The round ball matters, but at BYU the ellipse won't be overshadowed by the Deseret News

BYU basketball, baseball and softball are enjoying the spring spotlight and the first full week of May is no exception. Men's basketball makes the news almost every day. Softball is in line to potentially meet a trio of Goliaths during the Big 12 championship and baseball is rolling out its final homestand until next year.

The round ball bounces in all directions on a campus best known for its storied history with the ellipse, or the stretched spheroid known to non-scientists as the football. In these parts it's the king. It has been that way for generations and it will always remain that way.

But that doesn't mean the king can't take a back seat in the royal carriage for a while, and no one is happier or more willing to share the ride than Kalani Sitake. After a 5-7 Big 12 debut and significant staff changes, the head football coach might even enjoy a temporary distraction.

Men's basketball coach Kevin Young is Sitake's new tag team partner when it comes to headlining BYU's two most lucrative programs. If things go well with a full LaVell Edwards Stadium (63,470) and Marriott Center (17,978), combined with unprecedented Big 12 television revenues, the two sports will finance the entire kingdom.

Basketball

Young continues to impress with a roster he has (largely) kept together and the staff he is building. Landing Brody Kozlowski, Utah's two-time 6A Player of the Year, as its first signee is a significant step. What happens to the rest of the newcomers and transfer portal candidates remains in flux.

Even without additional pieces, and there will be some, Young already has an eight-man rotation with Dallin Hall, Richie Saunders, Dawson Baker, Fousseyni Traore, Trevin Knell, Noah Waterman, Trey Stewart and Kozlowski. Due to the coaching change, the transfer portal option is still open for the BYU roster until May 12.

Young has added staff members Brandon Dunson, Chris Burgess and Doug Stewart (chief of staff) and has three more coaching positions to fill.

Softball

A sixth-place finish in their debut Big 12 season pits the Cougars against No. 4 Oklahoma State in Thursday's quarterfinals of the conference tournament (10 a.m., ESPN+). BYU is fresh off an impressive three-game sweep of Kansas. The Cougars went 1-2 against the Cowgirls during the regular season. The winner will likely meet No. 2 and three-time defending champion Oklahoma and No. 1 Texas in the finals on Friday.

Basketball

BYU will host Cincinnati for three games starting Thursday (6 p.m., ESPN+) at Miller Park and after next Tuesday's non-conference game against Grand Canyon, the home stretch will be completed until 2025. The Cougars Big 12 debut was more of a learning experience than a joy ride. BYU is 6-18 with six conference games remaining. The Cougars need a miracle finish to qualify for the Big 12 Championship.

Football

For Sitake and the football program, with roundball sports making headlines, it's business as usual. The Cougars quietly added reinforcements to the offensive line with the weekend signing of 6-foot-3, 310-pound Austin Leausa from Southern Utah. The move supports Sitake's top priority of running football this fall.

The high-profile quarterback battle between Jake Retzlaff and Gerry Bohanon will continue in camp. Star linebacker Ben Bywater's shoulder is healing and the rallying cry in the weight room is for every player to get bigger, stronger and faster.

Finishing Success

The round ball was good for BYU, including men's basketball (NCAA Tournament), football (College Cup), women's volleyball (NCAA Tournament), women's tennis (NCAA Tournament), men's golf (NCAA Regional), men's volleyball (No. 7 ranking) and women's basketball (WBIT Tournament). They, and the others, including the non-ball sports, all have a rightful place in the royal court.

Young's BYU debut is expected on Nov. 4 on college basketball's opening night. It will be the same week that Sitake marches north with his football team to play in the state Super Bowl in Utah. This is when the round ball and the stretched spheroid align in an astronomical trajectory from one crown jewel sport to the other.

It's going to be a wonderful and unusual week.

Rarely do football and basketball travel together on the same hype train. Maybe you should go back to 1980-81 for the last time they did that. That's when Danny Ainge led the hoops to the Elite Eight and Jim McMahon and Steve Young tied for a combined 21-3 on the grid. For the most part, with the exception of Jimmermania, football was in the king's coach and still is.

The king returns

Some 42 years after the McMahon/Young/Ainge era, the 42-year-old former NBA assistant coach has given an already healthy basketball program a B12 shot. Without playing a game, Young has increased the optimism and intrigue that BYU basketball hasn't felt in a while, especially in May.

But at the end of August, the King will return in all his glory with fighter jets (efforts) and fireworks, a sell-out crowd on its feet and an enthusiastic brass band escorting his immaculate football team back to the field with its traditional super-sized expectations. and heavy judgments.

No matter how big or exciting things are on campus, in any sport, nothing will top football's season opener against Southern Illinois on August 31st. Notably, it has little to do with the Salukis and everything to do with the king of the land. .

Who knows, Young might become Sitake's biggest fan. After a summer in the bright spotlight, he too could welcome a brief distraction before joining Sitake in a November week of hype that will quicken the heartbeat of any BYU fan, a win in his coaching debut and a win at Utah.

Dave McCann is a contributor to the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He is co-host of Ys Guys at ysguys.com and is the author of the children's book C is for Cougar, available at desertbook.com.