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Jan 21, 2019
6:30:16pm
pajamallama Walk-on
Utah competition level is crippling BYU athletics

This is something I have thought for years and I feel like now more than ever, it is proving true.  

As a kid playing high school sports in California, the competition level was very high.  For those of you that don't know, the state of California is split up into regions called CIF sections, with each section consisting of multiple divisions (i.e. Southern section, central section, san diego section etc.) & (Divisions 1-9 etc.)  At the end of each season the top 2-4 teams in each league go to CIF.  In CIF you basically have a mini march madness, where you can play up to 5-7 games, just to win your CIF section.  Becoming a CIF champion is extremely difficult, especially in the lower Divisons (1/2) just because of the number and size of schools.  After CIF champions have been crowned, in select sports there are state championships where champions are selected from each section to play against other section champions for state championships.  Again it is another MM bracket (win or go home) and one team wins the state championship in each division.  Long story short, winning a CIF title is very difficult and winning the state championship is even harder.  

Now, as a freshman at BYU, I remember talking with kids from Utah/Idaho/Wyoming that mentioned they had won state championships in high school.  I was sooo impressed by the fact they had won a state championship.  These were kids that were all league/all county/all state and it was intimidating.  However, after playing pickup volleyball/basketball/etc. games with them I quickly realized that all the accolades meant nothing.  Although they had obviously played before, these all-state athletes were no better than kids I played with in high school that weren't even all league.  

To help you better understand the sheer number of people in other states, there are about ~200 high schools in Utah and ~3000+ in California.  In 2013 there were 6+ million students in the CA education system while today the entire population of Utah is just over 3 million people.

Why am I saying this?  Bigger population=more competition.  On CB and I fear in BYU recruiting, too much emphasis is placed on player accolades.  People hear a point guard won all state and blindly think he's the next savior of BYU basketball.  People see a highlight reel of a running back from a school in SLC and expect him to be the next Heisman winner.  In recent years, a number of players have come out of Lone Peak and fans expected a NCAA championship.  However, to no fault of the players, their competition level in Utah was below average and their resulting rankings/awards were grossly overrated.  In high school sports, the highest recruited athletes in other states are their team's superstars.  Teams don't often have multiple kids go D1.  They may not win games or be all-state but they are highly recruited due to their talent alone against good competition.  In LP recently, the school had several above average players that played well as a team, but there weren't any superstars despite their national attention.

Now why has this recently come to mind?  I realized something watching the NFL championship games.  Of all the BYU players in the NFL (ones that had succes at BYU) bascially none were from Utah.  Taysom- Idaho, Jamaal-CA, Sorensen-CA, Ansah-Ghana, Van Noy-Nevada, Michael Davis-CA etc.  In fact, looking at all BYU athletics over the last couple decades, basically all the top BYU athletes came from states outside of the mormon belt. 

Football

Collie- CA, Pitta-CA, Hoffman-CA, Steve Young-WA/CONN., Ty Detmer-TX, John Beck-AZ, Max Hall-AZ, Jamaal Williams-CA etc.

Basketball

Jimmer- NY

Volleyball

Sanders-CA

Obviously more players could be added, but I wanted to just look at superstars with professional experience.  Yes, there may be outliers (Ben Patch-UT), but I feel this list is very revealing.  The best BYU talent has come from players that got a head start to playing against tough compeition because they have been doing it their whole lives.  Therefore, when they come to BYU, they are already used to playing against college level competition and they thrive.  

I understand that recruiting out of state is more difficult/expensive, but until BYU recruiting places a greater emphasis on looking outside of Utah, BYU is going to continue to be subpar.  Coaches need to recognize the talent of players that maybe don't have many awards, but are nevertheless more talented than all-state Utah athletes.  Again, there are some talented kids in Utah, but you can't fill rosters with majority Utah talent and expect to be able to compete against the rest of the nation.  Until BYU recognizes the disparity in high school talent, they will continue to see a disparity in college success.

 

 

This message has been modified
Originally posted on Jan 21, 2019 at 6:30:16pm
Message modified by pajamallama on Jan 21, 2019 at 10:21:39pm
pajamallama
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