BROOKLYN — The NBA draft looks a bit different for Kevin Young these days.
During his time as an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns, Young spent draft night in the war room, huddled with other team decision-makers to discuss their board and determine who their selection would be.
But since entering the college ranks at BYU, the man known as “KY” has been in the thick of the draft’s glitz and glamor, walking the red carpet beforehand and watching each pick unfold up close from the draft floor.
He used to help choose which players would be drafted. Now, he’s a VIP guest of the players waiting to hear their names called on draft night.
“(Young) definitely put me in pro-style environments (on the floor). When I go to the Wizards and they start putting in certain plays, I’ll probably know some of them already from KY just helping me early.”
— AJ Dybantsa on BYU coach Kevin Young
Young was part of AJ Dybantsa’s Barclays Center entourage this year, as Dybantsa went first overall to the Washington Wizards to become BYU’s first-ever No. 1 pick and Washington’s new franchise centerpiece.
“It’s major, man. I think it’s great for the university, but more importantly, I’m just super happy for AJ and his family, number one,” Young told the Deseret News Tuesday night at the draft.
“It’s pretty remarkable to have a guy like him come to BYU in the first place, and then be the first pick in the draft. Super happy for him, and I’m excited to watch him with all the players in the NBA.”
Upon being hired by the Cougars in April of 2024, Young said his goal was to turn BYU into “the best place in college basketball to prepare young men to play in the NBA.”
Two years later, the initial results of such an effort haven’t just been impressive — they’ve been historic.
Egor Dëmin “got things kicked off,” to borrow Young’s words, when he was chosen eighth overall by the Brooklyn Nets last June. Dybantsa is now in D.C. as the No. 1 pick, and Richie Saunders was taken by the Memphis Grizzlies just two picks into Wednesday’s second round.
Of the 11 highest-drafted players from BYU since the NBA-ABA merger 50 years ago, three have come in the past 800 days since Young arrived in Provo.
In the two decades (2004-24) preceding Young’s hiring, three Cougar players were selected in the NBA draft, with none coming after 2011. Young has matched that number in just two years, including consecutive first rounders for the first time in program history.
Furthermore, only two schools produced top-10 draft selections in both 2025 and ‘26: Duke and BYU. There isn’t a much better gauge than that.
Young clearly believed in his vision, but is he surprised by how quickly it’s come to life?
“I didn’t really have a timeline on how things would jump up,” Young said with a laugh. “I think there’s just been a lot of continuity at the right time for the players, for me, for the Big 12, for NIL, and it all kind of swirled around at the right time.
“To have guys like AJ and Egor representing not only myself but our program and university, it’s amazing.”
As a rookie with the Nets, Dëmin averaged 10.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists across 52 games while shooting 39% from 3-point range.
Dybantsa famously led the nation in scoring at 25.5 points per game this past year, becoming the third BYU player to earn First Team All-America honors.
But Young’s best player development success story in Provo thus far has been Saunders, who rose from being a hustling glue guy off the bench to a legitimate first scoring option and two-time All-Big 12 selection during his time playing for Young.
Given how early he went in the second round, perhaps Saunders would have been a mid-to-late first rounder had he not torn his ACL in February, but Memphis coveted him to the point of reportedly refusing multiple offers to deal the No. 32 pick.
“(Richie)’s a guy that’s had to get out of the mud, kind of do it the hard way,” Young said. “I’m just super proud of him. He bought into everything we tried to do with him, embraced it head-on and was able to flourish.
“I think it was great timing, he was ready to take a jump and I think our system, style and the way we played really helped him in his jump. But he’s such a maniacal worker. To see it all come to fruition for him, man, as excited as I am for AJ (going No. 1), I’m equally excited for Richie as well.”
Dybantsa, of course, will be the new face of BYU’s NBA alumni and a worldwide ambassador for the university, with Young saying “you couldn’t ask for a better guy to do it.”
He’s also being handed the keys to Washington’s historically troubled franchise and trusted to lead the Wizards to better days ahead — another task where Young believes Dybantsa can excel.
“He’s primed for it just because I think his parents have done a great job raising him, they’ve clearly prepared him for the spotlight,” Young said, referring to Dybantsa’s potential to win with the Wizards.
“He knows how to act. He knows how to represent himself, his family and an organization. When you’re making a pick that (Washington) just made, you want somebody to come in and be the face of the franchise in so many different ways, not just on the court. That was something I said to every executive that asked me about him, ‘Look, you’re not going to find a better guy to represent your organization with how he carries himself.’ So I think he’s going to be phenomenal in that role.”
While he did commit to BYU as a five-star, top-rated high school prospect, Dybantsa’s improvement throughout his lone campaign with the Cougars was obvious, capping the year with a record-breaking Big 12 tournament showing and a 35-point, 10-rebound performance in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In addition to deepening his versatility, Young believes Dybantsa’s most crucial area of growth at BYU was his on-court maturity, especially in being coachable.
“When I watched him in high school, I just thought there was some stuff that he had to grow out of, and I think he did (at BYU). I thought his ability to read the game grew tremendously, and I’m personally the most proud of that. It’s something I think myself and our staff helped him quite a bit with, just how he sees the game and showing different reads.
“... We didn’t pull any punches, we told him how it was. That’s something I think he respected about the way we went about it, and I really think that’ll help him when he gets to the league, he’s going to know what to expect.”
In an exclusive draft night interview with the Deseret News, Dybantsa echoed Young’s sentiments, having expressed earlier in the night that he knew he “wanted to commit (to BYU) when I went on that (first) visit.”
“I think I showed my versatility this year at BYU, doing a little bit of everything. Scoring, rebounding, playing defense, just trying to be versatile,” Dybantsa said.
“(Young) definitely put me in pro-style environments (on the floor). When I go to the Wizards and they start putting in certain plays, I’ll probably know some of them already from KY just helping me early.”
