Brandon Davies will be Cougar once more

Andre Drummond wasn't the only big man making national headlines on Friday night.

BYU finally announced that center Brandon Davies will be re-admitted into school and allowed back onto the team this season.

Davies created a national stir back in early March when he was suspended for the rest of the year by BYU for violating the honor code -- reportedly by sleeping with his girlfriend. It may have cost the Jimmer a shot at making the Final Four, a sacrifice that had many saluting BYU for making while also creating just as strong a voice of opposition -- what's so bad about a college kid having sex?


But that's neither here nor there. The bottom-line is that, as expected, Davies will be a Cougar for BYU's inaugural run through the WCC. The importance of Davies to that team cannot be understated. Let's ignore, for a second, the fact that they are losing Jimmer Fredette, a once in a generation talent and lottery pick. Jackson Emery, Fredette's back court side kick, graduated while Kyle Collinsworth, a promising freshman small forward, is going on his Mormon mission next year. Meanwhile Kyle's older brother Chris is coming off of season-ending knee surgery while reserve big men Logan Magnusson and James Anderson have left the program. All told, the Cougars lose three of their top six players and have a key post presence dealing with knee problems.

Without Davies, BYU may have been the fourth best team in the WCC, behind St. Mary's, Gonzaga and Santa Clara.

That's not exactly the way that the Cougars envisioned introducing themselves to their new conference rivals.