Yoeli Childs, Mark Pope already building bond at BYU

PROVO — At his press conference, Yoeli Childs sounded like he’d been injected with truth serum when asked how much he’d talked with Mark Pope in recent weeks as the new BYU coach tried to convince him to return for his senior season.

“Too many conversations with Mark Pope, too many,” a smiling Childs said, drawing laughter at the press gathering last week.

Considering Childs withdrew his name from consideration for the 2019 NBA draft, turned down big bucks to play overseas, and committed to play one final year for the Cougars, Pope would tell you they had just the right number of chats.

Whatever it takes, right?

“He’s been incredibly generous with his time, and we’ve gobbled up every ounce of…