Between adding a number of notable transfers, searching for a starting center, and both AJ Dybantsa and Richie Saunders being selected in the NBA draft, it’s been an eventful offseason for BYU.
But the most stunning story of the summer belongs to Rob Wright III, the rising junior point guard and lone returning Cougars starter.
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In a Powder League pro-am game this past week, Wright scored an eye-popping 101 points — and quickly went viral online for it.
Wright shot 32 of 55 (58%) from the field and made 14 3-pointers to cross the century mark and break the Powder League’s single-game scoring record. Unless Wright goes for 102 points in a future outing, it’s safe to say his record won’t be broken.
The 101-point outburst now serves as a timely reminder that amid all of BYU’s intriguing roster additions for the coming campaign, no move carries more importance than that of Kevin Young and his staff recruiting Wright out of the transfer portal to return for another year in Provo.
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With Dybantsa and Saunders no longer by his side, Wright now finds himself as the captain of BYU’s ship; the face of the program. He’ll be tasked with leading a roster of nearly a dozen new faces while also leveling up his own individual game.
“BYU returns, in my opinion, a guy who I think is going to be like a rocket ship this season, Rob Wright,” said CBS college basketball insider Jon Rothstein on the “Inside College Basketball Now” podcast.
“No AJ Dybantsa, no Richie Saunders, Wright takes the baton in Provo … BYU should be again an NCAA Tournament team for the third-straight year under Kevin Young.”
Not only did Rothstein tab Wright as a “rocket ship,” but he also lobbied for him to be named Preseason Player of the Year in the Big 12 and make the Preseason All-America team.
“He was sensational statistically last year playing off Richie Saunders, playing off AJ Dybantsa. He’s older, he’s more seasoned, he’s more grizzled, and now all of a sudden he takes the baton,” Rothstein said.
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“Rob Wright will start the ’26-’27 season as a preseason All-American, and he has a chance again to have a terrific season under Kevin Young with BYU, with Collin Chandler on the wing and with Bruce Branch on the wing.”
No returning player in the Big 12 scored more points last season than Wright, who finished fifth in the conference with 632 total points at an average of 18.1 per game.
Wright also shot 41% from 3-point range and dished out 4.6 assists per game, logging 13 outings of 20+ points and 15 others of five or more assists.
With what projects to be an improved cast of shooters around Wright, he should see his assist numbers go up this year.
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BYU’s deeper roster — it will likely be more similar to the Cougars’ Sweet 16 team of 2025 than last season’s “Brig 3″ — could also allow Wright to attract fewer double-teams or heavy defensive attention as opponents defend BYU more honestly.
Wright has already proven he can get into the paint at will and shoot from the outside at a near-elite clip, so having more space to operate and more options around him could create a path for him to be “the best point guard in college basketball,” as Young has often called him.
“I think he’s really matured. I think he’s primed to take on a bigger role across the spectrum of our team,” Young said of Wright in June.
“He’s a guy I think that’s really ready to make a big jump, so we couldn’t have been more thrilled to get him back.”
BYU head coach Kevin Young talks with guard Robert Wright III (1) at the end of a timeout during a game against Iowa State held at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
