Y. gets commitment from center
Isaac Nielson, a 6-foot-10 center from Mission Viejo High School, gave BYU basketball coach Dave Rose a verbal commitment last weekend to officially sign with the Cougars in November. Nielson, an athletic center with solid basketball skills who runs the court well, averaged about nine points, nine rebounds and five blocks for Mission Viejo High School last season, where he earned first-team All Southwest League honors as a junior. He’s an LDS kid who has targeted playing for BYU for several years, but also had offers from UC-Santa Barbara, UC-Irvine, Utah State and Army. He’s expected to go on a church mission in December of 2010 and probably won’t suit up for the Cougars until the 2014-15 season.
Two things that really stood out to me when I talked with Nielson’s high school coach, Troy Roelen, were Roelen’s belief that Nielson will be very good if he doesn’t regress in basketball skills during his two-year mission, and Roelen’s statement that Nielson is much farther along that Utah center David Foster was at the same time in his career. Roelen said Nielson has the potential to be every bit as good, if not better, than Foster. Again, how Nielson responds to the time away from the game while serving a mission will be the key.
I’m working on a story that will post online later today. Meanwhile, here’s a highlight clip on Nielson.