The BYU men’s basketball regular season is just weeks away after an incredibly wild and busy offseason.
Months of speculation and curiosity will finally be quelled as first-year coach Kevin Young’s talented roster will take the floor.
But before that, Young and his staff must narrow down the rotation and allow the team to build continuity in the new offensive and defensive schemes they plan to employ.
“A lot of my coaches who have been in college have urged me to assume they know nothing,” said Young. “I do think the older guys are a bit farther along, but that was something I expected.”
A simple but important difference between coaching in the NBA and college is the length and rhythm of games. In the NBA, games last 48 minutes and are split into four quarters, while in college, games last 40 minutes and are split into two 20-minute halves. This simple change means minutes are much more valuable in college, which makes guaranteeing every player minutes on a deep roster more difficult.
“We’ll whittle it down in terms of a manageable roster as it relates to subbing. I’m not a fan of like guys playing super short stints. You know, I think guys need to get longer stints to get in the rhythm,” said Young. “That was something I was really heavily involved with in the NBA world. So I feel really comfortable there.”
While coaching for the Phoenix Suns, Young was in charge of substitutions and he worked with BYU’s current director of analytics Akash Sebastian to utilize the best lineups. With arguably the most talented roster in BYU basketball history, Young has the unenviable challenge of getting everyone on the roster playing time.
“I get asked that question a lot. And I mean, it’s really not something that keeps me up at night,” said Young. “I really truly think that that stuff sorts itself out.”
How BYU divvies up the rotation might not keep Young up at night, but fans are losing sleep envisioning what this BYU team is capable of. What Young did confirm is that he is planning on having a big rotation.
“Definitely more than seven or eight [guys]. I don’t know how far that that reaches. We’re still learning about this group a lot,” said Young.
The math equation for BYU this offseason was simple… Talent plus limited opportunities equals competition.
“There’s only so many minutes to be had. And so, you know, it’s competition; it shows their competitiveness, which they’ve all been in camp,” said Young. “I like having a competitive group.”
“We’ve been going really, really hard. The competitiveness is already at a high, high level,” said guard Trevin Knell. “I think that’s something that we’re gonna hang our hats on this year.”
The anticipation for this BYU basketball season is at an all-time high for players and fans.
Season tickets have already sold out and the players know the opportunities they have in front of them.
“I’m super excited for this year, and I’m just excited to play with these guys,” said Knell.
