Cougs Daily

BYU Basketball is Building a Reputation as an NIL Powerhouse

Casey Lundquist

BYU head coach Kevin Young
BYU head coach Kevin Young / BYU Photo
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In a recent survey of college basketball coaches conducted by CBS Sports, BYU basketball was voted as one of the top three teams in college basketball with the best NIL situations. The coaches, who were anonymously surveyed, were asked a simple question: which three programs do you believe have the best NIL situations?

Arkansas ranked first, appearing in 74% of ballots. Kansas ranked second, appearing on 43% of ballots. BYU appeared on 31% of ballots which ranked third. Finishing fourth in the rankings was Kentucky, the same program that poached Mark Pope from Provo just a few months ago.

BYU is building a reputation as an NIL powerhouse under Kevin Young. Young only had a few weeks to put together to the 2024 recruiting class, but he used those week to put together arguably the best recruiting classes in BYU basketball history. NIL was a big part of that.

The Cougars' 2024 high school class currently ranks 13th nationally, and that's without five-star Egor Demin. Demin doesn't have a composite score, therefore his commitment doesn't count towards the class ranking yet. Once Demin has a composite score, BYU basketball will crack the top 10. Demin is a projected lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Whether BYU has one of the top three NIL programs is impossible to measure, but the survey results are fascinating. Coaches across the country are changing the way they perceive BYU basketball. BYU is viewed as one of the most capable programs in terms of attracting high-level talent.

That perception could reach even greater heights with the class of 2025. BYU is in the running for some of the top prospects in the country, including no. 1 prospect AJ Dybansta. Dybansta is scheduled to take a BYU official visit in October. If BYU lands Dybansta, they will be viewed as one of the most capable recruiting powers in the sport. That's something that was hard to imagine even two or three months ago.

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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

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