When new BYU basketball coach Kevin Young got the job last April and took a look at the Cougars’ 2024-25 nonconference schedule, one of the first things he noticed was a matchup with Wyoming at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
He was thrilled. Playing in NBA arenas as much as possible falls right in line with the NBA model that the former Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers assistant has been trying to establish at BYU since the day he arrived in Provo.
“Any time our guys can be around anything that is NBA-centric, I am all for,” Young said Wednesday night after the Cougars improved to 7-2 with a dominating 95-67 win over Fresno State.
BYU (7-2) and Wyoming (5-4) will renew their old Mountain West and WAC rivalry Saturday night (7 p.m. MST, ESPN+) at the home of the Utah Jazz.
“I think it is a good experience for those guys to play in a venue like that, and have that experience as a college player. I think it is pretty cool,” Young said.
The timing is almost perfect, as the Jazz will host the Suns on Friday night, which will give Young and his team a chance to watch his former team in action. They will also get to watch Will Hardy coach, after the Jazz leader attended the Fresno State game and watched from the sidelines with Jazz owner Ryan Smith.
Young said he knows Hardy “very well” and has “connected quite a bit” with him since he got the job eight months ago.
“We kinda grew up, him more than me, in the Spurs tree. Brett Brown, who I worked for in Philly, was with Will when he was a youngster in San Antonio. Then Monte Williams, and the whole thing. The Spurs tree is massive. I am just a small little step child of it,” Young said. “I know Will through that and he’s been great since I have gotten here. … That was really cool that they were there tonight.”
BYU blitzed Fresno State 85-56 at the Delta Center on Dec. 1 last year, then routed Wyoming 94-68 on Dec. 30 at the Marriott Center. The Cougars are scheduled to play the Pokes in Laramie next season, when the No. 1 high school recruit in the country, AJ Dybantsa, will be on the team.
What can BYU fans expect out of Dybantsa, who was introduced to the crowd of 15,950 at the Marriott Center during halftime on Wednesday?
“Just a lot of excitement,” Dybantsa said. “I mean, we are going to play to win. But just a lot of excitement.”
That’s a good description of what was going on Wednesday night, as the presence of Dybantsa, Hardy, BYU football coach Kalani Sitake and other dignitaries overshadowed the game, at times.
But two Cougar veterans, Trevin Knell and Richie Saunders, didn’t seem to mind. They combined for 39 points, 14 rebounds and two steals as BYU played without star freshman guard Egor Demin.
Young said Demin sustained a knee contusion in the 83-64 loss at Providence and will also sit out Saturday’s game in Salt Lake City. The Russian teenager is questionable for the pre-Christmas game (Dec. 20) against Florida A&M, and Young confirmed that they will bring the phenom back slowly, just as they did with Dallin Hall when he missed the first four games with a toe injury.
BYU opens Big 12 play against Arizona State on Dec. 31 (2 p.m. MST, ESPN2) at the Marriott Center, which is really when the Cougars will need to be at full strength. The Sun Devils (8-1) will face Florida on Saturday at the Holiday Hoopsgiving event in Atlanta.
Knell said not having Demin in the lineup Saturday won’t change how the Cougars play.
“Egor is a special kid. He is somebody that can really spread the floor for us. That is probably why I got more rebounds, because he wasn’t there,” Knell said. “He can pass the ball, he can shoot it, he can dribble. He is 6-9. He is a point guard first. He is a pass-first guy.
“And so, it was a little difficult (without him),” Knell continued. “But I have been playing with Richie for three years now, Dallin for three years, Fouss (Traore) for three years. We have already built something, like Richie said, so losing him was a step back, but we have already built something so it was kinda just next guy up mentality.”
Added Saunders: “This is what it is. It is a team. Stuff like (Demin’s injury) happens. It sucks. But, we got a team here. Next man up.”
Wednesday, that next man up was Dawson Baker, who added 14 points and four rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench. Dybantsa was impressed, saying he expects the Cougars to “go far” this season.
“AJ is a good dude,” Knell said. “… Yeah, he is a special kid. It is a really big get for us. Like coach Young has said, (the NBA experience of the coaching staff) is not hypothetical. We are here building players to go to the NBA. We have an NBA staff, NBA nutrition, NBA weightlifting. Go down the line. I think this is just another step.”
Saunders, a junior, said the signing of Dybantsa is a “really big deal” for the coaching staff, and also for the players who have gotten the program to the point where the top recruit in the country would even consider it.
“First off, I am right there with him for where he wants to be, and his career. There is no better place than BYU,” Saunders said. “Everything we do here, it is professional. Like, it is the NBA. He made history for our school. I am excited to hopefully get on the court with him next year.
