News and Notes:
Criddle: “The University of Houston just sold the naming rights of their stadium for $2 million. Is this something that BYU should venture into?”
Criddle: “I would monetize everything: the IPF, the practice field…”
Jensen: “..The North Endzone, the South Endzone, the East and West Sideline.”
How We See It:
Criddle: “If you had to guess without looking at the metrics, what would you guess is the most talked about topic regarding BYU?”
Jensen: “I would have to say it was Big 12, P5 inclusion. But I was wrong, this story was 5X bigger than anything else.”
Jensen: “It was a story about a phenomenal recruit Motekiai Langi, this transcended the country and there was stuff from all over the world.”
Jensen: “It’s extremely important for these teams to get this viral marketing, season tickets sales go up.”
Criddle: “There’s a recruit out of West Lake whose Dad played at BYU and he hasn’t gotten any love from BYU and is kind of upset.”
Criddle: “Stanford offered like 120 kids last year and had 23 commit.”
4:30 Segment:
Criddle: “BYU needs more cash, you can do more when you have money.”
Jensen: “Right, you can hire more tutors, coaches, you have more resources all around.”
Criddle: “So how do they go about it? Houston just sold the naming rights of their stadium to a Credit Union, Utah State did the same thing by selling the rights to Maverik.”
Jensen: “Call me selfish, but the student-athlete should be put first. You need to find a way to help them.”
Criddle: “Would adding a corporate name on LES go against TSH or would it be a business decision to help the student-athlete?”
Cougar Insider Report:
Criddle: “We have a little good news/bad news regarding BYU recruiting.”
Criddle: “Simi Fehoko, 6’4″ WR who runs like a deer has put BYU in his top 5 schools.”
Jensen: “I’d love to see him in a BYU uniform. It’s interesting to see that now that Harbaugh’s back in college he’s poaching in Utah.”
Criddle: “Duke is in the hunt for Frank Jackson.”
Criddle: “Coach K had an opportunity to watch him play a week and a half ago and obviously he was impressed.”
Jensen: “If there’s one team that can compete with a Duke it’s BYU because of what it stands for.”
Jay Drew Interview:
Criddle: “What were your thoughts about these two kids transferring for the program and how did you hear about it?”
Drew: “I got a tip from a source close to the program that I had seen to be reliable in the past.”
Drew: “I kind of guessed that Frank Bartley might be transferring because he wanted more playing time but I was surprised by Isaac Neilson.”
Drew: “The coaches always talked that Frank was working hard, practicing his shot, ball handling, he wanted to get better.”
Drew: “While there weren’t outward signs that Carlino was disruptive in the locker room it turned out that he was after he left.”
Drew: “I’ve heard that Frank may go to UVU. He and Mark Pope are really close and he could blossom as a player there.”
Drew: “He’s not quite the handler to be a point but doesn’t have the shot to play the wing.”
Drew: “I asked Coach Rose before the signing period ended and he said that they weren’t looking at anybody else joining the team.”
Drew: “One player that has floated out there is Alan Hamson. He could be a Shawn Bradley player.”
Criddle: “Do you think that BYU would take a sponsor to take some money?”
Drew: “When the Marriott Center was originally named because of money from the Marriott family. So it’s possible that they could sell naming rights.”
Drew: “I think it’ll be the norm for schools to rename stadiums because of the cost of attendance discussion that is coming up.”
Drew: “Bronco told me last week that 25/125 FBS schools run in the black so there are ways to get more revenue coming in.”
Jensen: “You met with Bronco last week so what I’m wondering is what was hard to put down on pen and paper that you took away from that meeting?”
Drew: “A lot of us wrote about how long Bronco would be there.”
Drew: “Bronco asked me a question and I think that he was trying to tell us that he understands the media more than we think that he does.”
Drew: “Bronco asked me how my job is different now than it was when I first started.”
Drew: “We try to do good journalism but it’s getting harder and harder because of how instantaneous everything is now-a-days.”
5:30 Segment:
Criddle: “What was it like to be training 24/7 for the NFL Draft?”
Jensen: “It’s stressful because you know in about a month you will be going to the combine or playing a game.”
Jensen: “They put you in a nice place and all you do is work out and watch film. Everything is taken care of for you.”
Jensen: “I trained with Curtis Brown and a few other guys who are still in the NFL whose names I can’t remember right now.”
Criddle: “Back in the day people were taking Bee Pollen cause they thought it would give you some sort of competitive advantage.”
Criddle: “Utah County is the king of herbs, spices, and oils. You rub a little peppermint oil on your elbow and you absorb more nutrients.”
Criddle: “What supplements did you take to help you prepare for the draft?
Jensen: “Our meal plan was pretty structured, outside of a protein shake we didn’t do much else.”
Amy Donaldson Interview:
Donaldson: “There were a couple moments that he was a little slow.”
Donaldson: “I saw the raw footage of his routine and he definitely cleaned it up.”
Donaldson: “I sat at a table with some legislators and Frank Jackson who was up for Male Prep Athlete of the Year.”
Donaldson: “This is a popularity contest, the first year BYU swept all the awards. I think it was the year that Jimmer was a senior.”
Donaldson: “I keep track of kids who had great performances. I contribute High School and Olympic/Winter Sports.”
Donaldson: “We do between 4 and 8. We had a hard time narrowing down the Male Collegiate Athlete and Male Olympian/Professional Athlete.”
Donaldson: “We sit and watch highlight reels all day to see who wins.”
Donaldson: “Watching the Taysom highlight live was incredible. It was one of those moments where you yell in the press box.”
Donaldson: “I was bummed that the Women’s Volleyball team didn’t win the award, they had an amazing season.”
Criddle: “Isaac Neilson, according to Jay Drew was pushed out of BYU. Told that he should play elsewhere. Do you think that’s fair?”
Criddle: “One of the first schools to offer four-year scholarships is Northwestern. Where you and I signed a year-to-year contract.”
Jensen: “I think it’s fair. There are a lot of kids who get their scholarship and just cruised after that, didn’t show up to workouts and stuff like that.”
Criddle: “Neilson mentioned that Coach Rose didn’t like his playing style which was a stretch four who liked to shoot 3’s.”
Jensen: “Coach Rose isn’t going to get rid of a great player who he thinks has a lot of potential. You have to trust the decision.”
Jensen: “I think it hurts the team because guys will be getting their 4-year scholarship and quit working hard.”
Jensen: “It really hurts the walk-on program. That’s one of my favorite things about College Football is those walk-ons who show up and work their tail off.”
Jensen: “As a teammate, I don’t want a player who comes on to do the bare minimum. I want a player who will work hard.”
Brent Norton Interview:
Norton: “Shaver hit 27 homeruns in his high school career. He’s got a ton of bat speed and power.”
Norton: “7 of Shaver’s 8 homeruns have come against Utah and UVU. He has so much raw power, he hit a ball across Campus Dr last night.”
Norton: “San Francisco is 14-4 in the conference. Picked to finished 8th and started 0-10 but has won 22/27 games since then.”
Norton: “Kolton Mahoney is the #1 guy, he’s been a little up and down but is fantastic when he’s on.”
Norton: “Brandon Kinser was the #2 guy, he threw an inning last night and threw 91-92.”
Norton: “Michael Rucker probably has the most dynamic arm in the conference, he’s touched up to 97 mph.”
Norton: “There’s a good mix of guys who contribute. Hayden Nielsen is a JR, Eric Urry and Dillon Robinson are both SRs.”
Norton: “Kyle Dean is a program changer. Signing a kid like that, along with the other 10 they did will make a difference.”
Norton: “I think that Kyle wants the BYU experience, I don’t know him very well but he wants to improve the quality of himself and the quality of his game.”
Norton: “Kyle’s Dad is a graduate of BYU so they know the experience, I don’t think he was too pressured and it was his decision.”
Jensen: “What a great thing for BYU to bring in a non-LDS player who wants to take a part of that experience.”
Random Thoughts:
Criddle: “Matthew Edwards, the grandson of Lavell Edwards said that
Criddle: “Once upon the time the american dream was to come here with nothing, work your way up, get an education, have a family. Now it’s spending as much as you can and getting into debt up to your eyeballs.”
Jensen: “I’m interested to see how the landscape of College Football will change. Bronco says that they have to win their way into a P5 conference in 3 years. It would great to see some good competition come here.”
