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Kevin Young is busting down doors BYU basketball has never even knocked on before.
In a few short months, he’s made BYU a worldwide recruiter, tapping into networks and contacts that will hopefully be productive in the future. Young has sent his staff to monitor some of the top players in the country this past week with Chris Burgess attending the Peach Jam Tournament to see the No. 1 senior-to-be prospect AJ Dybantsa, who is living in St. George and has made an unofficial visit to Provo’s campus.
In the current 247Sports Class of 2024 recruiting rankings, BYU stands at No. 12 nationally with Young’s effort since being hired in April. The class includes Brody Kozlowski, Elijah Crawford, Kanon Catchings, Brooks Bahr, Egor Demin, Khadim Mboup, Mawot Mag and Keba Keita.
This week, I wrote a piece on how far BYU has come since the 1950s when athletic department officials and coaches had to lobby the administration to offer recruits scholarships to play.
Here are Jon Rothstein’s predictions on the league’s pecking order as he sees it and where the Cougars and Utes will finish. If the national columnist is correct in his prognostications, the Big 12 will be a loaded basketball conference this coming season.
Cougar Insider predictions
Question of the week: Puka Nacua’s rookie year with the Rams brought BYU a lot of publicity, and this year’s receiving corps is expected to be a strength of the offense in the wake of Nacua’s fame. Predict how Fesi Sitake’s receiver corps will stack up this season.
Jay Drew: Although there’s not a Puka Nacua among them, this group of BYU receivers is deep, talented and experienced. Nacua is a generational talent and probably not replaceable — this year or in years to come.
Collectively, however, guys like Chase Roberts, Darius Lassiter, Kody Epps and Keelan Marion should form the best group that Fesi Sitake has had in Provo. I believe they will flourish this season — if new offensive line coach TJ Woods can get his group of offensive linemen to give whoever is the starting QB time to throw.
Also, BYU needs to establish some sort of running game — it doesn’t have to be dominant, as it was when Tyler Allgeier was around a few years ago. But it has to be respectable, which will take some of the pressure off the receivers to carry the load every game. All indications are that the tight ends group will be collectively better, as Keanu Hill makes the move to that position, and big things are expected of Jackson Bowers, Ethan Erickson and Ryner Swanson. So yes, the receivers group will be successful — provided a few other positions do their part.
Dick Harmon: There are many pieces that must come together for receivers to reach their potential in an offense, but this group is capable of top-end play. They have size, speed and moves to go with solid experience. When you take one of the most proven, Keanu Hill, and move him to tight end, you still have a player capable of running receiver routes with his former mates. I think Kody Epps struggled last year for a myriad of reasons and he’s due. Keelan Marion and Chase Roberts have all the tools to deliver for the QB.
I like Darius Lassiter’s toughness, and JoJo Phillips has impressive athleticism. Parker Kingston, Dominique McKenzie and Cody Hagen have the speed Aaron Roderick needs to stretch the field sideline-to-sideline and deep.
Of course protection and a run game to elevate play of the QB is key. I believe the chemistry established by Roberts and company gives this group a chance to make huge plays. Mix that with some shifty abilities of backs targeted out of the backfield and this could be a significantly more effective offense than a year ago. That’s an easy baseline to beat.
Cougar tales
Kevin Young’s assistant explains how BYU got Egor Demin, a projected lottery pick in this piece by Jay Drew. According to Doug Robinson, Kenneth Rooks is a star to keep your eyes on in Olympic track news. Clayton Young’s long road to Paris is explained here.
From the archives
From the X-verse
Extra points
- Does Taysom Hill belong in Hall of Fame? (Deseret News)
- How Kevin Young spent first 3 months (Deseret News)
- Ranking QBs BYU will face (KSL Sports)
Fanalyst
Comments from Deseret News readers:
If BYU has a really good season, it will probably create a snowball effect, like Mark Few has done at Gonzaga. The Utah Prep pipeline to BYU would be awesome for the program. I’m more of a Utah fan, but if BYU can become dominant in basketball, it will go along with Utah’s football as fun teams to follow this fall.
— Montgomeryruss
Money isn’t the root of all evil, it’s the love of money that is. Look up the scripture in 1 Tim 6:10.
No harm in basketball players getting paid as much as they are worth, it’s a sport, that’s the market, if they want to prepare like the best and be the best they should be paid like the best.
The whole outrage about money is absurd.
Cam rising is being paid between $1M and $1.5M to play this year for the utes. I think the odds of reaching the CFP are probably 50% if rising stays healthy, that’s a wager that might be smart because the benefits of making the CFP would be worth multiple times what he’s being paid.
I’m cool with it on both sides.
— JoshfromLondon
Up next
Aug. 3 | 7 p.m. | W Soccer | Blue v. White | @ Provo
Aug. 7 | 7 p.m. | W Soccer | Utah Valley | @ Orem
Aug. 9 | 7 p.m. | W Soccer | Wyoming | @ Provo
Aug. 15 | 7 p.m. | W Soccer | Wisconsin | @ Provo