The first year in the Big 12 was a success for BYU basketball, and will now be led by Kevin Young as they try to make it back to back tournaments.
The tradition continues! CBB Review is again ranking the top 100 teams heading into the new college basketball season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: BYU basketball.
After back-to-back years finishing 5th in the WCC, many CBB fans expected the transition to be very tough for BYU basketball. That would not be the case. BYU won 23 games, including several ranked matchups, and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament. They would be shocked in the first round, losing to Dusquense, but everyone around the program was excited for the future of the new conference.
Then, the Kentucky job opened up, and they gave Mark Pope, a program alumni a call. He accepted, and BYU hired longtime basketball assistant Kevin Young. This was a terrific hire, and while many teams see mass exoduses when the coach leaves, Young got a lot of players to stay and brought in several key new pieces.
This BYU team was very balanced last year. Six players averaged between 9.0 and 10.9 points per game, and that balance made them lethal since anyone could go off on any given night. They are hoping to replicate that, and the return of four of those six will definitely help.
They are excited to see what they can get our of their two freshmen, Egor Demin and Kannon Catchings. Demin comes from Russia, and many scouts are excited to see what he can do at the college level. At 6-9, Catchings has a great six for a wing, and defensively they can definitely use him.
The Big 12 expanded once again, and it won’t be any easier, so they’ll have to be on their A-game every night. We know the fans will give them one of the better homecourt advantages in the country, so buy stock in this BYU team.
Click here to learn more about our preseason top 100 teams heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season.
Head coach: Kevin Young (1st season at BYU and overall)
2023-24 record: 23-11 (10-8)
2024 postseason finish: Lost to Duquesne (71-67) in first round of NCAA Tournament
Notable departures:
- Jaxson Robinson (14.2 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.3 APG)
- Spencer Johnson (10.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 3.3 APG)
- Noah Waterman (9.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 0.7 APG)
- Aly Khalifa (5.7 PPG, 4.0 APG, 3.7 RPG)
- Atiki Ally Atiki (4.0 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 0.3 APG)
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. Ole Miss (Nov. 28)
- vs. Purdue OR NC State (Nov. 29)
- at Providence (Dec. 3)
- vs. Fresno State (Dec. 11)
- vs. Wyoming (Dec. 14)
Projected Rotation
PG: Dallin Hall (6-4, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 9.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 5.1 APG, 1.0 SPG, 35.9 3P%
SG: Egor Demin (6-9, Fr.)
247Sports Composite #16 ranked recruit
SF: Richie Saunders (6-5, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 9.6 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.1 APG, 52.3 FG%, 36.4 3P%
PF: Fousseyni Traore (6-6, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 10.9 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 1.3 APG, 62.6 FG%
C: Keba Keita (6-8, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 8.3 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 0.6 APG, 1.1 BPG, 61.0 FG% (Utah)
6: Mawot Mag (6-7, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 9.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, 1.2 SPG (Rutgers)
7: Trevin Knell (6-5, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 10.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.3 APG, 38.5 3P%
8: Kannon Catchings (6-9, Fr.)
BYU Basketball team MVP: Dallin Hall
As we said earlier, this team’s success comes from their balance, and they didn’t do anything this offense to suggest it would be any different this time around. As the point guard though, the offense goes through him, and BYU’s offense was one of the best in the country last season. He finished 4th in the Big 12 in assists per game, and he can get streaky, hitting three or more threes nine times.
If Hall can do exactly what he did last year, BYU should be a tournament team.
BYU Basketball make-or-break player: Egor Denim
Denim is a super interesting prospect. He is a 6-9, 18-year-old Russian who played last year for Real Madrid. For those who don’t know, Real Madrid is the basketball team that NBA Superstar played for. In his short time with the team, he looked really promising, using his size to score, rebound, and assist at a high level.
Now, he’ll look to translate that to the college game. As a combo guard, he’ll be extremely difficult to guard, and that will be a huge advantage. He can be a leader from day 1 and not only shoot up the Big 12 rankings but the draft rankings as well. At 18 though, there might be a learning curve, and playing against 22, 23, and even 24-year-olds with years of experience could be tough for him. Make sure you tune into BYU games because Denim can be a must-watch player for BYU basketball.
Key analytic: Three-point attempts per game
Of the 362 Division 1 college basketball teams, BYU finished first in three-point attempts with 32 a game. As they say, three is worth more than two, and even if they’re not all going in, teams can stay in and win games with high volume of threes, which is exactly what Mark Pope did.
Pope is gone, and so is the best of their three-point shooters in Jaxson Robinson, so it’ll be interesting to see if that number goes down or if they keep jacking threes. They have the guys to do it, so it wouldn’t be surprising.
BYU Basketball 2024-25 projections
Projected conference finish: 9th in the Big 12
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Round of 32 Exit