3 conference tournaments that changed BYU forever
· Yahoo Sports
Tournament time! There is nothing quite like it — and the essence of these moments remain unchanged, whether it’s Tuesday when BYU faces Kansas State, or years before any of these current Cougars were born.
“Obviously there is anxiety but there is also something in the gut that just tells you this is one of the coolest things that I am ever going to do,” former BYU head coach Steve Cleveland (1997-2005) told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show Monday night. “You have done all your prep. You have watched all your film. Once the ball goes up and you start competing and the fans are involved, you just kind of relish those moments.”
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The Cougars’ postseason journey starts against the Wildcats (5 p.m. MDT, ESPN+) in the first round of the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City. Playing on the first day as the 10th seed is not where BYU thought it would be when Kevin Young and his staff put the roster together last summer.
Feeling better after beating No. 10 Texas Tech and regardless of season-shaping injuries and disappointing defeats, BYU’s (21-10) challenge this time of year is no different from anyone else — win and advance or lose and go home.
Exceeding expectations
To some, conference basketball tournaments are nothing more than a money grab and a waste of time with the NCAA Tournament starting the next week. An argument can be made for both, but three decades ago, when the BYU program was rising from rock bottom, it was a trio of conference tournaments that changed the program’s trajectory.
Expectations were low when Cleveland took over a program that had just gone 1-25 in 1996-97, but here they were, 12 months later, a road sweep away against New Mexico and UTEP to qualify for the WAC tournament.
A packed house at The Pit stood stunned as the Cougars, sporting black uniforms for the first time, blistered the nets and bedazzled the Lobos 83-62.
“The stress was there,” Cleveland said. “But as coaches and players, we realized we had done something really special.”
The next day, during practice in El Paso, Texas, legendary UTEP head coach Don Haskins walked into BYU’s workout and said to Cleveland, “If you have a minute, come on up to my office. I want to talk to you.”
Haskins held hero-like status for Cleveland and every other young coach trying to learn on the job.
“I went up there and he shared a couple of things that were really meaningful,” said Cleveland. “He said, ‘What you have just done is incredible, but you are going to need to get better players. I love your enthusiasm and I love what you are doing.’”
Haskins then offered a tutorial for Cleveland on recruiting, scheduling and other necessary aspects to facilitate a major rebuild. The following night, BYU upset the Miners 76-75 in triple overtime to clinch the final spot in the conference tournament.
“To beat them, it just kind of laid the foundation for our players and our coaches that we have a chance to turn this and make this thing become a reality,” Cleveland said.
Beating Utah
Following Haskins’ advice, Cleveland marched into the inaugural Mountain West Conference tournament in 2000 with better players, but BYU still had a Goliath to conquer.
Rival Utah had beaten the Cougars in 12 straight games, and no one expected the semifinal showdown in Las Vegas to be any different. However, Eric Nielsen’s career-high 17 points helped BYU pull away from a 42-42 tie to win 58-54.
“Reflecting back on that and how big that win was to beat Utah, you had to be there, and I’m not sure even the community understood it,” Cleveland said. “But we as a coaching staff and players realized we just took a huge step in this rebuild — solidifying yourself as a real program and a team that can compete with the best teams in the country.”
Hitting a jackpot
The following year, BYU returned to the conference tournament and beat Air Force 69-54, Wyoming 77-66 and New Mexico 69-65 to claim the championship. Cutting down the nets at the Thomas & Mack Center put the Cougars back into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995.
“I could see it as a coach. I could see it when Dave took over the program. There was just a next step,” Cleveland said. “I remember Dave and I having a conversation one time when I was at Fresno and he was (at BYU). He said, ‘Cleve, what we did has changed everything. It’s just different now. It’s just different.’ And it is.”
The Cougars who will take the floor Tuesday night against Kansas State are a lifetime removed from Cleveland’s turnaround, but they are the benefactors.
“I’m not sure if any of these players have any idea, they may know who coach Rose and Cleveland are, but they have no idea what happened to lay a foundation that this program could be what it is today,” Cleveland said. “It was special players, special coaches, managers, I mean, everybody was involved.
“I’ll never forget that. It’s something I’m really proud of. I’m not a prideful person, but I was so proud of that staff and the players and how we turned this into what it has become today.”
Say what you want about the necessity for conference tournaments, but BYU needed three of them to bring its program back to life. The 2001 title remains the Cougars’ last championship and it gives this new generation of players their own milestone to shoot for.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.