PROVO — Two junior college recruits made official visits to BYU's campus Thursday and Friday as Cougar coaches try to find a small forward to replace departing high school recruit Lee Cummard of Arizona who is bound for an LDS Church mission this summer.
Keena Young, a 6-foot-6 forward at South Plains College in Texas and 6-1 combo guard Josh Reisman of San Jose City College both toured BYU and Provo this weekend. Both signed with Division I schools out of high school.
BYU needs a small forward to guard opposing talent in the Mountain West Conference but adding a combo guard to help with the point duties vacated by senior Luiz Lemes may also work.
Young, who has connections to BYU assistant coach Dave Rose, has received recruiting attention from South Alabama, Louisiana Tech and UTEP in recent days. He signed with Memphis before deciding to go the juco route and gave an oral commitment to play for Bobby Knight at Texas Tech this winter before reaching a mutual agreement with Knight to rescind his commitment and Tech's scholarship offer.
Young has a visit scheduled to South Alabama next weekend if he does not sign with the Cougars. Young started 27 of 30 games and averaged 9.9 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 47 percent. He has three years of Division I eligibility.
Reishman led SJCC in scoring 10 out of 28 games this past year after transferring from Gonzaga where he played 30 games as a redshirt freshman in 2002, the year Gonzaga finished 24-9, losing to Arizona in the NCAA Tournament.
Reishman, a combo guard, was the Washington 3A player of the year and helped lead Mount Vernon Academy to an undefeated state championship in 2001.
Reishman high JC games were against West Valley (27 points), Yuba (25 points) and Alameda (28 points).
The Cougars have been on the prowl for small forwards since Cummard, the Arizona 5A player of the year, announced in March he would go directly on a mission instead of playing one season in a BYU uniform.
BYU is expecting former Snow College and Lone Peak star Sam Burgess to play next season as a shooting guard. Burgess returns from an LDS mission in May. Another guard, 6-3 Jimmy Balderson returns from a mission in August.
E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com