Filling the basketball team holes

With the departure of Trent Plaisted, Sam Burgess, Ben Murdock, Nick Martineau and Chris Collinsworth from last season’s BYU men’s basketball team the million-dollar question right now is which players are going to step in and take over those minutes. Right now only Jonathan Tavernari and Lee Cummard are for-sures in the starting lineup. I think Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery are the frontrunners to get most of the minutes at the guard-line spots because of what they’ve already shown with past experience, and Chris Miles should get the most minutes in the post. But there are several others who have high hopes to get their chance. Five freshmen – Charles Abouo, Noah Hartstock, James Anderson, Matt Pinegar and Michael Boswell – wouldn’t be on the team unless they’re very capable of contributing. A few others – Lamont Morgan, Archie Rose, Gavin McGregor and Michael Lloyd – might not have a ton of on-the-court minutes with the Cougars but they’re familiar enough with the program that they also certainly have something to contribute.
So as practice begins in full stride this week, who are the players that you expect to emerge ahead of the pack in the competition for playing time? I know we’ll probably get a taste of what coach Dave Rose thinks at next week’s Cougar Tipoff, but I think we’ll also get a hint by what starts to happen during the practice scrimmage time. I’ll keep you posted, but I’d also love to hear your thoughts.