A SoCal big commit... Isaac Nielson 6'10", 17 yrs old

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=498&sid=12546813" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



6'10 - averaged a double double in AAU this summer; his coach says he's well ahead athletically and basketball wise of David Foster of the U; who is a shot blocking machine (and very little else) but he is a game changer and a nice one to have.



(really big men 6'10" + are really hard to project as 16-17 yrs olds to the college level because they're usually still growing and 99% of the time take a lot of time to figure out how to use those gigantic bodies; but if you've seen any of his video, it's obvious that he's fundamentally sound.)



He's not 18 yet, so will sit out a year, go on a mission and likely come back, redshirt then play 4 straight. Chances are he's 7' by the time we have him.



2011 graduate - 11-12 greyshirt, etc. 12-14 2 year mission, 14-15 redshirt, 15-19 shot blocking machine for the Y. He'll have plenty of time to mature into that body. (it's actually one of those times a mission is actually great for us)



Definately a solid pickup to help bridge the big man gap between the 2 7 footers we have on missions right now.

Interestingly, Utah big man David Foster played at El Toro High School in the same league as Mission Viejo. MVHS head coach Troy Roelen watched Foster play, and told me that the Ute center was "nowhere near as coordinated, agile or versatile" as a prepster, compared to Neilson.



Roelen says Neilson is "well ahead of Foster in talent and ability" at their same stage in high school. The coach says Neilson has a jump shot to go with his post game, and "can beat other big men down the floor."



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Neilson will turn 18 in December, and plans to go on an LDS mission before enrolling at BYU, so he would be projected to join the Cougars in the Fall of 2014.



Neilson's father (who stands 6'7") and mother both attended BYU. Jim Neilson says many schools' interest in Isaac waned once they found out BYU was in the mix.

Very cool. Only hard part is having to wait 4 years to see him play. Still, glad we got him.

Help refresh my memory, what two 7 footers do we have on missions now?

EM_Puma wrote:
Help refresh my memory, what two 7 footers do we have on missions now?

We have Orems Ian Harward and Lone Peaks Nate Austin on missions. Both were pushing 6'11" as of MTC entrance time. Both will be back for next season. Just like Isaac Nielson, they are fleet of foot and can get up and down the court to suit Dave Rose up tempo system.



This is why BYU coaches and many coaches in the conference that Nielson plays, believe that he has a bigger upside than David Foster of the U; who cannot get up and down the court. Nielson wont' turn 18 until December and already has a 7'3" wingspan and gets almost 4 years to grow into his body before ever lacing it up for the Cougs. Like I said, it's a great pickup to bridge the gap from Davies/Anderson - Davies/Harward/Austin - Harward/Austin - Nielson.



It's also great to tell future recruits like Jabari Parker, Nick Emery, Roscoe Allen, Viko Noma'aea, Jordan Chatman, TJ Haws, and Jacob Hartsock that we have their future center already on his mission.(Harrison and Kingma will be gone before Nielson is the guy at center- I'm not sure what BYU plans with big man and potential recruit Jordan Smoot)





The Noma'aea family might produce a couple future Cougs,

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jan/08/introducing-basketball-player-youre-sure-hear-more/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Jabari Parker would be the highest profile recruit for BYU since Shawn Bradley (and would put BYU in a top 10 recruiting class with the likes of Nick Emery joining too)

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player?id=100708&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmens-college-basketball%2frecruiting%2fplayer%3fid%3d100708" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for the update! Exciting times ahead for BYU.

Thanks Craig. Great stuff!!!

With my football energies fully ensconced in "hope for the best, expect the worst, and be surprised with the outcome", its great to think and FEEL a little Bball!!

I decided after the AFA game that I need to find a way to get the Mtn in order to watch Fredette's last season. Turns out skipping out on paying for it during the football season was a wise decision. Now the only question is Slingbox? Crawl back to DirecTV? Any other options?

mizzoucoug wrote:
I decided after the AFA game that I need to find a way to get the Mtn in order to watch Fredette's last season. Turns out skipping out on paying for it during the football season was a wise decision. Now the only question is Slingbox? Crawl back to DirecTV? Any other options?

Where do you live?



DirectTV right now is running a promotion where you get the first 5 months free. Versus is back on DirectTV too, so looks like DirectTV may be your best bet, unless you live in an area where there's Comcast and Comcast actually plays the BYU games on the Mtn. in you area. For example, I live in the Bay Area. With basic Comcast cable a subscriber gets the Mtn.; however, it's not guaranteed that Comcast will broadcast MWC games on the Mtn. in the Bay Area. They usually opt for Pac 10 volleyball games or something.