SALT LAKE CITY — Both Utah State men’s basketball coach Craig Smith and first-year BYU coach Mark Pope are on an upswing in their careers.
Smith took the Aggies to the NCAA tournament in his first season in Logan last year while taking home the Mountain West Conference tournament title and a piece of the league's regular-season crown.
Pope earned his most high profile coaching position this offseason in Provo, just down the road from where he took Utah Valley's program to unprecedented heights the past four seasons.
The pair got more good news this week, as USU's Neemias Queta and BYU's Yoeli Childs both chose to withdraw their names from the NBA draft and return to school, Queta for his sophomore year and Childs for his senior season.