PROVO — The BYU basketball program is poised to begin a new era as first-year coach Mark Pope opens up official practices Tuesday in preparation for the 2019-20 season.
The Cougars were allowed by the NCAA to practice in August before they posted a 4-0 record during their tour of Italy, which gave the players a chance to establish some cohesiveness with the new coaching staff.
“This is the least clique-ish group I’ve ever been associated with in my entire athletic career,” Pope said earlier this month of his team. “That was shocking and startling to me, how together this group is. That’s really exciting to me. That’s got to be a strength. We have a decent foundation already.”
Returning players include Yoeli Childs, TJ Haws, Gavin Baxter, Connor Harding, Kolby Lee, Dalton Nixon and Zac Seljaas.
“The most important thing for us is to be the best team we can possibly be in March.” — BYU head coach Mark Pope
Childs will miss the first nine games due to an NCAA suspension, which was announced in August. Seljaas suffered a foot injury in Italy but Pope is hopeful that the senior guard will be available by the time the season tips off.
Newcomers to the roster include Jake Toolson, Jesse Wade, Trevin Knell and Blaze Nield.
Three transfers — Alex Barcello, Richard Harward and Wyatt Lowell — have petitioned the NCAA to be eligible immediately.
Playing without Childs for the first nine games will be a big void for the Cougars but Pope is taking a long-range approach.
“The most important thing for us is to be the best team we can possibly be in March,” he said. “Whatever beating we might take early on in the season, having a limited roster with Zac just getting healthy and Yoeli out, is going to pay dividends for us down the stretch because we’re going to have guys that will have experience, gotten minutes and been put in different positions and they’ll be comfortable there.”
BYU will hold a Midnight Madness on Oct. 23 and then will host UT Tyler for an exhibition game on Nov. 1. The season-opener is Nov. 5 at home against Cal State Fullerton.
Other opponents on the Cougars’ non-conference schedule include San Diego State, Southern Utah, Houston, Boise State, UCLA, Utah, UNLV, Nevada, Utah State and Weber State.
BYU opens West Coast Conference play Jan. 4 at home against Loyola Marymount.
The Cougars finished 19-13 last season, marking the first time since 2005-06 — former coach Dave Rose’s first season — that they failed to win at least 20 games. It was also the first time since 2005-06 that BYU failed to secure a berth in either the NCAA Tournament or the NIT.