CougarCorner

Jay Drew updated his blog after the awards banquet: http://www.sltrib.com/blogs/byusports/5 ... fullpage=1

He revealed some potential roster moves--though they are not official yet:
- Jamal Aytes has 1 year of eligibility left but is graduating in June--the first in his family to earn a college degree--and may not return for next season. He spoke after receiving the Coaches Award and sounded like a farewell speech.
- Davin Guinn has 1 year of eligibility left but is graduating in June and is planning on a joint JD/MBA program. Speculation is he will not return to focus on academics.
- Corbin Kaufusi was already said to be quitting basketball to focus on football, but is reportedly going to meet with Coach Rose today to make a final decision on his future.
- Eric Mika (as we know) declared for the NBA draft but hasn't hired an agent. The withdrawal deadline is May 24 so we should know his status by then.

Other already known roster updates include:
- Zac Seljaas is home early from his mission for medical reasons and will rehab his shoulder injury through the summer. Is expected to rejoin the team this fall.
- LJ Rose and Kyle Davis have exhausted their eligibility.

As a side note, if Guinn and Aytes both leave the program, there would be no seniors on the team for 2017-18 (unless we get a graduate transfer or something).

If Davin Guinn is going to law school, it's going to raise hell if they accommodate him and allow him to be on the hoops team after refusing to do that for Jordan Chatman last season.

I should correct my original post--he is planning on a joint MBA/JD which is why speculation is he won't be with the team.

Seems 99% certain that Mika is gone.

We have a lot of people coming off of missions, so we'll need those schollies. My guess is that there have already been some sort of talks behind the curtains. Next year's roster is shaping up nicely (a little light on guards, but Seljaas will help balance that out if he is able to play large minutes).

Mars wrote:Seems 99% certain that Mika is gone.

Source? I know when he was on BYU SN the other week he sounded all-in on going to the NBA or even abroad, but that could be all talk. Has he hired an agent? Until he does that there's a decent chance that he comes back.

Mika has to say he's all in when he talks to the media about putting his name in the draft. If he didn't, no NBA team would even give him a second glance.

How gone Mika is I have no idea. But I haven't seen any draft projection that has him get drafted. Part of the problem is with so many early entries its hard to know who is in and who isn't. But if you aren't sniffing anywhere near the 1st round, do you go anyway?
The invitation-only NBA Draft Combine will be held in Chicago from May 9 to 14. The withdrawl deadline is May 24. So he really doesn't need to decide until then. Some guys are gone for sure because their early projections are high so they are hiring agents to help raise their stock as high as possible. Bubble guys will wait. I don't expect his status to change until May.

byufan4ever wrote:

Mars wrote:Seems 99% certain that Mika is gone.

Source? I know when he was on BYU SN the other week he sounded all-in on going to the NBA or even abroad, but that could be all talk. Has he hired an agent? Until he does that there's a decent chance that he comes back.

According to Twitter Mika only wants to be drafted, 1st or 2nd round, and multiple NBA teams assured him he would be taken if still available in the 2nd round.

I just went back and checked and 18 of 30 2nd round picks did stick with their team's roster for the entire NBA season. That's a little higher than I thought it would be. And half of those who didn't were international players. So only 6 2nd round picks from US colleges in 2016 did not make their team. We'll have to watch the projections and see if Mika moves into that 2nd round.