One of Kevin Young’s greatest challenges in his first year as BYU’s head basketball coach was dishing out playing time to all the players who deserved to be on the floor in 2024-25.
That challenge could get even more difficult in 2025-26, as the second-year college coach has again assembled a roster that could easily go 12 players deep, maybe more.
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These are the Utah County Cougars no more, with apologies to the likes of Trey Stewart, Tyler and TJ Haws, Jackson and Nick Emery, Spencer Johnson, Kyle Collinsworth, Eric Mika, Gavin Baxter, Brandon Davies, Nate Austin, Skyler Halford and Josh Sharp, among others.
Those were talented players and some of the best BYU could get when the focus was on recruiting local guys and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But those weren’t the kind of players that could win WCC championships, let alone a Big 12 title.
The one under construction in Provo probably fits that description, although supplanting the likes of Houston, Kansas, Iowa State and Texas Tech won’t be easy. Those squads are all getting better, too, at least on paper.
BYU’s team hasn’t done anything yet, and some brake-pumping may be in order until they actually surpass what other BYU teams have done, but this group gathering this late spring and summer in Provo has the potential to be the most talented team the school has ever featured.
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With the addition of 6-foot-3 guard Nate Pickens from UC Riverside last week, all the heavy lifting is pretty much done for Young and his staff as they’ve gone about ensuring that the upcoming season’s team is as talented, if not more so, than last year’s Sweet 16 crew.
Of course, the return of Richie Saunders and the addition of the No. 1 or No. 2 high school recruit in the country, AJ Dybantsa, pretty much assured that. Saunders and Dybantsa are going to be two of the top 25 players in the country in 2025-26, it would appear, and Dybantsa could be next year’s Cooper Flagg — the projected top pick in the NBA draft.
With the transfer portal having closed a couple weeks ago and 2025 acquisitions slowly trickling into town — Baylor transfer Rob Wright announced Monday on social media that he has made it to Provo — Young took some time to thank the players with eligibility remaining who decided to enter the transfer portal and move on — point guards Dallin Hall and Elijah Crawford, wing Kanon Catchings and walk-on Townsend Tripple. Hall landed at Virginia, Crawford at Illinois-Chicago, and Catchings at Georgia.
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“I wish those guys well. They gave us a lot of blood, sweat and tears. They gave us a really great season and a lot of those guys were a big part of it, even if their contributions didn’t show in games,” Young told KSL News Radio recently. “Like, Elijah Crawford was unbelievable in practice and I still have a great relationship with him. He just texted me the other day. … Dallin, obviously, was a huge part of what BYU has done. Kanon, going back to that Baylor game, will be forever entrenched in my mind.”
Retaining Richie Saunders, Keba Keita and Dawson Baker was key
The aforementioned Saunders announced on April 28 — two days after Young spoke to KSL Sports’ Mitch Harper and Matt Baiamonte about the importance of getting him back — that he was returning to BYU as the Cougars’ leading scorer from the team that won 26 games before falling 113-88 to hot-shooting Alabama in New Jersey.
“I am in constant communication with him and his advisors and excited for his future,” Young said on April 26. “It is a different day and age, where staying in college can be advantageous on many levels. I think he is a smart young man. He is aware of that. He is going to be in a really good spot.”
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Also back are starting center Keba Keita, backup combo guard Dawson Baker, backup post/power forward Mihailo Boskovic, seldom-used freshman Brody Kozlowski and 6-foot-9 freshman Khadim Mboup, who redshirted after joining the program in December from NBA Academy Africa and Senegal.
Young said it will be intriguing to see which players who elected to stay and avoid the “grass is greener on the other side syndrome” will make the kind of jump that Saunders made in his third season at BYU.
“Brody had injuries last year that he dealt with and now he is going to have a full summer ahead where he can work on his game. Dawson Baker dealt with injuries all last summer as well. He is a guy we feel can make a jump.”
BYU center Xavion Staton in action during the first day of spring practice, May 5, 2025, at the Marriott Center Annex in Provo. | Nate Edwards, BYU Photo
Young said Mboup has hit the weight room hard under the direction of men’s basketball director of strength, conditioning and sports science Michael Davie and added 19 pounds of muscle.
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“He is very impressive from that standpoint. Just a big-time worker,” Young said of the teenager from Senegal.
Young said the 6-8 Kozlowski “has a track record of being able to shoot the basketball” from his days at Draper’s Corner Canyon High and is already working with director of player development Jordan Brady to improve other parts of his game.
“We think a lot of guys can make a jump within our program,” Young said.
Walk-ons Jared McGregor and Max Triplett — valuable practice players — are also on track to return.
Young talks about the big transfer portal additions
As of Tuesday, BYU’s 2025-26 roster included 15 players, a list that includes Southern Illinois guard Kennard Davis, although the 16.3-point scorer for the Salukis last season has not been officially announced by BYU as having signed with the school.
BYU head coach Kevin Young coaches during the first day of spring practice, May 5, 2025, a the Marriott Center Annex. | Nate Edwards, BYU Photo
Davis committed on April 25. Since then, the Cougars have also added Idaho’s Tyler Mrus and UC Riverside’s Pickens, and announced their signings, Mrus on May 5 and Pickens on May 8.
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Mrus (pronounced: muh-RUSS) started 32 games for the Vandals over the course of two seasons and scored 17 points against BYU last November in the Marriott Center.
“Tyler can really shoot the basketball and will help us spread the floor, which fits seamlessly with how we like to play,” Young said. “He loves the challenge of competing on the defensive end as well.”
Pickens was at UC Riverside for three seasons and scored more than 700 points as a Highlander. He averaged 9.8 points per game last season and shot 39.2% from 3-point range.
“Nate brings a level of experience and toughness that we were looking to add,” Young said. “His ability to knock down shots from 3 and play on and off the ball will fit well with our group. He is a high-level defender who has the strength and athleticism needed to defend guys in our league.”
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Of course, Baylor’s Rob Wright, the No. 24 recruit in the 2024 ESPN Top 100, was BYU’s first key transfer portal addition in the 2025 cycle, signing on April 14.
“Adding a guy like Rob to take over the point guard situation (from Egor Demin) in a lot of ways was the best-case scenario. He is one of the best point guards in the country,” Young told KSL. “I think he is just a really good floor general who will help navigate our talented roster, quite frankly. We feel like he is the perfect man for the job.”
Washington’s Dominique Diomande signed on April 24 and is expected to fill the shoes of defensive specialist Mawot Mag, who exhausted his eligibility.
The AJ Dybantsa era — probably one year — begins at BYU
Before Young and company jumped into the transfer portal at the same time the Cougars were making their Sweet 16 run, they had already made the biggest splash of the recruiting cycle by landing Dybantsa, beating the likes of Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and Alabama for the 6-9 superstar’s services.
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BYU signed two other prep stars from the 2025 class — Orem’s Chamberlain Burgess and Las Vegas center Xavion Staton.
Burgess, nephew of BYU assistant coach Chris Burgess, will begin serving a church mission in El Paso, Texas, in July. Dybantsa and Staton arrived at BYU in late April and are already enrolled in spring block classes.
Young said the early plan for Dybantsa is to “get his feet wet” and get him into the strength and conditioning program and start teaching him the coaching staff’s concepts. Dybantsa will spend a lot of the summer traveling with Team USA.
“As the summer winds down, we will have him here on campus more and get him up to speed,” Young said.
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It is early, but it appears the 7-foot Staton will compete for playing time with the 6-10 Boskovic to back up Keita.
“We love his defensive-minded approach and are excited about him anchoring our defense,” Young said of the rim protector who was a consensus four-star recruit and the No. 1 recruit from the state of Nevada. “Offensively, he fits in perfectly to our style of play and gives us an elite athlete with great size.”
A few position projections
Here’s how the Deseret News projects the BYU basketball lineup to look in 2025-26:
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Point guard: Rob Wright — Dawson Baker — Nate Pickens
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Shooting guard: *Kennard Davis — Dominique Diomande
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Wing/small forward: Richie Saunders — Tyler Mrus
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Power forward/wing: AJ Dybantsa, Brody Kozlowski, Khadim Mboup
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Post: Keba Keita, Mihailo Boskovic, Xavion Staton
* BYU has not officially announced Davis’ signing
The BYU basketball team practices during the first day of spring workouts, May 5, 2025, a the Marriott Center Annex. | Nate Edwards, BYU Photo
