PROVO — Dave Rose has until May 17 for spring letter-of-intent signings and he has yet to name a replacement for departed assistant head coach Terry Nashif.
Will one come before the other? Is BYU’s roster complete, or is there wiggle room for another body or two? We shall see.
Rose told reporters last week his priorities include setting his roster and making an assistant hire that fits with the chemistry of his staff and players, a guy who can recruit. He also wants his team to improve on defense.
This begs the question: Will Rose look at Heath Schroyer, a veteran coach whom he broke into Division I coaching when Steve Cleveland came to BYU? Cleveland brought Schroyer with him from Fresno City College and Rose from Dixie College.
What if Schroyer was the new hire? He has nearly 25 years coaching experience, including head coach titles at Wyoming, Portland State and Tennessee Martin. He’s assisted at BYU, Wyoming, UNLV and North Carolina State.
I asked former All-MWC forward Mekeli Wesley what he thinks about Schroyer possibly returning to BYU. Wesley worked with Schroyer all four of his years in a Cougar uniform.
“Schroyer and I had a pretty tight relationship,” said Wesley. “He is super intense, loves getting after it. He was in charge of our defense when I was there. He was constantly putting in defensive schemes. He did a really good, thorough job of scouting other teams. I still have a very thick notebook of schemes the other teams ran and how we were going to guard it.”
Wesley said transitioning from high school to college was a big step. Schroyer got the team ready to play at a higher level defensively because he had an eye and passion for it.
“For me, he helped me a ton in the offseason with skill development. He wasn’t known as an offensive coach, but in the offseason, he was very knowledgeable and put the time in to help develop and hold skills and improve. He really cared about you, even if he was always screaming at you.”
But what if he returned to BYU?
“Back then, he was pretty intense. I’m sure he still has that fire. I think if you look at this BYU team, especially last year where they beat the No. 1 team in the nation on their home court (Gonzaga), they had the talent but they were lacking whatever it was — toughness, cohesiveness, or a youth factor — in being really good on defense.
“I think Schroyer, if he came, would boost that. BYU got beat a lot with the 3-pointer. I think he would remedy that and get a little bit more accountability on the defensive side of the ball, which is needed.
“I think if BYU went that direction, where he’s been a head coach and been in the ACC on a staff that beat Duke on their home court last year, he would bring value. He played at a big-time high school at DeMatha in Maryland. He would bring something that would help this team get to another level.”
Without knowing all the candidates and understanding that the actual hiring pool of qualified candidates is relatively small, Wesley said it is hard to compare Schroyer against them. Rose could dip into the high school ranks like he did with Lone Peak’s Quincy Lewis. He could go the junior college route because he has extensive contacts.
But it feels like Rose’s next hire will be an experienced basketball coach who also has extensive contacts, but who also has been on the recruiting trail, has put together scouting reports and worked game plans and can push for proven defensive improvements.
BYU may need to invest more money in such an addition.
Schroyer was making $300,000 a year at North Carolina State, according to published reports.
“It’s tough to pull a guy who has been a head coach and then hire him as an assistant, but Heath was just let go with North Carolina State’s entire staff and he has to be looking for something right now,” said Wesley.
As May 17 looms, it remains to be seen what recruiting Rose and his staff will pull off in a late talent-mining operation.
But he does have to hire one assistant coach.
Which piece of this puzzle will fall into place first? Is Schroyer the answer, a possibility?
Stay tuned.