Projecting Kevin Young's Rotation for the BYU Basketball Program

Casey Lundquist | Jun 19, 2024

Mar 6, 2024; Ames, Iowa, USA; Brigham Young Cougars guard Richie Saunders (15) shoots and scores against the Iowa State Cyclones at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports / Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

The BYU basketball roster is coming together. On Tuesday, BYU signed top 40 recruit Kanon Catchings. Now that Katchings is officially a BYU Cougar, Kevin Young only has one more scholarship available for next season. Today, we're projecting the rotation for the first year under Kevin Young.

The Starting Lineup

BYU's starting lineup could feature a lot of new faces. As of this writing, we're projecting three of the five starters to be newcomers.

1. Dallin Hall
2. Egor Demin
3. Richie Saunders
4. Mawot Mag
5. Keba Keita

BYU needed someone at the four, and Mawot Mag fills that role. Mag was the obvious starter at that position until the Cougars signed Catchings. Mag would bring more defensive prowess, strength, and athleticism to the starting lineup. Catchings would bring more offensive firepower. As of today, we expect Mawot Mag to be a starter. By season's end, however, Catchings could take over that spot if he's able to acclimate to the college game. If Catchings becomes a starter, BYU suddenly becomes a very long team with Demin and Catchings on the court at the same time.

Dallin Hall is a lock to start at point guard. Getting Hall back in the fold was one of Kevin Young's most important wins during his young tenure as a head coach. Hall was arguably BYU's most valuable player last year, but in the opinion of this author, he is just scratching the potential of his scoring potential. Hall is a candidate for a breakout season as an upperclassman.

Egor Demin, a projected lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, is the best bet to start for the Cougars at shooting guard. Demin is young and he will need to get acclimated to the college game, but he's simply too talented to keep off the floor. The combination of Hall and Demin as distributors opens up endless possibilities for the BYU offense.

Like Dallin Hall, getting Richie Saunders back for his junior season was a massive win for Kevin Young. Saunders was the glue guy for BYU last season, and he got much better from his freshman year to his sophomore year. Saunders is too impactful on both ends to be kept off the floor, so we're putting him in the starting lineup. Trevin Knell could also be plugged in as a starter here, but we like his scoring punch to come off the bench.

At the five, we've got Utah transfer Keba Keita in the starting lineup. Keita fits the exact description that Young wants in a starting five. Keita will be a rim runner on offense and a rim protector on defense.

The Rotation

Like last year, BYU will be a deep team next season. In non-conference play, BYU had a nine-man rotation. Coach Pope trimmed that to an eight-man rotation during conference play. If BYU plays only eight guys, a few really talented players will be on the bench. For now, we expect a ten-man rotation to start that will be trimmed to eight or nine by season's end.

1. Fousseyni Traore
2. Kanon Catchings
3. Trevin Knell
4. Dawson Baker
5. Elijah Crawford

Fousseyni Traore will play a critical role for BYU as a senior. He will be BYU's best post scorer by a wide margin.

As mentioned earlier, Kanon Catchings could slide into the starting lineup by the time March rolls around. He is simply too long and skilled to keep off the court. Since he is a true freshman competing against a fifth-year senior for playing time, we expect him to come off the bench to start.

Trevin Knell, another senior, will give BYU some shooting off the bench. Knell will need to be productive to keep his spot in the rotation.

Assuming he is healthy, Dawson Baker will give BYU a scoring punch with his ability to create and get to the rim.

Elijah Crawford will be one of BYU's best creators as soon as he steps on campus. If he can get acclimated to the college game, it will be hard to keep his scoring abilities on the bench. Crawford could play the backup point guard minutes for the Cougars.

In these projections, that leaves two scholarship players outside the rotation: Trey Stewart and Brody Kozlowski. If BYU's lack of shooting in the frontcourt becomes a problem, Kozlowski could find a role for himself as a true freshman. Stewart will need to improve his jumper to crack the rotation. If he does that, then he's another guy that will be hard to keep on the bench given his athleticism and defensive abilities.