circumstances. How many elite recruits, who after giving up 3 years of his basketball life to serve a mission and then finally recouping his gifts, would maintain as positive an attitude as humanly possible and continue to serve as an unwavering support to his teammates and not pester his coaches, despite receiving far fewer minutes and credit than he thinks he deserves?

And while the coaches are decidedly clear that he is not in the team's plans in any significant way at least for this year if not beyond, Payton enjoys an abundance of support that he is underappreciated from some observers who have no authority.

I'm not the coach so i don't know if their choice to exclude Dastrup from the rotation is wise or fair.

But while his stats are mixed, what i do know is that coaches understate his giant role in saving this season for BYU.To wit, he almost singlehandedly turned the season around in the UMass miracle comeback, then in the biggest game of the season against the nemesis and rival Utes when BYU Nation was truly desperate for a win, it was Dastrup who arrested the Ute comeback in the second half and put the game on ice for the Cougars.

The guy is a positive force and seems to deserve more positive vibes than he's receiving.