BYUH fueled by PacWest's top scorer, rebounder
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
Rarely has there been a better duo than Brigham Young-Hawai'i men's basketball players Alexus Foyle and Scott Salisbury.
BYUH photo
As two of the finest players in the Division II Pacific West Conference, they have become the basketball combination of kaki mochi and popcorn, T-shirts and slippers, and J. Lo and Ben.
BYUH's Alexus Foyle uses his 40-inch vertical leap to slam one. Foyle and Scott Salisbury form a formidable pair for the 6-1 Seasiders.
Foyle, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, is the defending conference Player of the Year and leads the conference in scoring, averaging 23.6 points per game. Salisbury, a 6-foot-8 senior center, is an all-conference, first-team honoree and tops the PacWest in rebounding, averaging 11.4 per game.
Foyle and Salisbury provide scoring, rebounding and leadership to the Seasiders, who were picked to finish first in the six-team conference in a preseason coaches poll. Brigham Young-Hawai'i (6-1) will play Hawai'i Pacific (11-1) tomorrow night at 7:30 at the Cannon Activities Center in a PacWest opener for both teams.
"I think we feed off each other," Salisbury said. "Anybody who draws that much attention like Alexus does, frees up a lot of other options for me. He's someone you want on your team because he can flat out play the game of basketball."
The same apparently holds true for Salisbury, whom Foyle calls "one of the best players I've ever played with."
"I like playing with Scott," Foyle said. "He won't turn over the ball or do anything crazy. He rebounds and does all the dirty work. He makes things easier for people on the court."
BYUH head coach Ken Wagner said the two seniors have found ways to co-exist on the basketball court despite having different personalities.
"Scott's the type of player that complements everyone fairly well," Wagner said. "He's a calm person most of the time. Alexus is a little more high strung. They actually play well together. Scott calms Alexus down."
Apparently, Salisbury's calming influence has worked. This season, Foyle ranks among the conference's leaders in field-goal percentage (.559, 5th) and steals (1.43, t-8th). He also holds the highest scoring average in school history since David Evans (27.9 ppg in 1999-00), and is one of only three BYUH players to average more than 20 points in a career. The others are Evans and Wayne Keys.
As for Salisbury, he ranks among the PacWest's leaders in field-goal percentage (.591, 4th), assists (3.71, 6th), free-throw percentage (.674, 11th), steals (1.86, 2nd) and blocked shots (1.29, 3rd). He is the only player in conference history to record two games of more than 20 rebounds, and has a chance at the single-season school record for rebounding average (12.5) set by Bruce Koelliker in 1988-89.
Both players took different paths to BYUH. Foyle graduated from Canouan High School in St. Vincent, a Caribbean island, in 1996. He did not play basketball in high school, and instead played soccer and cricket.
Foyle transferred to BYUH last season after spending two years playing basketball at the College of the Desert, a junior college in California. He said several Division I schools — such as Pepperdine, Connecticut, Iowa and Drake — tried to recruit him. He also fielded inquiries from the local Division II schools.
Foyle, who has only been playing basketball for six years and can leap more than 40 inches, said he chose BYUH because of its religious affiliation and basketball program. In addition, former BYUH player Kerry Hendrickson, who also played for College of the Desert, notified BYUH coaches of Foyle.
"I'm happy I came here," Foyle said. "The teachers care about me in the classroom. My GPA is 3.0. I'm doing real good in school and in basketball."
Foyle said he hopes to play professional basketball like his cousin, Adonal Foyle, who plays for the NBA's Golden State Warriors.
"I'm proud of the things I'm doing in basketball," said Foyle, who is scheduled to graduate in exercise and sport science next year. "My dream was play college ball. I did. I'm kind of satisfied. If I go on to the next level, thank God. If it doesn't happen, I wouldn't go crazy."
Salisbury landed in La'ie after graduating in 1997 from Richland (Wash.) High School, where he earned all-state honors and led the state in rebounding.
More than two dozen schools courted Salisbury, including BYU-Provo, but BYUH offered him a chance to play immediately.
"I felt I wanted to play and make a difference right off the bat as a freshman," Salisbury said.
Four seasons later and with 723 career rebounds in the books, he has made a difference with the Seasiders. In turn, the Lai'e community has embraced him.
"I'm not a big-city person, so I don't get island fever or anything," said Salisbury, who maintains a 3.3 GPA and is scheduled to graduate in international business management in June. "The people, the atmosphere, the time schedule — there's no such thing as a New York Minute here, it's more like a Lai'e Hour. It's just a nice way to live with great weather, great people, and not a whole lot of stress. I get to do one of the things I love to do the most, play basketball. I can't beat the way of life out there."
Last week's basketball results
Chaminade 89, Montana State-Billings 76*
Hawai'i Pacific 74, Carthage 65
Hawai'i Pacific 84, St. Martin's 64
Brigham Young-Hawai'i 84, St. Martin's 65
Hawai'i-Hilo 86, Drew 44
Cal Poly Pomona 82, Montana State-Billings 66
New Mexico Highlands 81, Western New Mexico 78
Hawai'i-Hilo 101, Montana State-Billings 91*
Hawai'i Pacific 66, Drew 42
Chaminade 102, Western New Mexico 87*
This week's schedule
Last night's game
Montana State-Billings at Hawai'i-Hilo*
Today's game
Western New Mexico at Chaminade, 7:30 p.m. at McCabe Gym*
Tomorrow's game
Hawai'i Pacific at BYU-Hawai'i, 7:30 p.m. at Cannon Activities Center*
Saturday's game
Western New Mexico at Hawai'i-Hilo, 8 p.m. at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium*
*—Pacific West Conference
