The Universe has already introduced the team from a basketball standpoint, but now prepare to see the team in a whole different light. These facts were gathered from byucougars.com and social media.
- Although this is Chase Fischer’s first season of eligibility at BYU after transferring from Wake Forest, the team is already very familiar with his constant trash talking and competitiveness after practicing with him all last season. He is also supposedly hilarious, but don’t expect funny tweets any time soon.
- Not only is Tyler Haws a prolific scorer on his way to breaking the all-time scoring record at BYU, but he is also an amazing lip syncher. The promotional videos he starred in last year were the two best out of all of the videos. He’s an inspiration. Another interesting fact is that his father Marty Haws played for BYU from 1986-1990.
- Senior Anson Winder is one half of a BYU power couple. His girlfriend is BYU volleyball All-American Alexa Gray. Winder already completed his undergrad and is now a grad student at BYU.
- Big Nate Austin aka @RexosaurusRex is a huge BYU football fan. During every football game, you can expect to hear from Austin at some point. He is probably the member of the team most active on Twitter. He also kills the costume game on Halloween. This year, he was Santa Claus. Last year, he was Ronald McDonald.
- Junior Jordan Ellis is a walk-on from Medford, Ore. He is married, but don’t be JEllis. He is one of the seven transfers on the team. He played at Portland State before coming to BYU. Last season, he played on the practice squad.
- After tearing his ACL in March, Kyle Collinsworth is back to full strength and had an epic rehab video made about him. He is also the younger brother of former BYU basketball player Chris Collinsworth.
- Freshman Ryan Andrus is a local from American Fork High School. The 6-foot-10 forward made 19 three-pointers during his junior year of high school, proving that this big man has some range.
- BYU fans will not see Kyle Davis on the court this season. Davis transferred from Utah State and now has to sit out a season due to transfer rules. He is one of three married men on the team.
- Senior Skyler Halford has a really great game face. Everyone makes weird faces when they are playing sports, but Halford is the master of making faces. Last season was his first at BYU after playing at Salt Lake Community College.
- Frank Bartley IV aka Frank the Tank aka Frank the Fourth is a sophomore this year. He is one of two members on the team who are from the east. Bartley is from Baton Rogue, Louisiana and Fischer is from Ripley, West Virginia.
- Freshman Jake Toolson is another member of the squad that has a family connection to the program. His dad is former BYU basketball player Andy Toolson's brother. His uncle is former BYU great Danny Ainge. Just in case you need a reminder of who that is, I'll leave this right here.
- Basketball runs in the family on this year’s squad. Freshman Jordan Chatman’s father Jeff played for BYU from 1984-1988 and is still eighth on the all-time scoring list at BYU with 1,824. My brother was also his Sunday School teacher in Vancouver, Washington. No big.
- Orem native Dalton Nixon ALSO has BYU basketball blood running through his veins. His father Kevin Nixon suited up for the Cougars from 1991-1993. For those keeping track, there are FIVE people on the team who have had family play for BYU. He was also in a Chinese choir in high school.
- After redshirting last season, fans will be able to see Isaac Neilson contribute to this year's team.
- Josh Sharp is known across Cougar Nation for his dunking abilities. In the first year of Boom Shakalaka in 2013, after dunking over his wife, he kissed her, which made the Sports Center Top 10 list, a list he had made before because of his dunking skills. In this year’s dunk competition, he kissed his baby after a dunk. When you’ve got it, flaunt it.
- Jamal Aytes is another transfer on this year’s team. He transferred to BYU from UNLV. Along with Fischer and Neilson, he was on campus last season to practice with the team and is eligible this year. Unfortunately, he just had ankle surgery and will be out for three months.
- Fan favorite Luke Worthington is a major crowd pleaser. Just take a look at his roster picture this year. In a recent Twitter Q&A, Worthington revealed many interesting things about himself. Going against his teammate Haws, he does not love Christmas music before Thanksgiving.
- The last member of the BYU basketball family is Corbin Kafusi. He is the brother of former basketball player and former football player Bronson Kafusi and the son of Steve Kafusi is an assistant coach on the BYU football team. The final count of people on the roster who have had family play for BYU is SIX. SIX PEOPLE ON THE TEAM. Tradition, spirit and honor for sure.