It’s still April, but Kevin Young’s summer is already heating up with word that one of his biggest stars will return next season. Richie Saunders declared Saturday through his Instagram account that he is returning to BYU and will team up with AJ Dybantsa next season.
Saunders, a First Team All-Big 12 selection, isn’t even taking a sniff at the enticing NBA or any of its pre-draft workouts. Instead, he and his wife Sierra will rest and recover from a spectacular season, replenish their supply of Tater Tots with a new NIL agreement, and refocus his quest to take the Cougars to places they have never been before.
F. Nephi Grigg, co-founder of Ore-Ida Potatoes, Richie’s great-grandfather, invented Tater Tots. Once word got out about their family history, the red-hot Saunders was aptly nicknamed the “Tater Tot King” and Ore-Ida rewarded him with an NIL deal.
For Young, securing Saunders is a big piece in the new puzzle he and his staff are putting together. Saunders, Dybantsa and Keba Keita give him three major building blocks to have some fun with next season.
“I’d definitely like to play with him. If he comes back, I think we’ll be something special.”
— AJ Dybantsa on Richie Saunders
The transfer portal editions of Rob Wright III (Baylor), Dominique Diomande (Washington) and the reported adding of Kennard Davis Jr. (Southern Illinois) add excitement to the program, and there will be others, but retaining Saunders was crucial for keeping the Cougars as contenders both in the Big 12 and on the national stage.
Saunders is the poster boy for what hard work can do and how much a player can change their game from one season to the next. The difference between his sophomore and junior years is as dramatic as a team getting beat in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to a squad advancing to the Sweet 16.
The numbers don’t lie.
Saunders’ transformation as a bench guy to the big guy reads like this: From last season to this one, his starts went from one to 35; his minutes increased from 704 to 1,030; his points jumped from 9.6 to 16.5; his made 3-point shots spiked from 36 to 79; and his percentage improved from .364 to .432; his free-throw percentage swelled from .712 to .835.
Rebounds, steals, assists and wins also went up during Saunders’ third season as BYU stunned the Big 12 with a third-place finish and marched as deep into the NCAA Tournament as any Cougar team has gone since 2011.
There is a lot of credit to pass around for a player rotation that went 11-deep, but Saunders was different — and consistent.
The Riverton, Utah, product, who split his high school career with the Silverwolves and Wasatch Academy, fired up Big 12 play with a career-high 30 points against Arizona State on New Year’s Eve — and he was just getting started.
As BYU heated up down the stretch of the regular season, Saunders caught fire. He scored 22 in the Cougars’ 91-57 victory against No. 23 Kansas; four days later he scored 23 and made two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to win at No. 19 Arizona, 96-95.
BYU completed the Arizona sweep a few days later when Saunders scored 26 to beat the Sun Devils for a second time. Twice he led the Cougars in scoring against No. 10/12 Iowa State — scoring 23 in the 88-85 overtime win in Ames and 23 in the 96-92 victory in the Big 12 Tournament.
In the NCAA Tournament, Saunders remained No. 17 BYU’s high-point man with 16 in its 80-71 win against VCU and he scored 25 during the Cougars’ 91-89 victory against No. 13 Wisconsin to reach the Sweet 16. Saunders added another 25 in BYU’s 113-88 loss against hot-shooting No. 7 Alabama.
It is no wonder why Dybantsa, the nation’s No. 1 recruit, didn’t hesitate to praise Saunders earlier this month at the McDonald’s All-American Game.
“I’d definitely like to play with him,” Dybantsa said. “If he comes back, I think we’ll be something special.”
Saunders made it official Saturday — he’s coming back. The decision is special for more than just his family, Dybantsa and Cougar Nation. It’s also a big deal for potato farmers who have watched Saunders popularity put Tater Tots back on the menu.
Yes, it’s still April, but summer is off to a good start for Young and his staff. Losing Egor Demin to the NBA draft was an expected departure, but Saunders, Dybantsa and Keita are in — and with newcomers on the way, expectations for next season are already soaring.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.