as a student (around 2000-2004) we had some phenomenal players. The games were incredibly exciting and USU basketball was one of the best mid-majors in the country. At one point we had either the longest or 2nd longest home winning streak in the country. Heck, we actually won an NCAA tournament game, and the ones we lost were oh-so-close (I still remember 2 missed 3s in the final seconds as a 15 seed versus eventual runner-up Kansas).

What the team had was some great talent along with a few good role-players and high-character guys. I can't pinpoint exactly when it happened, but bit-by-bit I noticed that we gradually switched to a bunch of role-players and character guys with very little "WOW!" level talent. No, USU never put guys in the NBA during those years, but there were several guys who were in the D-league and a few got called up for a 2-week contract on occasion. USU hasn't had that for years. You can't win with a bunch of hard-workers who can box out and make a good chest pass.

In other words, there was some high-level talent. You need this to win. Look at Boise during their peak years. People just remember Kellen Moore, but they had something like 11 players drafted over 2 years (and that didn't include Moore who I believe went undrafted) including linemen, receivers, and at least 1 back - Doug Martin. I mean, this is one of the main reasons USU's football has emerged, we've suddenly had NFL level guys (not tons, but enough that it's made a difference).

BYU seems to be stuck in the same situation. I can tell you that one of the big things that happened for USU basketball was we had some assistant coaches (they have since moved on) that were great recruiters and could relate to the kids . I'm not so sure Stew can do that. I mean, he's kind of the definition of a curmudgeony (sp?) old man who doesn't seem to like the media or answering to others. I get the feeling there are some similar feelings about Bronco. I don't know if he can turn it around himself, or some assistants are the answer, but it seems like the current path is disconcerting.