I've been contemplating writing this thread since the NIT loss. I was at that game and man, was it disappointing. The sad part is, I was actually relieved it was over for the year. As I drove home I thought about the team this year and what next year might look like along with how the team performed this year. I've spent the last week digesting and processing thoughts and ideas about this team, here's where I'm at.

The Season:
I started the season with NIT expectations. We only returned (starters) Davis and Emery, had an unknown in LJ Rose, and Haws/Mika were just off missions. I thought it was possible to get into the tourney (maybe even win a game) if the team clicked, but realistically, this year was to set up next year.

The team started off the year bumpy, with some good wins (colorado, princeton) and a bad loss (UVU). Then the bad news struck with KD being injured and out for the season just before conference play. This dampened my expectations for the team. I thought the NIT was a sure thing and the NCAA dream was mostly shot. Afterall, we only managed to go 9-4 (69%) with KD on the team so what were the odds they'd not have problems? I was cautiously optimistic that Kafusi could soften the blow of the KD loss. I was wrong.

Conference play progressed and it was obvious that Kafusi would need more time to get back to form under the basket. He had his moments but mostly he wasn't much use through January. Shaw and Dastrup weren't any better, they had better aspects of their games, but as an overall package I feel like we were always trading off skills for no net gain. During this month, down Davis, Emery got injured. The team lost the next game and proceeded to lose a bunch of games as emery recovered from injury but then got sick for the Gonzaga game.

Then things got even worse as news broke that LJ rose was done for the season as well. Having only gone 8-4 (67%) since losing Davis and now having lost Rose I should have realized this season would only get worse. Somehow, I was inexplicably optimistic. I thought the team would finish the season strong and go a few (two or three) games into the NIT. The rest of the season played out poorly, 6-4 (60%), with the lone bright spot being the Gonzaga win.

Next Year:
Given the pathetic unfolding of the season I understand why some may be worried about what lies ahead but here's why I'm not. Youth, yes I'm going to beat this dead horse again. But it's true, we have an extremely young team. The only player starting through February/march that played meaningful D1 minutes last year was the "scourge of the earth" Nick Emery. Next year we will return a lot of players with a lot of minutes of experience.
Starting 5 against Princeton:
Davis
Rose
Mika
Emery
Haws

Starting 5 against UTA:
Guinn
Mika
Childs
Emery
Haws

The other thing that gives me hope, is injury. The LP3 seem to be very durable. Davis was always nursing an injury, it seemed. Childs has remained healthy all season as well. We still have bryant and aytes that seem injury prone, but I think this team can replace one starter fairly easily.

No one that got meaningful minutes by the end of the season is leaving on a mission or graduating. This is huge. We know Mika is great. We know Emery can be great. We know haws can be great. We know Childs can be great. There's not one of those players that doesn't have the potential to play at the next level, not saying they will, just that they have the potential. Add Bryant to that mix and I think that's a mighty fine starting lineup. We do need a guard or two that can score, but I think that will be fairly easy to come by through transfers. Dastrup/Kafusi/Aytes coming off the bench should provide plenty of depth down low.

I know a lot of you don't have faith in the system Dave rose runs. I can't say I have much either, but next year will be very telling. He'll have 4 top 100 players starting (plus bryant) who all have played D1 basketball, providing he can find a couple transfers that are an offensive threat, he'll have depth at every position. Guinn/Leifson/Frampton/Beo as the situational off the bench guy would be great.

Obviously disaster can strike at any time, and as BYU fan's we all know it probably will, but if it doesn't, next year has the underpinnings to be great.