This is the question I have been asking myself lately with BYU Basketball. There have been more changes, which I will get into later, that are making me question how this upcoming season is going to go. Of course, BYU has made some great hires with our head coach and assistant coaches, but now its coming down to the players and who we are going to have on the court.

Another Recruit Leaves

BYU’s only two recruits as of March 2024 were Isaac Davis and Collin Chandler. Two good players, one being the highest recruit ever to commit to BYU. As of May 2024, we now have just one recruit, Brody Kozlowski. Isaac Davis decommitted from BYU and has committed to Utah State. This is all according to his dad, who posted on Cougar Board yesterday. Benjamin Criddle, who covers BYU Sports for ESPN 960, Utah County’s Sports Radio Station, has a post that I saw confirming what his dad posted. No official announcement has been made yet, but I am sure that it is coming soon.

Isaac Davis’ dad said the main reason that he is leaving to go to Utah St is because of Coach’s Young offense. I will dive into this later, but Coach Young wants to run a 5 out offense. What that basically is is, a good PG who can dribble and pass, 3 shooters, and then a rim running, high energy, rebounding center. Davis doesn’t really fit that mold. He would be a forward and cant really shoot. He also isn’t tall enough to be a center. So the styles dont really fit each other.

By the way, Brody Kozlowski, who just committed to BYU, is 6’7 and also a forward, but he shot 43% from 3 this last year at Corner Canyon. He attempted 93 3s and made 40 of them. Thats 7.75 3 pointers attempted per game with 3.3 makes per game. That’s pretty good.

So now it is just Brody Kozlowski as the only recruit coming to BYU for next year. That leaves a big hole. BYU now has 5 scholarships open and I would expect them to fill most of those with transfers from the transfer portal.

Recruiting Update

Luckily, the Suns are out of the NBA playoffs so Kevin Young can now fully focus his time on recruiting for BYU. Robby McCombs, from Vanquish the Foe, posted an article a couple of days ago highlighting what he is hearing about who BYU has reached out to in the transfer portal and what the chances are for BYU. You can read the full article here, but I want to highlight a couple of points.

The top targets that BYU is going after are Keba Keita and Chaz Lanier. These are the top two guys to watch.

Players to Watch

Keba Keita may be a name that sounds familiar. That’s because he played for Utah. He is in the transfer portal after Chris Burgess left and BYU has a strong chance to grab him. He is only 6’8 but is a true rim running, high energy, rebounding center, the type that BYU needs. Apparently he visited BYU this week for an official visit. He has a huge wingspan and is super athletic. He also has a relationship already with Christ Burgess. All signs point to BYU being the ones to sign him. He seems to be similar to Atiki but a little more skilled and better decision making. He averaged 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 block a game last year. Here are some of his highlights.

The next guy to keep an eye on is Chaz Lanier. He is a very talented guard. Just for reference, Jaxson Robinson is rated as the 35th best transfer. Lanier is rated as the 10th. Last season he averaged 19.7 points per game, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. He is a scorer as his core. He shot 44% from 3. Something that Young would love to have right next to Hall. BYU had a Zoom call with him this week and has a real chance at landing him. Of course, he has a lot of competition, particularly from Kentucky and Tennessee. Young’s experience and pedigree is a huge draw to Lanier as he is trying to improve his stock for the NBA. BYU needs to get him on campus for an official visit. That would be huge for BYU. Here are some of his highlights.

Other Players to Watch

Some other guys to watch are Berke Buyuktuncel. He is 6’9 from Turkey but played last year at UCLA. He averaged only 4.5 points and 2.5 rebounds but has been plagued with injuries. In ESPN’s 2025 NBA mock, they have Berke #42 overall.

Elijah Crawford is also a player to watch. He signed with Stanford back in November and is still signed with Stanford, but may be having second thoughts. The main recruiter was BYU assistant Brandon Dunson when he was at Stanford. If the new coaching staff at Stanford decides to go a different direction, BYU is someone to watch. Crawford is rated as a 4 star recruit by ESPN.

Lastly, BYU is talking with a ton of international players. McCombs in his article says that they dont typically sign until summer, so it could be until June or July until we hear who is signing. He also says that sources have told him that BYU is keeping at least one scholarship spot open for an international player. But that is dependent on who BYU adds in the transfer portal.

Kevin Young Interview with Jeff Goodman

Jeff Goodman, a basketball analyst, interviewed Kevin Young asking him a variety of questions. You can find the link for that here. The interview with Coach Young starts at 33:07. There were a couple of highlights that I wanted to point out.

• He talks about his history and where he has been coaching. But he also talks about the apparent NBA job that he was offered and why he chose BYU and college after being in the NBA. He supposedly wasn’t offered the Brooklyn Nets job but was very close. Young also talked with Mark Madsen about making the transition and family life from NBA vs College.
• He then talks about his personality and coach philosophy. I fell in love with him here! Young seems like a stud and very knowledgeable about the game. He talks about running the 5 out offense with a good ball handling, passing PG, shooters, and then a rim running center. Young also talks about how he likes to be up tempo and running a fast pace to get out on the fast break.
• He also talks about Burgess and how excited he is to have him on the coaching staff as he knows some of the players already.
• Lastly, he relates the NIL to the NBA free agency and says that it is a little different, but very much the same in trying to recruit and get people to join your team. He also talks about what their plans are for recruiting and where they are looking.

BYU definitely has a tall task right now in trying to get a team put together for next year. They do have time, but Coach Young seems to want to have some good players and have them become familiar with each other.

Thank you for reading and checking this out! Please share with your friends and family! You can read my other posts here.