Former Cougars: Tracking BYU Basketball Transfers in 2016-17

While the BYU basketball roster experiences a large amount of turnover each year when players leave and come home from their LDS missions, there have also been a few notable Cougars who have transferred to other Division 1 schools in the past few years. Here is an update on how those players fared in the 2016-17 season.

Frank Bartley had a few shining moments at the beginning of his freshman season at BYU in 2013-14, but ultimately lost his playing time at the wing spot to Anson Winder and Skyler Halford. As a result, he transferred to the Sun Belt conference program Louisiana-Lafayette, much closer to his hometown of Baton Rouge, LA. After averaging just over 3 points per game in his two seasons at BYU, Bartley exploded to average over 15 points per game, increasing his shooting percentage by six percent. He helped the lead Ragin’ Cajuns to a 21-win season, and with 4 starters returning for 2017-18, he has a legitimate chance to be the primary scorer on an NCAA Tournament team.

In his lone season at BYU, Isaac Neilson played sparingly, despite the availability of minutes after starting center Nate Austin’s season-ending injury in December. Faced with a future at BYU that would not include very much playing time, Neilson ended up transferring to Utah Valley (where former Cougars Cory Calvert and Jake Toolson will be joining him on the court this upcoming season). While his 2016-17 didn’t end on the strongest note (scoring in double figures just 5 times in the last 21 games), his two best performances of the season came in games at BYU and Utah, scoring 26 points in a victory over the Cougars and recording 28 points and 15 rebounds in a close loss to the Utes. While his playing time fluctuated throughout the season, he was very productive when on the floor, recording 10 double-doubles on the season. The BYU at Utah Valley game on November 29th will be very interesting, as now three ex-Cougars will go up against their former team.

After redshirting the 2014-15 season following his mission, Jordan Chatman played 10 minutes per game off the bench for BYU in 2015-16, while earning his undergraduate degree from the University in just two years. After being told that he couldn’t enroll in BYU’s law school while playing basketball for the Cougars, he transferred to the struggling ACC program Boston College. In 2016-17, he developed into a great 3 point shooter, highlighted by a loss against Virginia Tech where he shot 9 for 11 from beyond the arc.

While Boston College lost each of their last 15 games to end the season, Chatman played his best stretch of basketball during that time. On BC’s recent summer trip to the Bahamas, Chatman averaged 24 points per game in the two games, and seems poised to take another step forward in his junior season with the Eagles.

All three of the players featured played fewer than 11 minutes per game in their BYU careers, and all have improved their game substantially when given a bigger opportunity to play more at their new schools. It will be interesting to see if they can take another step forward in 2017-18 as their college careers begin winding down.