The 2023-2024 NCAA Basketball Season is over. UConn beat Purdue by 15 to win their 6th overall championship, becoming 1 of only 4 programs with more than 6 championships. With the season over, I want to take a way too early preview of the BYU basketball team and what it could look like for next year.
Big 12 Conference Outlook
The Big 12 next year, in basketball, wont be any easier, in fact, it might be even harder. Out goes Texas and Oklahoma who finished 7th and 9th in the Big 12 this last year, and in comes Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona St. Arizona was ranked in the top 15 for most of the year last year and went to the Sweet 16. Colorado went to the Pac 12 championship, where they lost, but then won their opening game in March Madness before losing in the second round. Utah went to the finals of the NIT tournament, where they lost. Arizona St wasnt very good, they didnt make it to any postseason tournament.
Aside from Arizona St, the other 3 teams proved they are quality teams in basketball. I could see the Big 12 getting another 8 or 9 teams in the Big Dance with BYU finishing probably 5th or 6th, similar to this last year.
BYU Roster for 2024-2025
There are still a couple of outliers that could change this roster like Robinson declaring for the NBA or staying, and the transfer portal still being open till May 1st, but lets take a crack at what we know so far.
BYU could be very good. Jaxson Robinson has till 10 days after the NBA draft combine, May 12-19, to make a decision about whether he is staying or leaving. I would expect him to go to the NBA draft combine, see how he does, get some feedback where he would go, and make a decision.
Right now he is projected to go later in the second round. Bleacher Report just came out with a projection a couple of days ago and has him going 50th out of 60, to the Detroit Pistons. Besides going to the Pistons, that is not great. He is teetering with almost not being picked. Because of this, I actually think Robinson stays. He hasnt made an official decision yet and I dont think its going to come any time soon.
Aside from Jaxson Robinson, though, BYU only loses one other contributor the the team from last year in Spencer Johnson. Isaac Davis, a very similar player to Yoeli Childs, but just more athletic, joins the program. Also, Collin Chandler, the highest rated recruit ever for BYU, joins the team after serving a mission. They could be a very good team. If Chandler can fill the role of Spencer Johnson and Robinson comes back, wow, this team could be even better than this last year. You still have Hall, Fouss, Khalifa, Saunders, Knell, and Waterman coming back. Thats a solid foundation.
BYU Way Too Early Rankings
A lot of sports news outlets also just released a way too early 2024-2025 top 25 ranking and let me tell you where some of thews places had BYU:
- USA Today: 10th
- ESPN: 14th
- Fox Sports: 21st
- Sports Illustrated: 25th
- The Athletic: 13th
- Yahoo Sports: 20th
That is some high praise for BYU! Of course, its very early. BYU could have some people transfer out. But BYU has also been very active in the transfer portal as well, reaching out to many people. Check out this article which breaks down some people that BYU is looking at for next year in the transfer portal. They are some high quality players.
There is a lot of expectations for BYU about next year after the year that they just had this year. I would love for them to bring in a high quality wing or 3 man or shooting guard. I think BYU is okay in the front court. But I would like them to bring in another athletic wing or guard. If I could change who they should bring in from the article above, I would like Andrej Stojakovic, yes, former NBA player Peja Stojakovic’s son, or Otega Oweh. They both would fill the gap left by Jaxson Robinson, if he leaves, and provide a necessary backup with scoring at the guard position.
If Atiki Aly Atiki redshirts like some people believe him to, that would open up a need for a frontcourt player. I would love to see Kozlowski come if that happens. He would be a player that wouldnt have to start right away but would give much needed backup.
BYU doesnt have a lot of scholarships to play around with. With Johnson leaving, they have one empty scholarship. With Robinson, they would have two. That would be filled by Stojakovic or Oweh and Kozlowski. That is at least my hope!
BYU Recap
The Big 12 is also moving from 18 conference games to 20 conference games and cutting down non conference games from 13 to 11. BYU’s non conference schedule could be pretty good. They will play 2 of either Arkansas(who just hired John Calipari from Kentucky), Purdue(who just played in the national championship), or Notre Dame, Utah, San Diego St, Wyoming. Thats all that we know so far as they are still finalizing it, but thats a pretty good non conference schedule.
I think BYU finishes very similarly to what they did this year. Something like 6 seed in the Big 12, a 6 or 7 seed in March Madness, and a first round win March Madness. If Robinson returns, I could see BYU being 4th or 5th in the Big 12, a 5 seed in March Madness, and a trip to the Sweet 16.
BYU Basketball News
Since John Calipari left Kentukcy fro Arkansas, there has been a lot of speculation about who would be the next coach for Kentucky. Sadly, Mark Pope’s name has been floated around since he played at Kentucky and won a national championship there. Sporting News ranks Mark Pope as the #1 candidate to replace Calipari at Kentucky. That would actually be quite sad if he left. I dont think Pope leaves…yet. He still hasnt done enough, in my opinion, to garner the attention of Kentucky. If he has another year next year like last year, then I could totally see him getting an interview and possibly leaving.
BYU Basketball also lost one of their best defensive assistant coaches. Kahlil Fennell was hired by The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to be their head coach. Fennell was with BYU for two years and produced some of the best defensive teams BYU has ever seen. Its a big loss but BYU has done well with their assistant coaches hires lately and I expect Pope to pick another good one to replace Fennell. Here are some potential candidates to replace him by Vanquish the Foe. If I had to pick a couple of guys from that list, I would love Barret Peery and Mark Fox.
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