What Eric Mika said recently about his years at BYU — and the Cougars’ move to the Big 12

Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images

FRISCO, Texas — Eric Mika didn’t play for the G League Ignite last week when they faced the Texas Legends, but the former BYU star was far from inactive. Despite being in a walking boot thanks to a rolled ankle several days earlier, Mika, 28, who is in his fourth G League stint, frequently offered sage advice to younger teammates during timeouts.

“Yeah, it’s been fun. It’s very different from my time with Stockton with the nature of this team with really young guys being super different,” Mika, who spent two seasons in Provo with the Cougars — one from 2013-14 and another from 2016-17 after a two-year mission in Rome for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 15 games for the Ignite (12 starts), Mika is averaging 10.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, but his experience with the Las Vegas-based Ignite is more than mere numbers. “My role is more of one as a mentor on and off the court, being with these guys and hopefully giving them a head start before they start their next step in the NBA,” he said. “The staff is really cool, really experienced. The young guys are all good kids. No complaints, it’s been a lot of fun.”

BYU fans remember Mika, a product of Lone Peak High in nearby Highland, as a member of the West Coast Conference’s All-Freshman Team in 2014, a debut campaign where he averaged 11.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

After his two-year mission to Rome, he returned to Provo for the 2016-17 season, earning All-WCC honors after averaging 20.3 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in what proved to be his final season at BYU as he declared himself eligible for the 2017 NBA draft. “They were fun,” Mika said of his two seasons in Provo. “It is definitely hard leaving for two years, coming back and trying to pick back up. They did a great job of getting me back in shape.

“It’s a great university. The classes I took were awesome. I still talk to a lot of my teammates. Obviously, I know there are a lot of fans who wish I had stayed at least one more year, and that one more year, two more years, whatever it would have been, would have been awesome as well,” he continued. “There was no lack of amazing experience and culture, that isn’t why I left. I left because I felt it was time to start a pro career. Provo, can’t recommend it enough for anybody looking for a really good college and a really good college experience.”

He also forged some great lifelong memories during his two-year mission to Rome, where he learned countless lessons and admittedly did some much-needed growing up.

“You just grow up out there a little bit. You’re very isolated and away from your family at such a young age. Not knowing the culture you just got to figure it out,” Mika said. “It really matures you quickly. That was my biggest takeaway. When you’re focusing on other people full time, that’s another way to grow up really quickly. Really, really awesome experience that helps you focus in on what’s important in life. There are lessons every day that you learn. I think about those all the time now, a lot of the same concepts you come across in ‘regular’ life.”

Since leaving BYU, Mika has literally seen the world, playing in Italy, Germany, China, Serbia and France plus three stints with Stockton of the G League. And the affable big man considers it a huge blessing that the game he loves has helped him see the world and experience cultures and food he might not have otherwise enjoyed.

“Honestly, Italian food’s my ride-or-die, love Italian food. But Serbia really surprised me. There’s really good food in Serbia,” he said. “It was also very cheap. They’re almost like sausage links, cevapi. You just throw them in a bread, almost like a gyro. They’re really good. Really good food over there.”

Mika also played one game for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. On Feb. 1, 2020, he had six points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes at the tail end of a Kings’ loss to the Lakers. That lone appearance in the NBA puts him among the approximately 4,700 players who have suited up for at least one regular-season game and one of 78 players in league history to play just one game.

Either way, it’s an achievement he’ll take. “It’s cool. I had that second game where I didn’t get any minutes against Minnesota. I’m proud of it,” he said. “Being able to say that I truly did play with the best of the best is something I can hang my hat on for the rest of my life and hopefully tell my kids, dramatize it up a little bit. It’s very, very cool.”

Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press

No matter where his travels have taken him, including summers when he returns to Provo to work out with current BYU players, he continues keeping tabs on how the Cougars are faring in the WCC. “I know we’ve lost some heartbreakers, but they’re right there. These last-minute, end-of-game possessions are so crucial for the whole season, but they’re right there,” he said.

“They’re doing the right things. I know there’s no lack of hard work and leadership because I know (Mark) Pope, I know his staff and the guys on the team just from being around in the summer. We’re in a very good conference now. There’s no downplaying the WCC. They’re getting better. As long as they continue to work hard and stay together, I don’t see any problems going forward.”

And with the Cougars about to transition into the Big 12, he sees that jump to what is currently the best league in college basketball as big, but one BYU needed to make. “It’s going to be tough, but if you don’t get out of your comfort zone, then you’re not going to grow, right? I think it’s going to be hard in all sports, but that’s what you want,” Mika said.

“You want to be competing against the best of the best. It might take a little bit of time, but I’m excited. Are you kidding? They’re going to go into Kansas and play there? I’ve played at TCU before. (Almost) everybody in the Big 12 is ranked. It’s a super great move for the university. It’s going to be tough, but I think it’s going to bring the best out of them.”

Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.

Young Kwak, Associated Press