BYU’s Lyday has big day vs. Lobos

Victoria Sun

Friday, March 10, 2000 | 10:38 a.m.

One of the best things Brigham Young coach Steve Cleveland has done in his three years as coach of the Cougars happened off the court.

It occurred when Cleveland, who coached Fresno City College for seven years before heading to Provo, Utah, convinced Terrell Lyday, who played at Fresno City, to transfer to the strict Mormon school.

Lyday scored a game-high 23 points in the Cougars' 55-43 first-round victory over New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference tournament Thursday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center. BYU will face Utah in tonight's first semifinal at 6 p.m.

"I like the arena here," Lyday said. "I like the rims so I kind of felt like I would have a big game here today.

"I just really felt comfortable out there. Something about this gym, I don't know, it's a real nice gym to play in."

The 6-foot-3 shooting guard torched the Rebels for 30 points and 11 rebounds on Jan. 10 in his Thomas & Mack debut, sparking BYU to an upset victory.

Cleveland sold Lyday on BYU by promoting its up-and-coming basketball program and by showing him around Salt Lake City -- not Provo -- during a recruiting visit.

"Coach Cleveland told me it's a real nice spot to go to school and everything," Lyday said. "When I went out there, I kind of liked it a little bit because they kept me mostly in Salt Lake (45 miles north of Provo) so I thought it was a little bit of a party school."

BYU -- the school where students have to sign an honor code agreement promising they won't drink, smoke or have pre-marital sex -- a party school?

Lyday chuckled before answering.

"Yeah, I didn't really know anything about it," the Fresno native conceded. "And then, I got there (to Provo) and everything shuts down on Sunday so I was like, what is this?

"You know, it's not a regular town. In Fresno, it's like parties all the time so I just kind of adjusted."

Cleveland is sure glad he did.

In Lyday's first season with the Cougars since transferring from Fresno City, he was the conference's fifth-leading scorer with 17.3 points a game. That earned him newcomer of the year honors in the league.

There are some who thought Lyday should have earned at least a nod on the all-conference second team.

Coming out of Fresno's Hoover High School in 1997, Lyday was not highly sought after. Cleveland recruited him to go to Fresno City but before Lyday qualified academically, Cleveland took the job at BYU. Lyday ended up playing two years at Fresno anyway and Cleveland never forgot about him.

"He was coached by one of my good friends so I knew he was very well-coached in high school," Cleveland said.