Shaka Smart and VCU Shock Kansas And The Rest Of America

VCU is trying to become the first 11th seed ever to reach the title game.

This year, the NCAA expanded it's playing field from 64 teams to 68 teams. For VCU, this was a great move by the NCAA, because now they will face off Butler next week in the Final Four.

VCU, a 11th seed in the tournament this year, was one of the eight teams who played in the "First Four" round of the tournament; now they will be playing in the "Final Four". The Rams will also be the first team that had to win five games in order to make it to the final four.

The VCU Rams finished the regular season with a 23-11 record, did not win their conference, and only defeated one top 25 team all season, yet they reached the tournament. VCU got a lot of heat for being placed in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, but now nobody should be complaining.

So far on their road to the final four, the Rams have beaten the USC Trojans, Georgetown Hoyas, Purdue Boilermakers, Florida State Seminoles, and most recently, the Kansas Jayhawks, who were the number one seed in the region. Also, only one game out of these five have been decided by less then ten points and that was against Florida State, the worst ranked team they played. The Rams defeated the Trojans by 13, the Hoyas by 18, the Boilermakers by 18 and the Jayhawks by ten.

Like their next opponent Butler, VCU is coached by one of the youngest coaches in the country, and the youngest in the tournament, Shaka Smart. Before becoming the head coach at VCU, Smart was an assistant coach under Oliver Purnell at Clemson and Billy Donovan at Florida. Shaka Smart is 33 years old, while Butler's coach Brad Stevens is 34, but only six months older then Smart.

Yesterday, Stevens became the youngest coach to make it to two final fours.

The VCU Rams are led by a "big three" which is made up of Seniors Jamie Skeen and Joey Rodriguez, and Junior, Bradford Burgess. Skeen averages 15 points and seven rebounds, while Burgess averages 14 points and six rebounds. Rodriguez, the point guard averages ten points and five assists.

In the regular season, some of VCU's biggest wins came against #25 George Mason, Hosftra, UCLA, Wake Forest, Old Dominion, and a double OT thriller vs Delaware. They also played #24 Tennessee, but lost by five.

Shaka Smart is known for his unique coaching strategies which has helped him win big games this year. On defense he is known for coaching a "havoc" defense which often uses a full court press to put the other team in "havoc" or chaos. On offense, he prefers a slow paced, efficient offense which uses up a lot of the clock.

Since the tournament created it's 16 seed format, VCU is just the third 11th seed to make it to the final four, the other most recent being George Mason back in 2007.

VCU vs Butler is a great final four matchup and should come down to the wire. Both teams are coached by two of the youngest coaches in the NCAA in Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens. Also both teams are lead by trios. VCU has Burgess, Rodriguez, and Skeen, while Butler is lead by Howard, Mack, and Vanzant.

The winner of this final four matchup will play the winner of Kentucky and UCONN in San Antonio, Texas

Henrik Lundqvist Gets League Leading 11th Shutout of Season

Henrik Lundqvist has been great all year in goal for the Rangers.

Along with the rest of the New York Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist has been playing great hockey lately, and is helping the Rangers not only make the playoffs, but is helping them move up in the standings too.

Like most seasons with the Rangers, they got off to a great start this season. "Henk" was playing great between the pipes and the Rangers were one of the top teams in the whole league. The Rangers then hit a cold spot where many offensive players were injured including Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal. Lundqvist too hit a cold patch for a little bit, which led to back up Martin Biron getting more starts.

Biron got injured in late February and Henk hasn't looked back since. The all-star goalie has started the last 20 games for the Rangers, and is 8-1-1 in his last ten games. The Rangers fell out of the playoffs in February but are now tied for seventh with the slumping Montreal Canadiens.

Lundqvist last night, extended his lead for shutouts when he recorded his 11th of the season. The Rangers beat the Bruins 1-0 in Boston yesterday thanks to some great saves by Lundqvist and a early first period goal by rookie, Derek Stepan. In the last ten games, Henrik has three shutouts, and also has only given up one goal in two other games.

The Rangers have been playing some great hockey, and most of the team is back from injury.

This season, the offense has been lead by Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubkinsky, two young american skaters who have picked it up when Gaborik was injured. Respectively they have 47 and 51 points, with Callahan leading the team in goals and Dubinsky leading the team in assists. "Duby" and "Cally", as Ranger fans call them have sparked the Rangers offense this season with others like Brian Boyle, Wojtek Wolski, and of course Marian Gaborik also contributing.

Lundqvist was quoted saying " I am happy with the way (The) guys are playing right now. As I said the other day, it is exciting. I check the standings-everything in my life is about getting ready for the next game". With that attitude, it looks like no one will be stopping the Rangers or Lundqvist soon.

The Rangers finish off the season with games against the Sabres, Islanders, and Flyers this week, and then play the Bruins, Thrashers, and Devils to end the season in early April. As of now, the Rangers are projected as the seventh seed in the playoffs and would play the Washington Capitals. The Rangers are 3-1 vs the Capitals this year including 7-0 and 6-0 victories. Still, with at least five games left to play, the Rangers can still move up of standings more.

Knicks Starting To Look Like The Old Knicks Of The Past Decade

Has the Carmelo Anthony deal hurt or helped the Knicks so far?

The New York Knicks started off the season very hot. They brought in some great talent in Amar'e Stoudemire and Raymond Felton. They also brought over Timofey Mosgov from Europe, and matured young stars, Wilson Chandler, Tony Douglas, and Danilo Gallinari. The Knicks also signed a steal of the draft, Landry Fields and yes, they brought in the energizer bunny, Rony Turiaf.

Coming into all-star weekend, the Knicks were 6th in the East and a few games over .500%. They were making ground on the Hawks, and with the Heat and Celtics slumping, everyone thought the Knicks could be serious title contenders.

Then the Knicks pulled off the trade of the decade for them. They brought in Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, and a few other scrubs, but in return had to give up Timofey Mozgov, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Anthony Randolph, Eddy Curry, and multiple draft picks.

Many thought the Knicks gave up too much for 'Melo but fans were still too eager to see 'Melo and "Stat" play alongside each other. In Carmelo Anthony's first game, the Knicks defeated the Bucks at the garden and the fans went nuts.

Now a month later, Knicks fans aren't so confident this trade was worth it.

The Knicks all season long have been a streaky team. They win five in a row and then lose the next five.
The Knicks are currently in their worst slump of the season, losing the last six in a row, and nine out of ten total. Out of these last nine losses, six have had losing records, so it's not like the Knicks had a tough schedule.

Also, Carmelo and Amar'e have both been off since the beginning of this trade. Both have been taking around 20-25 shots a game, but only an average of about eight go in. Billups was playing good basketball, until he got hurt, and now he is still looking to regain his mojo. The problem with Carmelo and Amar'e is that both don't want to be selfish (despite shooting 25 shots per game), and are taking awkward shots when they have the ball. They will also pass up on good opportunities to score.

Also the Knicks have the worst defense in the NBA. Coach Mike D'Antoni runs a great fast paced offense, but probably hasn't said the word "defense" this whole season to his team. Sure, the Knicks average 106 points per game, the second most in the league, but they also give up around 106 points per game which is the third worst in the NBA.

Another problem killing the Knicks is the depth of the roster. After giving up six solid players for Carmelo and Chauncey,  the Knicks have been forced to use a seven man rotation, after using a ten man roation. The starters are playing too many minutes and are tired at the end of the game, which makes it harder for the Knicks to make a late run, or hold onto a lead.

The Knics now find themselves, at 35-38, and have dropped to seventh place in the East. The good news is that the Knicks schedule lightens up. They do face the Magic at MSG in their next game, but after that face the Nets, Cavs, Raptors, Sixers, Nets again, and then the Pacers. The Knicks finish out the season with games against the Bulls and Celtics, which will be tests to see how far the Knicks can go in the playoffs.

Butler Does It Again

Shelvin Mack had 30 points, and helped lead Butler to another upset over #1 Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, the number one seed in the Southeast region of the tournament had a great chance to escape a nightmare, when Gilbert Brown, one of the better shooters on the team, was summoned to the line to shoot two free throws with only two second left.

The first one was good. Shelvin Mack was on the verge of tears, pulling the Bulldogs to another Cinderella upset, and having 30 of the teams 71 points, Mack has a terrible foul on Brown with 2.1 seconds left. Mack was having one of his best games of his career, shooting 7/12 from beyond the arc and 10-16 overall.

The second one bounced off the rim and was grabbed by Matt Howard, Butler's best big man and helped lead them to the finals last year. Howard also had a great game including 16 points, one very clutch three pointer, and an even clutch-er free throw. Howard also played great on the other end of the hoop with a few charges taken and key stops. As Howard grabbed the rebound he threw the ball up, just trying to run the clock out and go to overtime. That's when Nasir Robinson, Pittsburgh big man, slapped Howard on the rebound causing a foul, and two decisive free throws with barely any time left.

Howard now had two free throws, only one being needed to pull off yet another upset. The first one was good, and everyone on Butler felt relived. Howard threw the second shot off the rim, the time expired and tears were running down every player on Pittsburgh's face.

Many at first blamed Gilbert Brown, if only he had made that second free throw the game would be over. It was definitly not Brown's fault. When the Panthers star player Ashton Gibbs was limited to only 11 points, it was Brown who stepped up and scored 24 points.

Then the finger pointed to Nasir Robinson. Why would he foul? It is not Robinson's fault either. Robinson was the key big man down low for Pitt, who was the team's second leading scorer. Robinson was just looking to be the hero and get the tap back to win the game for the Panthers. So whose fault is it? I hate to say it but this one is coach Jamie Dixon's fault. Why wouldn't Dixon just tell his men to back off the line for the second shot. Nobody knows and in the end Butler comes away victorious.

Butler was not on many peoples brackets to win this game, and even the game before against Old Dominion. You must realize, Butler is the same team last year without Gordon Hayward. They still have Shawn Vanzant, Matt Howard, Shelvin Mack, and a great coach in Brad Stevens, this time he just has glasses. Also, many forgot that last year, throughout the season Hayward wasn't even the team's best player. He simply just stepped up in the tournament, when everyone watched and when Matt Howard was in foul trouble, the team looked for Hayward to make the shots. This year Shelvin Mack is last years Gordon Hayward.

Shelvin Mack helped lead Butler again to the tournament this year, averaging 16 points, four assists, and four rebounds per game. Going into the big dance, Butler was riding one of the longest winning streaks in the nation at nine games. Now it has reached 11.

So back in the locker room, Brad Stevens did his traditional chest bump after a big win, and the team chanted their winning chant. Now the Bulldogs face off Wisconsin, who have knocked off Belmont and Kansas State so far.

This matchup, Wisconsin vs Butler will be a great one to watch. Both teams play very efficient  basketball and are lead by great guards in Shelvin Mack and Jordan Taylor. Both teams also shoot the three ball very well, and have good assist to turnover ratios. The two will face off in New Orleans later in the week, and should be a good one. Can Wisconsin continue their streak lead by Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer, or will Butler slip on the glass slipper, and possibly make another run deep in the NCAA Tournament?

March Madness Has Arrived!

Can Harrison Barnes lead North Carolina to their first final four since winning it all?

Every year around the middle of March, sports fan start to get symptoms of a very contagious fever. This fever is not the Bieber Fever thank god, but is March Madness Fever! This is the time America comes together and watches who will boom and bust in the tournament. March Madness is defined by #12 seeds upsetting #5 seeds, experienced teams cutting nets, and top notch coaches proving why they are the best. In this upcoming column, i will express my opinion on the top one seeds,  top three Cinderella's, key players, key injuries, best coaches, and a sneak peak at my bracket (that is not finalized)!

Let's get this started with the one seeds.

Ohio State: The Buckeyes come into the tournament as the overall top seed in this years tournament. The Buckeyes just beat Penn State in the finals of the Big Ten tournament this past weekend. The Buckeyes are led by Freshman sensation Jared Sullinger who is a freshman, but also have experienced guards in William Buford, David Lighty, and Jon "Threebler" Diebler. Also the Buckeyes have a beast on the blocks in Dallas Lauderdale to play alongside Sully. Ohio State is also coached by one of the best in Thad Matta who led Ohio State to the finals just a few years ago. The Buckeyes are many of America's locks to win their section of the bracket and I think they can definitely do it. The only thing holding back the Buckeyes is the schedule they face, and this is why they are not my pick to win it all. Ohio State is set to play Villanova/George Mason, if they win the first round. After that they are projected to play a very good and young Kentucky team, or a very experienced Big East team in West Virginia. If Ohio State dodges that they will then play North Carolina or Syracuse, who both are great teams not only in their conferences but in the whole nation. Also If all the one seeds were to make it to the final four, Ohio State would have to face off against a very very good team in the Duke Blue Devils.

Pittsburgh: The Panthers won the Big East regular season title this year but slipped in the Big East Tournament when they lost to UCONN. Still the Panthers obviously impressed the committee enough to get a one seed in one of the most unpredictable regions in years. The Panthers are a good team led by junior Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanabaker. The Panthers also have Gary McGhee down-low to grab rebounds. To complement the pretty solid rotation, Pittsburgh also has a great coach in Jamie Dixon. One negative i see in Pittsburgh is there lack of schedule. Don't jump to soon, because i know they play in the Big East, but yet they only played five ranked teams in conference during the regular season. Also they were not very good on the road this season, which is very important in the tournament. Now the key reason why Pittsburgh will not advance to the final four is their region. This region of the tournament includes teams like Florida, BYU, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Michigan State, UCLA, St. Johns, Gonzaga, and last year's runner up, Butler. Right there i just named nine other teams, ten including Pittsburgh, who can win this bracket (there are 16 teams total)!

Kansas: The Jayhawks had a very quiet 32-2 season that included a regular season and postseason Big 12 titles. Also the Jayhawks played part of their schedule without Josh Selby, a spectacular freshman guard who was forced to sit out do to infractions. Kansas' only two losses came from an emotional loss at Kansas State, and halfway through the season at home against Texas. Kansas' only weak point was their strength of schedule in a relatively weak Big 12 this year. They only played six ranked teams this whole season, one out of conference, and one in the conference tournament. Nonetheless The Jayhawks are led not only by Josh Selby, but by twin brothers Marcus and Markieff who dominate the low post. Marcus averages close to 17 points and seven rebounds per game while his twin averages close to 14 points and eight rebounds per game. Thomas Robinson and Tyrel Reed also contribute a lot to the team. Like the other top seeds, Kansas has a great coach in Bill Self, who led Kansas to a title three years ago against Memphis. I have Kansas representing the Southwest and Southeast side of the bracket in the finals because not only can they rebound, but they run a nice offense, and have a great coach to lead them through a panic.

Duke: I hate to say it, but Duke is my frontrunner to win the title again this year. The Blue Devils are just way too good. Duke goes eight men deep, each of them being able to start on most teams in the NCAA. These eight are Nolan Smith, Seth Curry, Mason Plumlee, Miles Plumlee, Ryan Kelly, Andre Dawkins, Kyle Singler, and yes he might be back by the first round, diaper dandy Kyrie Irving! Potentially, Duke is the same team they were last year but replace Scheyer with Seth Curry, and replace Zoubek with older and more matured Plumlee brothers. The key factor to Duke's success this season was not even Kyrie Irving, during the few games in he played this season. the key is Nolan Smith, who has become an elite college point guard after a few alright years at Duke. This year he has propelled himself to averaging 21 points five assists and four rebounds per game. Duke also has one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time, Coach K, calling plays for them. Duke not only has a crazy good offense but have the defense to match it. Their only losses come this season are away at North Carolina, who they got double revenge on, Virginia Tech, and Florida State. Still, Duke is my team to beat.

Now for the Cinderellas

Gonzaga: Gonzaga usually is a solid college basketball team, but this year feels a bit out of place. Coming in as an 11 seed, the Bulldogs will be underdogs when they face off against St. Johns. I think Gonzaga can make a serious run in this region, not only because they themselves are good, but because this region is so unpredictable, and St. Johns has lost one of their best players to injury. Gonzaga also plays great perimeter defense and might be able to stop St. Johns outstanding shooting. Never doubt 'Zaga.

Utah State: Another team in the Southeast region of the tourny, is Utah State. Utah State is one of the most unique teams in the NCAA having not only a great fan section at games, but a great team. For a team representing the WAC, they are phenomenal. The Aggies finished the season at 30-3 and their only losses are at BYU, Georgetown, and Idaho. Tai Wesly is also a great player down low who might be able to take advantage of an undersized Kansas State team. Watch out for Utah State this year!

Butler: I realized, yes another team in the Southeast region but yes, they can pull it off again! Many teams can be "Cinderella's" like Missouri, Marquette, Florida State, and Tennessee, but historically those teams usually excel in college basketball. Anyways to Butler. Butler practically has the same team that sent them to the Finals last year, except they lost Gordon Heyward. To be honest, going into the tournament Heyward wasn't even the teams best player, or even second best. The good thing is Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack. The two form a dynamic one to punch, and I seriously believe not only can they beat Old Dominion, but don't be shocked if they beat an overrated Pittsburgh team. Still, do not except this to happen, but just know it is possible.

Now for the top players and injuries.

My top three players to watch in this tournament are Nolan Smith, Jimmer Fredette, and Ben Hansbrough.

Smith: Smith has evolved in to one of the best point guards in the nation. He plays on a great Duke team, and i can easily see Nolan cutting down the nets again in early april. Nolan Smith plays great defense and contributes even more on the offensive end. He is explosive, emotional, and always fun to watch.

Fredette: It would be impossible not to have Air Jimmer on this list of who to watch for. Even with the dismissal of Brandon Davies, Jimmer can lead this undersized, underrated BYU team to the final four even. Like i said many times, BYU plays in the controversial Southeast region, and as long as they play it one game at a time, do not be surprised if Air Jimmer does it again. Last year we saw Jimmer lead BYU to it's first NCAA win since Danny Ainge ran the point, when BYU upset Florida in the first round.

Hansbrough: The younger brother of one the greatest college basketball players in this era is making a nice name for himself. Ben is showing great leadership on the mature Notre Dame team. Coach Mike Breen has turned Hansbrough into a phenomenal player, and if Ben is on, he can help lead his team to an upset over Kansas and even make a run for the title. Hansbrough is a very traditional player, who plays team first basketball, but can still take over a game. The thing Notre Dame doesn't have to worry about is even if Hansbrough is off, they can still win games.

As for my injuries, the top ones belong to Kyrie Irving, DJ Kennedy, and Chris Singleton.

Irving: As explained earlier, Irving is arguably the best player in the country and plays on the best team. Even without him Duke still has a chance to win it all, but the chances decrease a lot. Irving contributes a lot to the Blue Devils on both sides of the ball, and makes it much easier for Nolan Smith. He can dominate a game and when Duke's other seven players are off Irving can still lead them to a win, like he did against Butler early in the season

Kennedy: St. Johns rarely missed this season, but when they did DJ Kennedy was there to clean up the boards. St. Johns will miss Kennedy very much, and their status is in jeopardy after his season ending injury. Although St. Johns has great guards led by Dwight Hardy, they are undersized down low and that might hurt them in the tournament.

Singleton: Chris is by far the best player on the Florida State Seminoles, and if he is healthy he can help them pull an upset over Texas A&M. If the doesn't play the game will not even be close, that is how much he means to this team. Signs are pointing to Singleton playing which is not only good for the Seminoles, but for my bracket as well.

So i am curious to your thoughts on these points. Feel free to comment or email me about picks, opinions, injuries, or player watch. Even if it isn't NCAA related, I can talk sports all day.

NFL Lockout: Will There Really Be No Football Next Year?

Goodell and Smith have gone head to head, and after two weeks have not made peace.
Will there be an NFL Season?

To start off, I am sorry i have not been able to write as much, but this is due to the extraordinary amount of work i have had in the past week, including a trip to one of America's finest universities, Cornell, where I competed in the annual CMUNC event.

Anyway, when I got back to the hotel Friday night I had one thing on my mind and that was to see what would happen to America's favorite sports league, the NFL. Rumor was that the NFL was entering a lockout, after negotiations between the players and the owners failed. As it turned out, this rumor ended up being true and ruined my weekend. I kept thinking how next year will be without no NFL (If the lockout stays). I wondered what would happen to the free agents, the rookies, veterans on the verge of retirement, Indianapolis not hosting the Super Bowl, my New York Giants, and Fantasy Football!

So you may be asking, what exactly does this "lockout" even mean? Can there still be an NFL season next year?

The answer to this is yes, but it is not likely.

According to multiple sources, the NFL is set to officially lockout April 6th. The last time the NFL was jeopardized like this was back in 1987.

In the 16 failed days of negations between the owners and the players union, many issues were brought up, that caused the lockout. The Owners wanted even more money then they already had, as well as an 18 game season, and the players wanted fair share of the eight billion dollar revenue. One thing both teams had in common was to lower the ridiculous rookie salaries which are by far the most crazy things in any sports draft. Not only are these NFL rookies getting payed just as much as some stars, but more than half of them are busts! The NFL Players union were lead by DeMaurice Smith and players Drew Brees and Jeff Saturday. Around 11 owners represented the Owners, including Jerry Jones.

So with this "lockout" official and to be put in place supposedly April 6th, there are three possible outcomes with this. The first is the lockout stays, the owners disconnect the players and no games are played this year. The next outcome would come early in the season and the players would play a shortened schedule probably around 10 games. The Final and best outcome is that the NFL picks up it's can some time before training camp, and all games are played as if there was no stinking lockout.

In order for options two and three to occur, the supreme judge must rule the owners unfair in a lawsuit that pretty much determines the NFL season. According to most of America, the owners are being very selfish and greedy in this case, and the players really look like they want to play football for the love of football. Maybe that isn't entirely true, but who does want an NFL Lockout and to not watch Football on CBS and Fox during Sunday days, and the NBC at night. Who doesn't want to watch Monday Night Football, and bight your nails at the same time because you know if your opponents player has a good game, you might lose your week. Who doesn't want to watch NFL Live, or NFL Countdown and listen to Boomer and the crew argue over games. Who doesn't want to here " C'mon Man". Who doesn't want to see the Jets once again talk big game only to fall short. Who doesn't want to see rookies turn into stars, and for vets to finally win their first rings. Who doesn't want an NFL season?

Have i made my point....

America NEEDS the NFL like a fat boy needs cake, maybe even a little more. Without the NFL, weekends are ruined as well as fantasy leagues, fun, and exciting games. Hopefully the owners can realize that they own these teams because they are ALREADY rich business tycoons, hopefully Roger Goodell realizes that he doesn't have to be evil, and we can have ourselves another great NFL season.

BYU Falls After Dismissal of Brandon Davies

BYU will miss Davies input to the team after dismssing Davies earlier in the week.

Along with Notre Dame and Georgetown, Brigham Young is a private college that is very religious. While Notre Dame and Georgetown are catholic, BYU's population is mostly mormon and is owned by The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These universities follow strict honor systems respecting their religious and ethical beliefs.

This season, the BYU Cougars have been one of the best college basketball teams in the nation, including a 27-3 record and a top ten ranking in the AP poll. Two of their best wins are against in conference rival, and also a top ten team, San Diego State. BYU is led by star Jimmer Fredette who leads the entire nation in scoring with 27 points per game.

BYU was on a roll, until the dismissal of forward, Brandon Davies. Davies was not a star on the team, but a great roll player who led the team in rebounding and was third in scoring.

Brandon Davies was dismissed from the basketball team, after rumors came out that he had premarital sex which is against the BYU honor code. Davies later admitted that the rumors were true, and was officially off the basketball team. Other rules of the honor code include no swearing, drinking, smoking, doing drugs, and drinking coffee. Yes that is coffee and it is not a typo.

BYU had just come off their second win vs SDST, and after the rankings, they peaked at three in the entire country, and on ESPN's bracketology page were expected to be a number one seed.


Yesterday in the Cougars' first game since Davies was kicked off the team, BYU had it's worse performance of the year, when they lost at home against New Mexico. Despite Jimmer's 33 points, the rest of the team was not able to overcome a quick bad start to the game. New Mexico got off to a quick start and at the end of the half it was 42-26. BYU was really missing Davies down low to get rebounds not only on the defensive side of the ball, but on the offensive side of the ball when Jimmer misses shots. The final score was 82-64 New Mexico and it was  BYU's worst defeat in six years.

The Dismissal of Davies is a popular discussion topic in the sports world, and so is BYU's current stock as a top college basketball team.

Although Davies did break the honor code of BYU by having underage sex, should he really be kicked off a basketball team for it? BYU is definitely going to miss Davies, who was a huge underlying factor to the Cougars success this season.