What a difference 92 days can make. 92 days ago, Mark Pope left BYU for his dream job at Kentucky. That sparked a number of transfers out of the BYU basketball program. With a new head coach in Kevin Young at the helm, the roster has been completely re-constructed in three months. Today, we’re taking an updated look at the BYU basketball roster now that it is finalized for the upcoming season.
Spencer Johnson is the only other contributor from last season that is out of eligibility. The rest of the departing players transferred out of the program.
BYU lost a few critical players like Jaxson Robinson, Aly Khalifa, and Noah Waterman to the transfer portal. Ironically, all three of them ended up in the state of Kentucky. Atiki Ally Atiki would have been nice to have as a third-string center for his size, but Atiki sought out a more substantial role elsewhere.
Six scholarship players from last season will be on the roster next season. Dallin Hall and Richie Saunders entered the transfer portal when Mark Pope left. They returned after Kevin Young was hired.
BYU will feature a lot of newcomers next season, which means the returning players will play an especially critical role in terms of continuity. BYU exceeded expectations last season thanks to the individual development of players up and down the roster. BYU needs more of that to take a step forward next season. Dallin Hall, for example, could elevate BYU’s offense if he could become a more consistent scoring threat around the rim. Richie Saunders would be very hard to take off the court if he could increase his three-point shooting percentage. Saunders improved from 33% as a freshman to 36% as a sophomore. He does so many things well. If he could shoot just under 40% from three, he would make BYU a better basketball team.
The 2024 recruiting class could go down as the most talented in BYU hisotry, and Kevin Young only had a handful of weeks to put it together. In that short time, he picked up four-star recruits Elijah Crawford, Brody Kozlowski, and Kanon Catchings. The most impressive recruiting win was Egor Demin – a projected lottery pick in the 2025 class. Lastly, BYU added a high-ceiling player in NBA Academy Africe standout Khadim Mboup.
Despite the need to completely revamp the roster, BYU used the transfer portal very sparringly. BYU brought in only two players from the transfer portal. Most importantly, BYU found a rim-running big in Utah transfer Keba Keita. Keita is a candidate to start right away for BYU. The Cougars also signed veteran Rutgers transfer Mawot Mag. Mag will elevate the BYU defense in his final season of eligibility.
