Tavernari begins testing the waters

The BYU men’s basketball team held its annual team banquet Wednesday night. Coach Dave Rose thanked everyone on his staff who contributed to the Cougars’ successful season and presented flowers to the coaches’ wives and the wives of the five married players – Matt Pinegar, Lee Cummard, James Anderson, Chris Miles and Jackson Emery. The three outgoing seniors were presented framed jerseys and the team captains were honored.
After the banquet concluded I asked Jonathan Tavernari what his schedule was like the next few months. He’s going to decide sometime this weekend or next week wether to put his name in the NBA draft, without representation by an agent. He and Rose are discussing Tavernari’s options almost daily, and JT admitted that if he did put his name in the draft it would be kind of a “testing the waters” move with a hope to get invited to some NBA team pre-draft workouts. He recognizes that his best chance for a professional career will likely begin in Europe.
In June he’ll head to Brazil and spend the summer practicing and traveling the world with the Brazilian National team. Right now he’s planning to return to Provo in September to resume school at BYU, unless the right professional opportunity comes along to change his mind.
Tavernari is also engaged to Kiri Redford, but didn’t answer me when I asked if a wedding date had been set. Obviously, it’s going to be a busy offseason for JT and he has some tough decisions ahead.
Lee Cummard also had some departing words, saying he hoped people remember him more for playing for the name on the front of his jersey (Brigham Young University) than the name of the back (Cummard).

As for the awards:
Academic Excellence – Michael Boswell (4.0 GPA)
Coaches Award – Charles Abouo
Most Inspirational – Jackson Emery
Most Improved – Jimmer Fredette
Sixth Man – Lamont Morgan Jr.
Competitive Spirit – Jonathan Tavernari
Best Conditioned Perimeter Player – Lamont Morgan Jr.
Best Conditioned Post Player – Chris Miles
Outstanding Player – Lee Cummard