It’s time to bring out the Cougars.
After an offseason of building and months of hype, BYU basketball fans can finally see what the fuss is all about when head coach Kevin Young rolls out his roster at the blue-white scrimmage Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. MDT at the Marriott Center in Provo. The event is free and open to the public.
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An even better indicator of what the Cougars have will come during two exhibition games on Oct. 18 at Nebraska (11 a.m. MDT, B1G+) and Oct. 24 against North Carolina at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City (7 p.m. MDT, ESPN+).
Former Cougar Jimmer Fredette has already seen them.
“They might not say it outwardly all the time, but they are thinking Final Four. That’s what they want,” Fredette told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show this week. “They are thinking that this is a year that they can be extremely competitive in the NCAA Tournament and in the Big 12 and I think that is going to be their expectation. They think this is a Final Four team.”
To be a Final Four team, you need a Final Four roster, and the 2011 National Player of the Year, who scored 2,599 points at BYU, believes Young has put together a group of guys capable to doing something BYU has never done — reach a Final Four.
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Jimmer’s starting 5
Here is Fredette’s scouting report on the Cougars’ projected starting five.
AJ Dybantsa, 6-foot-9 freshman: “He brings world-class length and athleticism. That’s one thing people don’t realize. They are going to see him and go, ‘Wow, he’s way taller and longer than I was expecting.’ That’s NBA type length and athleticism.
“Defensively, they want him to be a menace and lock guys down. He is so good with the ball in his hands. He can shoot it. He’s great in the mid-range. He can shoot the 3. He’s amazing at getting to the rim. He’s an all-around, great basketball player.
“It’s gonna take him a little time to figure out the spacing (at this level), but he is good enough to figure it out quickly and be in the running for Big 12 Player of the Year and hopefully one of the national players of the year — that’s what I expect from him.”
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Richie Saunders, 6-foot-5 senior: “He is the veteran. He has to be our leader — a guy who is vocal and making sure they play hard and, obviously, he always plays hard.
BYU Cougars forward Richie Saunders (15) controls the ball as part of a drill during a practice held at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
“One of the things I love about Richie is he puts his best foot forward no matter what. He is always hustling. He’s on the floor, but he’s very skilled too. He can shoot the lights out.
“I see him shooting a lot this year. He’s very good going to the basket and finishing with his left hand. He’s our steady player. I see him averaging between 16-20 points. If we are going to have a big run this year, he needs to be himself and if he is himself, we are going to be very good.”
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Keba Keita, 6-foot-8 senior: “He’s a freak of nature athletically. He’s strong. He’s athletic, as we saw last year. He’s above the rim. He’s going to be great with catching lobs again, anchoring that defense. He’s gonna protect the rim.
“I think we are going to see a lot of pressure defense from us with the personnel we have because we have Keba in the back who can clean it up. He’s so good at that. Putting that pressure on the guards, making them drive and funnel them towards him is going to be huge. He’s a really, really important part of this team this year.”
Kennard Davis Jr., 6-foot-6, junior: “He’s good defensively. I think he’s going to end up being our guy who is playing defense on (the opponents’) best player. With his (shooting) 38% from 3 last year, I see that staying the same or going up because I think he’s going to get a lot of looks.
“He’s a guy where — you don’t want Rob shooting it, you don’t want Richie shooting it, you don’t want AJ shooting it, so Kennard is going to be the guy who is open and I think that’s going to be detrimental to the defense.”
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Rob Wright III, 6-foot-1, sophomore: “Incredibly fast. We asked AJ the other day, ‘Who’s the toughest guy to guard on the team?’ He said, ‘Rob Wright, not even questioned.’ He’s incredibly fast, quick, shifty, he can shoot it. He’s going to be extremely dynamic for us at the point guard position.”
Baylor guard Robert Wright III (1) dribbles the ball during game against Texas Tech, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. Wright transferred to BYU in the offseason. | Annie Rice, Associated Press
Building for tomorrow
Young continues to add to his stockpile of talent, landing a pledge from the nation’s top junior college prospect, KJ Perry. The four-star, 6-foot-2 guard from Citrus College in Southern California reportedly picked BYU over offers from Kansas, Oregon and Texas A&M.
“There is something going on. We can sense that. Obviously, KY is a huge part of that. The success they had last year in the tournament is a big part of that,” Fredette said. “People saw that and are like, ‘These guys are for real.’ Egor (Demin) going in the top 10 in the (NBA) draft. People are seeing this and saying, ‘Man, this is real stuff at BYU.’ I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon, especially if they have a massive year this year.”
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.
