BYU Basketball 24-25-Bring out the Jelly!

[Omaha 680]

The lifelong fan in me cannot really process this. It feels like Lucy is still gonna pull the football somehow.

My cousin texted me the news of this latest commit. My response was "what dimension are we in? The one I grew up in does not allow BYU to do what we have done over the past 6 months."

[Goatnapper'96]

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I really like this pickup. He was MVP of the Euro under 20 tournament two, maybe 3, years ago. I think this kid is a marginal NBA 2nd round draft pick IMO. I kind of categorize him like Trent Plaisted but with more perimeter game. He is more of a pure 4 in that he is comfortable in the post and has the size and strength to rebound and potentially even play the 5 if needed but has the skills and athleticism to play on the perimeter, penetrate off the dribble and shoot the 3. IMO, he makes BYU a much bigger team as with him on the roster and in the rotation Catchings likely moves all his minutes to the perimeter as a 3. That likely bumps Demin to seeing more time as a 2 and perhaps even as a PG. Depending on how well Catchings, Saunders, Demin and Baker can shoot the bowling pins affect might mean less minutes for both Knell and Crawford-but time will tell as I really have no clue what the hell I am talking about. I figure this kid's timeline is two years at BYU and then a hopefully run at the NBA and if that doesn't materialize back to the European Pro leagues for 10 years.

The only thing I liked more about M-bopp over this Serb, above and beyond the fact that there is a much higher probability M-bopp is not related to a war criminal, was M-bopp's name. M-bopp may have a higher ceiling, and M-bopp may not yet be lost for BYU, but I think this kid is much more ready to play immediately and he brings things this BYU roster is more in need of.

[byufan4ever]

Here it is, my long awaited analysis of our roster for this upcoming season. I'm by no means a professional basketball analyst, but I am a [finance] analyst by trade and I did play HS basketball (haha, that totally makes my opinion valid now). I could be way off, but here are the thoughts of one passionate BYU basketball fan. Enjoy.

BYU Basketball Projected Starters 2024-25
1. Dallin Hall
2. Trevin Knell
3. Egor Demin
4. Kanon Catchings
5. Keba Keita

The Rotation
Fousseyni Traore
Richie Saunders
Boskovic Mihailo
Mawot Mag
Dawson Baker
Elijah Crawford

Point Guard
Dallin Hall 6-4 Junior – He’s the undisputed PG and I think that he’s going to thrive with all of this talent around him. He’ll need to be consistent with his shooting, especially if Demin is going to be handling the ball as much as people think he will be. He could slide over and play some SG or we just roll with two legit PGs on the court at the same time. I wouldn’t be surprised to see both his PPG and assists go up from last season.

Elijah Crawford 6-2 Freshman – A bit on the small side, but he’s a 4 star recruit who is a great distributor, but can also shoot and drive to the hoop. With Denim likely playing some PG, and Hall possibly playing 30+ minutes, it’s going to be hard for Crawford to see the court, especially if the rotation gets smaller come conference time. VTF is very high on him and thinks that he’ll see some PT this season as a true freshman.

Trey Stewart 6-2 Senior – He’s only going to get PT in a blowout or with an injury or two. He’s had his chance and with a roster this talented, he’s simply going to be near the end of the bench. I like him as a person and he did show some good defense down the stretch last season, but he just hasn’t lived up to his hype.

Shooting Guard
Trevin Knell 6-5 Graduate Senior – I had a hard time deciding who to put as the starter here, but if he can be a consistent 3 point threat and up his defense, I think he deserves a chance to start. He may still only be a 20 minute per game player, but I think he can make the most of it. He doesn’t need to do too much, “just” knock down open 3s.

Dawson Baker 6-4 RS-Junior – I’m really high on Baker. He can score in a variety of ways, including the lost mid-range jumper. But the big question is, how will last season’s foot injury affect him? He could be first off the bench or get no playing time at all, and I think it all depends on how healthy he is.

Jared McGregor 6-3 Junior – Don’t expect to really see him at all, but he has shot 44.4% from 3 point range in garbage time over two years.

Small Forward
Egor Demin 6-9 Freshman – A lot of people have Demin pegged as the starting SG, but at 6-9, I just have a hard time with that. Add to that he is known first as a terrific passer and ball handler, and only as an ok shooter. To me that makes him a perfect SF. He got a 5 star rating from 247 Sports. Also, make sure your pronounce his name correctly, haha.

Richie Saunders 6-5 Junior – I’d love to see him take his game to the next level and really compete for a starting spot. But where? Maybe at SG over Knell, but if so, he needs to develop a more reliable jump shot and ability to score. Right now he’s a glue guy that plays bigger than his size. He’s one of my favorite players, but he needs to step up his game to get some decent PT on this roster.

Mawot Mag 6-7 Graduate Senior – He’s rated as a 4-star transfer by 247 sports. He’s a defensive specialist, but rather lacking in shooting. Has played both the 3 and the 4 at Rutgers. Some think he’ll start at PF, and maybe he will at first, but I just think other younger talent will win out.

Brody Kozlowski 6-7 Freshman – Can play PF, but is a bit skinny and is a good shooter so ideally he’s a SF at this level. I think he’s a bench warmer this season, but as a 4-star recruit he has a ton of potential.

Power Forward
Kanon Catchings 6-9 Freshman – If Mag gets the start early on, I’m thinking Catchings starts at some point. His 14.4 PPG at Overtime Elite don’t scream elite, but he shot the ball well and he’s very versatile. I saw his interview on BYU SN and he’s very chill and even a bit shy in front of the camera (not saying that’s bad). Hopefully he shows more fire on the court and lets his play do his talking.

Boskovic Mihailo 6-10 ?? – He’s not listed on BYU’s basketball roster…yet. He could also potentially start at PF. He’s 22 and has already played professionally in Europe for a few seasons. I gotta think he’s going to get some serious minutes.

Khadim Mbouup 6-9 Freshman – Also not on BYU roster as of right now. He was originally part of the 2025 class…maybe he comes as a walk-on or maybe not until next season, or maybe not at all. In any case, I think he’s pretty raw and won’t see hardly any minutes.

Townsend Tripple 6-8 Sophomore – Has played pretty well in his limited minutes, but I think the honest truth is that his potential is just not as high as most of the other players on the roster.

Center
Keba Keita 6-8 Junior – I think he’s a better version of Atiki. Not a back to the basket big tall center, but he’s very athletic and Coach Young will probably try to play up-tempo. If he can improve on his stats from his time at Utah, I think we have a good player for two seasons.

Fousseyni Traore 6-6 Senior – Because of his size I keep saying that he’d make a great PF alongside a true C. However, he has the best post moves on the team, and just hasn’t shown that he can extend his shooting range, so he has to play down low. He can be the starter, but with his injury history and the addition of Keita, I see him being one of the first players off the bench. If he’s playing well he could get 20+ minutes a game.

Max Triplett 6-9 Junior – He is a traditional big man who can score inside and grab rebounds, but has limited shooting range. He’s a walk-on JUCO transfer from Snow. While another big man is always nice, he’s going to be pretty far down on the bench. So we have a Tripple and a Triplett on the team? Haha.

[Pelado]

Tripple and Triplett and don't forget Trey.

Thanks for the write-up.

I am really curious to see how the coaching staff deploys this roster.

[myboynoah]

Thanks a lot, bff!.

Dang, when Pope took the Kentucky job, I could never have possibly dreamed that we would be here with this lineup.

Just so wild.

[Bo Diddley]

Awesome. Thanks!

[BigPiney]

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[BlueK]

KY is using a recruiting approach that has rarely even been tried before at any school. Historically there has been very limited movement in coaching from the NBA going to the college game. You can bet it will be more common if BYU wins with it, or at least other schools will start looking at NBA assistants more as potential head coaching hires when they haven't before.

[Donuthole]

What days of the week are B12 bball games played? I'm already unable to remember from last season. Were they Th/Sat or Sat/Mon? B12 doesn't release its schedule until tomorrow, but I have to pick my hockey tickets today, and i'm trying to avoid as many conflicts as possible.

EDIT: Nevermind. I went and looked at last season's schedule. Looks like it was Tuesdays and Saturdays. Which I remember now because I rarely saw any of the Tuesday games live because of Mutual. My recollection has been refreshed.

[SeattleUte]

KY is using a recruiting approach that has rarely even been tried before at any school. Historically there has been very limited movement in coaching from the NBA going to the college game. You can bet it will be more common if BYU wins with it, or at least other schools will start looking at NBA assistants more as potential head coaching hires when they haven't before.

WTF are you talking about? It's just NIL money.

[Omaha 680]

WTF are you talking about? It's just NIL money.

But also the players aren't ranked very high and you prefer Utah's approach, right? I just want to understand!

[BlueK]

WTF are you talking about? It's just NIL money.

If it were anyone other than you on here saying this I would think they were joking.

[byufan4ever]

I'm curious as to why a Ute fan would have thousands of posts on a BYU fan site. I've never once visited a Utah fan site, let alone commented on one...

[PaloAltoCougar]

I'm curious as to why a Ute fan would have thousands of posts on a BYU fan site. I've never once visited a Utah fan site, let alone commented on one...

We have several Ute fans posting regularly here and the board is better for it. Their takes are usually interesting, informative, and/or very funny. As long as one or more of those elements is present, they're very welcome here.

[SeattleUte]

I'm curious as to why a Ute fan would have thousands of posts on a BYU fan site. I've never once visited a Utah fan site, let alone commented on one...

Here I'm sort of like Buddha in Cambodia. Not of there but highly influential.