Former BYU Basketball Starter Noah Waterman Commits to Louisville

Casey Lundquist | May 18, 2024

Mar 13, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; Brigham Young Cougars forward Noah Waterman (0) brings the ball / William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports

On Saturday morning, former BYU basketball starter Noah Waterman committed to Louisville. Waterman, who spent two years at BYU, entered the transfer portal last week. Waterman was considering a return to BYU, but instead he committed to the Cardinals following a visit. The loss of Waterman is a hard pill to swallow for new BYU coach Kevin Young. Waterman started 33 games for BYU last season and he took a gigantic step forward in his second year in Provo. Last year, he averaged 9.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game while shooting 37% from three. Waterman was also a critical component of BYU's offensive rebounding efforts - he averaged 1.3 offensive rebounds per game.

Waterman's ability to stretch the floor at 6'11 would have fit into the five-out offense that Kevin Young wants to run at BYU. His size was also valuable given that BYU's other bigs - Fousseyni Traore and Keba Keita - are no taller than 6'8. He likely would have been a starter again next season had he stayed at BYU.

Instead, he will take his talents to Louisville and join fellow BYU starter Aly Khalifa.

Waterman was one of BYU's most improved players last year. In his first year in Provo after transferring from Detroit Mercy, Waterman scored just 4.6 points per game on 32% shooting from three. Waterman struggled at first. It took him a full season to adjust to the elevated competition at BYU, but once he did, him improved in all areas under Mark Pope.

BYU will look to the transfer portal to backfill Waterman with another big man that can stretch the floor. UCLA transfer Berke Buyuktuncel is a name to watch. Buyuktuncel was on BYU's campus earlier this week for a visit - that was first reported by Robby McCombs.