we were passing up LDS high schoolers who were blossoming at other schools, because we were too focused on "play now" players (LDS or not). So far that hasn't been the case.

There will always be the low rated LDS kids who turn out to be diamonds in the rough (like Sam Merrill or Justin Bean), but I don't think you can fault Dave Rose or Mark Pope for not seeing their value when no one else did either.

But if there are highly rated LDS kids getting big p5 offers, and we chose not to recruit them, and they developed into great players, that would be a different story.

But even with the highly rated LDS players, sometimes they don't even stay the whole time(Eric Mika, Elijah Bryant, Nick Emory), or end up going somewhere bigger (Frank Jackson, Jabari Parker), so there is no guarantee that focusing primarily on LDS high schoolers is going to always give you 4 years of player development anyway.

With the transfer portal culture now, you have to get the best athletes who are willing to come to BYU, and get the most out of them before they move on. Pope appears to be trying to do that as best as he can, while still seeking the best LDS high schoolers available (Nate Hansen, Richie Saunders, Caleb Lohner, Dallin Hall, Tanner Toolson, Jake Wahlin, Collin Chandler).

Not sure what more we can expect from him.