Maybe it's a good thing that Brigham Young is not so much of a heated rival of the University of Hawai'i any more.

Dave Rose, head coach of the BYU basketball team, sure makes it hard to hate the Cougars.

Even members of the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team were cheering for Rose a few months ago.

The Rainbow Warriors will host the Cougars tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center. It won't be as much of a renewed rivalry as it is an appreciation of friendship ... and life.

Rose will be at the helm of BYU tonight, just five months after he was diagnosed with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor cancer.

"We're buddies in this business, and we all care for each other," Hawai'i head coach Bob Nash said. "We sent him our well wishes as soon as we heard, and just glad that he's OK now."

Rose no longer has a spleen and part of his pancreas, but he no longer has the cancerous tumor, either.

"My body has responded," he said. "Now I just go through periodic scans and hope it doesn't return."

Rose's initial diagnosis sent shockwaves through the basketball world, in part because he has made contacts throughout. Hawai'i was no exception.

Hawai'i assistant coach Jackson Wheeler met Rose through the junior college coaching circuit, and they have been friends for more than 20 years.

Nash has known Rose for the past decade. Nash was a longtime assistant at UH before ascending to head coach; Rose took a similar path at BYU.

Hawai'i junior point guard Hiram Thompson was once recruited by Rose.

The consensus is, Rose always knew how to come out smelling like a rose.

"He's a genuinely great guy," Wheeler said. "I know you can say that about a lot of people, but with Dave, it's true. That's why so many people were so upset when they heard about his cancer."

Rose recovered in time to lead what could be his best BYU team. And his previous four were pretty good.

The Cougars have won at least 25 games in each of the last three seasons. They finished 25-8 last season, and four starters return.

Junior guard Jackson Emery, one of the returning starters, said: "He hasn't changed the way he coaches, but the one thing that has changed is he seems to enjoy the process a lot more. He's not as intense as before."

It probably helps to have junior point guard Jimmer Fredette, the preseason player of the year in the Mountain West Conference.

Hawai'i assistant coach Larry Farmer, who scouted the Cougars, said of Fredette: "He's one of the best players we'll see all year. He controls the pace, but can also score from anywhere."

A statistic to watch tonight could be rebounding. The 'Bows are out-rebounding opponents by an average of 12 per game; the Cougars are out-rebounding opponents by an average of 13.

Win or lose, Rose said he'll be glad to shake hands with the Hawai'i coaches.

"One of the real touching things about my whole experience was how the coaching community reached out to me," he said. "Hawai'i was right there, too."