PROVO — It was the perhaps the best-kept secret of BYU’s remarkable 2019-2020 basketball season.

Guard Alex Barcello, a transfer from Arizona who received an NCAA waiver to play last season, broke his left wrist in the Cougars’ 81-64 victory at Pepperdine in the regular-season finale. But that injury was never reported at the time and few knew about it. 

“I was in kind of a weird situation,” Barcello said.

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“I had made the decision before we played against Saint Mary’s. I told coach Pope, ‘Let’s see how I do in practice. If I don’t look normal then it might not be in the best interest to play.’ But I went through one practice and it was fine. It was just a little sore afterward.” — Alex Barcello, on his wrist injury

Instead of undergoing surgery right away, and sitting out a six-week period to recover, Barcello chose to keep playing. He would have continued to play with the broken wrist in the NCAA Tournament — before the tournament was canceled due to the spread of COVID-19. 

Barcello played more than one week after the win at Pepperdine in what turned out to be BYU’s final game, a 51-50 loss to Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas on March 9.

The Cougars, who posted a 24-8 record, were projected as a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. BYU finished with a No. 18 ranking. 

The fact that the Cougars didn’t get a chance to play in the Big Dance last year is serving as a big motivator for the senior-to-be, and his teammates, entering next season. 

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“It’s my last year. I want to accomplish everything that we did last year and more because that’s the mindset that coach (Mark) Pope and the staff relays to us, to get better every single day,” Barcello said. “We’re striving to get better. We want to make a run at the national championship next season and everyone on this team is working as hard as we can to accomplish that.

“It’s definitely lit this fire under me to where I’m just like, ‘We’re getting (to the NCAA Tournament) again this year.’ We made it last year but we didn’t get to play in front of thousands of people on the big stage in March Madness,” he added. “We’re going to make it this year, not only for us but for our fan base and our school. I think we all deserve that.”

So how did Barcello injure his wrist?

With just a few minutes remaining against the Waves, he stole a pass and drove to the basket. He absorbed a hard foul and landed on his head and wrist. It was such a hard foul that guard Jake Toolson, who was sitting on the bench, rushed onto the court to check on Barcello and was subsequently ejected from the game. 

As the team returned to Provo, trainer Rob Ramos diagnosed the injury as a serious wrist sprain. But the next day, Barcello’s wrist swelled up and X-rays revealed that the bone was broken. 

With almost a week to go before the WCC Tournament, Barcello faced a decision. Should he undergo surgery immediately and likely miss the rest of the season? Or should he continue to play with a broken wrist?

“I had made the decision before we played against Saint Mary’s. I told coach Pope, ‘Let’s see how I do in practice. If I don’t look normal then it might not be in the best interest to play,’” Barcello said. “But I went through one practice and it was fine. It was just a little sore afterward. I kept going. The guys and coaches said they were surprised that they couldn’t tell that my wrist was broken. So I decided to play. I knew I wanted to play but I wanted to do what was best for the team.”

Barcello had his wrist wrapped up for the Saint Mary’s game. Against the Gaels, he played 32 minutes and went 1 of 2 from the 3-point line and finished with three points. He had two assists and one rebound.

“I could still dribble and pass with it but it was definitely painful,” Barcello said. “I obviously didn’t shoot a lot in that game. I played fine. It was painful but I could still push through and use it. It was a pain I had to push through.”

“I’m 95% right now. I can do all my ball-handling drills,” he said. “I can do pushups with a closed fist. I’m getting really close to 100%.” — Alex Barcello

Saint Mary’s guard Jordan Ford scored 18 points and drilled the game-winning jumper with 1.4 seconds remaining. Barcello was guarding Ford on that play. 

Another BYU starter, Kolby Lee, did not play against Saint Mary’s due to an illness.

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Prior to the Saint Mary’s game, Barcello didn’t want the public to know about his injury because he didn’t want to give opposing teams a competitive advantage. 

“I didn’t want to put it out there,” he said. “Maybe a scout from an opposing team could use that against me and say, ‘Push him to his left.’”

Since then, Barcello has undergone successful surgery — doctors placed a screw in his hand — and he is currently working out in his home state of Arizona. 

“I’m 95% right now. I can do all my ball-handling drills,” he said. “I can do pushups with a closed fist. I’m getting really close to 100%. I can’t wait to get back on campus (in Provo) when we’re allowed to and start playing with my teammates. We’re excited for next season.”

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