After completing my freshman and sophomore years at Texas A&M University and the University of Arkansas, I found myself in the transfer portal for the second time early in my college career. I was looking for a new opportunity where I could develop myself as a player and as a person. After speaking with Brigham Young University's coaching staff, I knew this program was the right fit for me.
In late June 2022, I traveled from Oklahoma to Utah and called it my new home. I quickly created a routine with my coaches and teammates to continue training over the next few months to prepare for the upcoming season. Shortly after moving to town, I developed a strong relationship with teammate Noah Waterman. We bonded over the commonalities of being transfers and his first-year players at BYU.
Then, starting in the fall of 2022, he established a more regular practice schedule and continued to work with his teammates and coaches. At the beginning of the semester, coach Mark Pope has a tradition of practicing twice a day. The first practice began at 6 a.m. and included several hundred shots. Afterwards, the afternoon practice focused on the team's plans and plays for the season.
After two seasons in the Southeastern Conference, he joined BYU and was excited to compete in the Western Conference for his final year. After a tough year in which things didn't go as planned for him in the WCC, we were eager to work on him in the offseason so he could compete in his first year in the Big XII.
During the offseason, Coach Pope made sure we were ready to work hard as a team. When I was preparing for an overseas tour to Croatia and Italy, I spent countless hours in the gym making sure my jump shot and handle were in tune. This trip was also an opportunity for us to bond as a team and compete against other professional club teams. We had the opportunity to play against Kresimir Kosic's team and also meet his family and hear about his life experiences.
After this trip, our team is better prepared for the upcoming season. We again did two a day and focused on our ability to shoot the basketball more consistently as a team and getting in better shape.
After the offseason and a lot of hard work, we were looking forward to showing off what we had become better as a team. They finished non-conference with a 12-1 record and were ranked 14th in the AP poll. During their non-conference run, they were able to compete in the Las Vegas Showdown, defeating both Arizona State and North Carolina State.
Following our non-conference schedule, we were eager to play the best teams in the country in our conference schedule. After starting 2-4, we realized as a team that we needed to improve and change in order to be in a good position to win the league. After a rough start to conference play, they quickly racked up impressive wins against teams like Texas, Baylor, and Kansas.
Although we weren't able to achieve the results we wanted in the postseason, it was fun to watch them grow both as a team and as individuals from their first year to their second year.