Mission awaits Rose in June

PROVO -- After a splashy freshman debut with the BYU men's basketball team, Mike Rose won't be hoisting up any of his signature 3-pointers for a couple of seasons.

Rose just received notification of his assignment and starting date as a soon-to-be full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, called to the Venezuela Maracaibo Mission and scheduled to enter the Missionary Training Center on June 9.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder from Houston, who turned 19 last October, said the timing of the missionary service and the interruption of his collegiate career was a concern. "It's something I've always wanted to do," he said, adding "but it was pretty nerve- racking opening (the envelope)."

The red-headed true freshman has ended up being BYU's baby-faced assassin this season, playing in 22 games and shooting 33-of-76 from the floor for 43.4 percent and an even-better 27-of-58 for 46.6 percent behind the 3-point arc. He's the Mountain West Conference's leader in 3-point percentage.

Rose, the nephew of Cougar associate head coach Dave Rose, scored a game-high 26 points and connected on a school-record eight 3- pointers in the Cougars' season-opening 88-54 victory over Southern Utah University.

He has followed with some spectacular, short-term sharpshooting in conference play -- such as the 3-of-4 on treys and 10 points in 11 first-half minutes against Colorado State and last week's 3-of-4 behind the arc in 12 minutes against New Mexico.

E-mail: taylor@desnews.com

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