BYU signs Dave Rose to new contract through 2019-2020

BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe has locked up his man on the hardwood for at least another four years.

The university announced on Monday that it has signed its successful head basketball coach, Dave Rose, to a new contract that will run through the conclusion of the 2019-2020 season. Rose's current deal had been set to expire after the 2015-2016 campaign.

"I'm excited about the future of BYU basketball," Rose said. "Tom Holmoe, Brian Santiago and the university administration have provided great support and I look forward to the things we can accomplish together over the next several years. We have great student-athletes and coaches at BYU who are committed to the success of our program."

The context and timing of this new deal is interesting and, potentially, important. By re-upping through 2020, Rose has effectively committed to coaching his last few recruiting classes — widely considered to be the best in program history — through to their conclusion. Of his four current Top 100 recruits, Nick Emery and Eric Mika are scheduled to graduate in 2019, with TJ Haws and Payton Dastrup to follow in 2020. So barring any unforeseen circumstances, Rose is now guaranteed to see out what has long been expected to be a golden era in BYU basketball.

It's also not inconceivable that this contract could be Rose's last one. He's only 57 years old right now, so this deal would take him to roughly age 62. That possibly a little early for retirement, but then again, not everyone wants to coach into their late 60s or 70s. Obviously some do, but given Rose's history of health scares, it wouldn't be surprising to see him hang up his clipboard a bit earlier than others — particularly if he were able to go out in a blaze of glory with a slate of historically great teams, which seems to be a distinct possibility.

To be sure, that's all speculation — and at this point, it's way too early to say what Dave Rose will or will not do more than five years from now. For all we know, he could take those teams on deep tournament runs, parlay that into another influx of top-notch recruits and stay in Provo for another decade or more. None of that is off the table. Far from it.

What matters most immediately is that BYU has now locked up Rose — the second winningest coach in school history — for a good chunk of time. If you remember, his signature on an extension wasn't necessarily a guarantee the last time around. Several top-tier schools came calling about the coach when his contract last came up in 2011, and he at least listened to some pitches before ultimately deciding to remain with the Cougars.

There's no doubt he would again draw some interest from significant programs if he were to ever truly hit the open market. But with this deal, Holmoe and BYU have ensured that Rose will be wearing blue — and coaching the great classes he was so instrumental in recruiting — for the foreseeable future.

And that future, as Rose himself pointed out, remains very bright.