The BYU Basketball Renaissance: A New Era of Excellence

It’s time to have a serious conversation about BYU’s 2024-25 basketball squad being the most talented in the history of the program. Imagine saying that on April 16 when BYU had five scholarship players on the roster and no head coach. But before we have that conversation, it’s time to workshop a hot take before the season even starts: the hiring of Kevin Young is the most significant hire in BYU basketball history, and second only to Lavell Edwards for the most significant hire in BYU athletics history.

For context, it’s time for a brief history lesson. BYU basketball has built a rather illustrious history with historically limited talent. Over the last 50 years, BYU has been to the NCAA 24 times despite producing only 11 top 60 NBA draft picks over that time frame. Dave Rose’s run from 2007-2015 is perhaps the golden era of BYU basketball with 8 tournament appearances, a sweet-16 run, and a Wooden Award on the backs of 2 NBA draft picks during his tenure.

BYU Basketball

On the recruiting front, signing blue-chip recruits just wasn’t something BYU did, and that makes sense. BYU’s institutional limitations haven’t made BYU the most attractive of choices for NBA-level talent outside of BYU’s natural pool of LDS athletes. Even then, the Jabari Parkers and Frank Jacksons of the world preferred the Dukes of the world to little ole Provo. Since the dawn of the recruiting ranking era (about 2004), BYU had signed 8 4-star high school recruits in their history.

“The future of the program has never been brighter, a sentence I dared not utter when Mark Pope left for Kentucky.”

Mark Pope’s efforts went a long way to change that history through the transfer portal by bringing in former high school blue-chip prospects like Alex Barcello and Jaxson Robinson. Still, BYU remained an afterthought for the most talented high school recruits in the country.

Then one day, BYU hired a head coach who was blissfully ignorant as to what kind of player BYU is allowed to sign. In the two months since his hire, Kevin Young and his band of head coach quality assistants have yet to sign anything short of a 4-star recruit. He brought back starters Dallin Hall and Richie Saunders who each received 4-star transfer ratings from 247. Elite defensive big men Keba Keita and Mawot Mag joined the fray from Power-4 programs in quick succession. His first two high school signings, Brody Kozlowski and Elijah Crawford, are two of the top 10 signings in program history according to 247 sports.

Kevin Young

In any other offseason, these signings alone would constitute the wildest of BYU fans’ blue-goggled fantasies. In any other offseason, losing players as talented as Colin Chandler and Jaxson Robinson to the transfer portal would constitute the darkest of BYU fans’ collective nightmares. That offseason is not this offseason. BYU has produced two draft picks in the last 20 years. They thought they lost 2 in the span of 20 days. They may have signed 2 in the last 20 hours.

One cannot overstate the recent commitments of Egor Demin and Kanon Catchings. Both are projected first-round picks, and both are easily the two most talented players to wear a BYU uniform the moment they step on campus. Assuming Demin receives a recruit rating suitable of his NBA draft stock, BYU will likely end up with a top 10 recruiting class, sandwiched between the likes of Kansas and Texas, and easily the best in the history of the program.

There is a myriad of groups to thank for the last two months. An athletic director and booster who dreamed big enough to shoot for a future NBA head coach as the next hire, a new crop of assistants boasting high-level recruiting and NBA pedigree, and a slew of NIL donors who have given BYU some of the deepest pockets in the sport. Each of these groups have produced a new era in the town BYU’s staff has dubbed #PROvo. This is a new era where BYU is no longer limited by traditional talent pools and frugal spending. An era that no longer accepts a ceiling of 3-star recruits and first-round NCAA tournament exits. The future of the program has never been brighter, a sentence I dared not utter when Mark Pope left for Kentucky.

Am I too bullish on a team that has yet to even practice as a full roster? Perhaps, but there is no room for realism when BYU signs 2 top 40 players in two days. Who knows what the future will bring, but the message from Kevin Young and company is clear: Whatever your hopes, and whatever your standards are for BYU basketball, dream bigger.