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In the coming days, BYU will find out if guards Egor Demin and Richie Saunders will return for another season in Provo or head for the NBA, and that will trigger how Kevin Young attacks the transfer portal, which closes April 22.
The news BYU got a commitment from Washington transfer and former France professional, 6-foot-7 wing player Dominique Diomande is a good starting spot for Young’s staff. That it came quickly after BYU’s exit from the NCAA Tournament shows that his staff has been aware of Diomande for some time.
Here is a video clip of Diomande and his skills. He is projected to be a top-50 player in the NBA draft, but he is young and has yet to play college basketball in the United States.
It’s early in the recruiting process with the transfer portal and BYU picked up Diomande just two days after he entered the portal. He is leaving a program at Washington coached by former Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle.
Diomande appears to be a great addition athletically. Defenses will have to account for him when projected No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa is also on the court. If Saunders returns, it will put tremendous pressure on defenders.
This will be a fun offseason to witness what exactly Young does in Year 2 of his job at BYU.
Here is our coverage and commentary from BYU’s run to the Sweet 16 and loss to Alabama:
- Kevin Young looks back at his first year (Jackson Payne)
- Saunders working himself into NBA material (Jay Drew)
- Loss to Bama stings, but Young just getting started (Dick Harmon)
- BYU seniors reflect on season, loss (Jackson Payne)
- Alabama’s record 25 3-pointers doom Cougars (Jay Drew)
- What Alabama’s coach said about win over BYU (Jackson Payne)
Question of the week
BYU’s unexpected march to the Sweet 16 in Kevin Young’s first season was impressive. Where do you expect Young will take the Cougars in his second year?
Jay Drew: BYU has already lost two players to the transfer portal as of this writing, Kanon Catchings and Elijah Crawford. From what I am hearing, there could be a few more. So making any predictions at this point in the calendar year is probably futile.
I will say that Young has certainly shown that he can take a roster of veterans and newcomers, get the players to work together, and produce a winning product. With the backing of the administration (read: NIL support), I see no reason to believe, however, that Young can’t keep the ball rolling. Of course, having AJ Dybantsa in the fold will certainly help.
If Young can keep 2025 mainstays such as Keba Keita, Richie Saunders, Egor Demin, Dallin Hall, Mihailo Boskovic and Dawson Baker around, the sky is the limit.
Dick Harmon: This time a year ago Kevin Young had players in the portal and scrambled to assemble a squad that would ultimately finish tied for third in the Big 12 and make the NCAA’s Sweet 16. Right now he needs to find a post player who can score like Fousseyni Traore off the pick and roll and two-man game. AJ Dybantsa will pick up a big part of that, but a mature post player who is already developed is a must. So is an elite guard with handles who can compete with the league’s best defenders and scorers.
Young has proven he can put a tough, hardworking team on the floor and he did create an elite scoring team. The next step is to keep that momentum offensively, but also lift BYU up to being a far better defensive team. The Cougars struggled to shut down 3-point shooters and the dam broke in Alabama’s record 25 3-point performance against the Cougars. Mike DeCoursy of Sporting News said before that game he ranked BYU 10th of the 16, but if BYU had won the championship it would have been with the worst defense in a quarter century.
Look for Young to bring in some defensive help, players with size, speed, length and lateral quickness. He’s been great at developing Richie Saunders, Egor Demin, Mawot Mag, Keba Keita and others, but he’ll need to find some immediate help in the portal to make this defensive step.
Cougar tales
Kalani Sitake believes BYU football players are in better condition than a year ago after concluding spring football drills this past weekend. In this story by Jay Drew, Sitake declared he can see the results.
“We are further ahead now than we were last year, in the weight room, and our test scores and everything that we are seeing from the strength gains and the bodies, and the muscle mass compared to the fat,” Sitake said. “I think guys are in a much better place now.”
Former Cougar and longtime women’s assistant coach Lee Cummard was named head women’s basketball coach, and here is our summary of the hire. Here is what Cummard said at his announcement press conference.
BYU’s men busted the school’s 2x200 meter relay at the Texas Relays.
BYU football gets commitment from four-star linebacker Nusi Taumoepeau, a linebacker who signed at Stanford last December. Also, a top-rated 6-foot-7 tight end from Colorado announced he will sign with BYU.
In basketball, the Cougars added Washington redshirt freshman forward Dominique Diomande from France. Cougar hoops have two freshmen, Kanon Catchings and Elijah Crawford, who put their names into the transfer portal. Reports say BYU will get a visit from a prized Georgia shooting guard.
From the archives
From the X-verse
Extra points
- Where Sweet 16 team starters began careers (Deseret News)
- Alumni game highlights stars, Navy beats Royal blue (Deseret News)
- Volleyball seeking consistency midseason (Deseret News)
Fanalysts
Comments from Deseret News readers:
BYU was never going to get to the Promised Land following the Pope but can get there following a Young.
— BroomHockeyChamp
Saunders plays bigger than 6′5″. I think his defense is adequate, but his hustle and his rebounding more than compensate for any deficiencies in his defense.
What impresses me most about Saunders is his uncanny ability to markedly improve himself over a short period of time as evinced by his going from a bench player to best on the team (and 1st Team All-Conference) in one year and his foul shooting over the past 6 weeks of the season. It is quite conceivable (likely?) that he could be even better next year with BYU than he is now. I, for one, would love to see him stick around next year and I think his NBA stock would soar.
— IdaBlue
To continue to play man to man with a team that was clearly going to slaughter BYU with threes was a mistake. 111 points. Giving them layups all night would not have produced 111 points. Coaches take note. Every team, almost every player, can shoot threes. What coach is going to develop the defense that forces different shots? What coach will be ready with a team that can do more than shoot threes and defend against teams that rely heavily on them? Richie Saunders was the heart and soul of that team. NBA? Questionable. 6′9″ makes him a star. 6′5″, not so much. NIL money will ruin sports and has definitely pushed the worship of someone dribbling a basketball to obscene heights.
— LightandLiberty
Up next
- April 2 | 2 p.m. | Women’s gymnastics | Utah State | @ Salt Lake City
- April 3 |3 p.m. | Softball | Iowa State | @ Ames, Iowa
- April 4-5 | Track and field | Stanford Invitational | @ Stanford, California
- April 4-5 | Track and field | Triton Invitational | @ San Diego, California
- April 14 | TBA | Men’s golf | Western Intercollegiate, Santa Cruz