Unthinkable.
Five years removed from a 1-25 season, Trent Whiting’s two free throws with 4.6 seconds to play sealed the 2001 Mountain West Conference Tournament championship for BYU.
Also, unthinkable. The Cougars have yet to do it again.
“The first thing that comes to mind is talent, depth, health, seeding and a bit of luck is necessary to win those tournaments. Gonzaga checked all those boxes year-in and year-out for the past 11 years.” — former BYU coach Steve Cleveland
“It’s hard to understand why BYU has gone 22 years and never won a conference tournament,” said former BYU coach Steve Cleveland (1997-2005). “Especially considering the numerous regular-season conference championship teams and NCAA bids during that same time.”
Puzzling indeed.
Since that triumph over New Mexico, the Cougars are mysteriously 0-7 in tournament finals, including 0-4 as members of the West Coast Conference, with all four losses to Gonzaga. Explaining the elusiveness is maddening — even for March.
“The first thing that comes to mind is talent, depth, health, seeding and a bit of luck is necessary to win those tournaments,” Cleveland said. “Gonzaga checked all those boxes year-in and year-out for the past 11 years.”
BYU is scheduled to play Friday night in the second round of its 12th and final WCC Tournament before joining the Big 12. After a 17-14 regular season, the challenge to snap the streak seems ominous and who knows how long it will take before BYU conquers the Big 12 — the toughest conference in college basketball.
“I don’t know if I hold the secret. It’s really, really hard to win and it takes a lot of things to happen,” said Whiting, the BYU guard who scored 15 points and played a team-high 39 minutes that historic night against the Lobos. “First, you have to be healthy, and it’s hard to be healthy during that time of the season. Second, you must have total focus, total buy-in from the entire team. And third, you need to have a little luck.”
Championship run
The Cougars tied Utah and Wyoming for first place in 2001, but the Utes won the coin toss for the No. 1 seed and the first-round bye. BYU entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and a bit bent out of shape.
“It didn’t sit well with us,” Whiting said. “We were a little upset going into the tournament. It fueled our fire.”
BYU beat Air Force 69-54 on Thursday and downed Wyoming 77-66 the next day. Just before the Cougars-Cowboys game, some good fortune smiled on BYU when New Mexico upset Utah 56-53. The Lobos’ victory meant the Cougars would not have to face the Utes, who were playing on much fresher legs, in the final.
A crowd of 13,824 (mostly BYU fans) assembled at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas and watched league MVP Mekeli Wesley make 11 of 12 shots and finish with 30 points and eight rebounds, but it was Whiting’s free throws that clinched the 69-65 win.
“You don’t want to miss those. It was fantastic to finally seal the deal,” said Whiting, while noting BYU’s steady climb from the 1-25 season prior to Cleveland’s arrival in 1997. “For us to tie in the regular season and go win the conference tournament was huge because we weren’t getting into the NCAA Tournament unless we won the Mountain West.”
The third wheel
Whiting’s one and only season at BYU didn’t start until mid-December, after transferring from Utah and sitting out the required 12 months.
In his Cougars debut, the 6-foot-1 guard from Kuna, Idaho, played 39 minutes and scored 22 points in a 69-67 win at Utah State. Five days later at Boise State, Whiting scored 19 and established himself as the third wheel in an offense built around Wesley and the explosive Terrell Lyday.
“Trent was a gutsy competitor. It was not easy transferring and having to wait to play until December of your senior year,” Cleveland said. “He was exactly what this team needed, another go-to guy who could lead, make plays and defend.”
Redemption
Not every shot fell for Whiting during BYU’s championship run. In fact, two specific misses at Wyoming made the Cougars’ road to the title more challenging.
Trailing the Cowboys 79-75 with 55 seconds remaining, Whiting stepped to the free-throw line and with the Laramie crowd in a frenzy, he uncharacteristically missed both shots.
“It was such a big deal because we had a chance to take sole possession of first place,” Whiting said. “I missed a couple of big free throws, and we ended up losing the game (85-78).”
The MWC Tournament gave Whiting a shot at redemption. Not only did he score 11 points to eliminate the Cowboys in the semifinals, but when faced with two more critical free throws at the end of the New Mexico game, he sank them both.
Twenty-two years later, while supporting his wife Amber in her first season as the BYU women’s head coach, he is still deflecting the spotlight from that special championship night.
“I remember distinctly that Terrell and Mekeli carried the major load to get us there,” Whiting said. “They just had a great tournament. I was playing a role while they were being the headliners.”
Born again
The Cougars cut down the nets at the Thomas & Mack Center and celebrated the rebirth of its basketball program.
“Winning the league title and the conference tournament in 2001 validated the commitment made by everyone in the program the previous four years, on and off the court,” Cleveland said. “BYU basketball and the Marriott Center Magic was back. The foundation was in place, and for next 20 years, conference championships and NCAA appearances were once again the expectation and goal of the program.”
Then Gonzaga happened. And it keeps happening. For BYU to snap the skid, the Cougars will have to get to the finals and find a way to beat Gonzaga.
Unthinkable? The Cougars are 0-6 against the Zags in Las Vegas, but it’s not impossible. We’ve seen some pretty crazy things this time of year and Gonzaga still has to win its way to the championship game.
Also, unthinkable — the notion of winning the Big 12 anytime soon against the likes of Houston, Kansas, Texas, Baylor, TCU, and the others. If BYU is going to update its championship pedigree, the time is now.
Dave McCann is a contributor to the Deseret News and is the studio host for “BYU Sports Nation Game Day,” “The Post Game Show,” “After Further Review,” and play-by-play announcer for BYUtv. He is also co-host of “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com.