Provo • New BYU basketball coach Mark Pope has apparently found a replacement for TJ Haws when the all-conference point guard concludes his career next spring.
Former Arizona basketball player Alex Barcello is transferring to BYU, according to the Locked On Cougars podcast on the Zone Sports Network.
Barcello, who announced on social media in June that he was leaving the Wildcats’ program, will have to sit out a year due to NCAA transfer rules and will be eligible for the 2020-21 season. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Barcello’s high school coach, Neil McDonald of Tempe’s Corona del Sol, could not confirm Barcello’s commitment to BYU and said the rising junior is a private person who does not seek publicity or grant many media interviews.
As of midday Wednesday, Barcello had not announced the move on social media.
The 6-foot-2 point guard played in 30 of 32 games for Arizona last season and averaged 3.5 points and 9.7 minutes per game. He is likely taking the scholarship vacated when Nick Emery decided to retire from basketball last week.
The website AZcentral.com reported that Barcello’s playing time figured to decrease next season because the Wildcats are bringing in point guard Nico Mannion, son of former Utah Utes star Pace Mannion, and Josh Green. Both are five-star recruits and McDonald’s All-Americans.
Barcello was a three-time all-state selection in high school and was part of two state championship teams. He was The Arizona Republic’s Player of the Year after his senior year. He received a scholarship offer from Arizona coach Sean Miller after he scored 51 points as a sophomore against Gilbert’s Perry High School.
Barcello was a four-star prospect in the class of 2017 according to Scout.com, Rivals.com and ESPN.com and also had offers from Virginia, Butler, Indiana and Stanford out of high school.
He appeared in 21 games his freshman year at Arizona and averaged 2.4 points and 9.6 minutes per game.
