KANSAS CITY — Two questions had to be asked of BYU basketball coach Kevin Young on Wednesday as the Cougars’ new coach spent a considerable amount of time with reporters on and off the center stage at the Big 12 basketball media day inside T-Mobile Center.
Recent media reports made Young, 42, one of the most sought-after coaches at the annual event.
One, what is the current eligibility status of the two new international players on BYU’s roster: five-star freshman Egor Demin and recent Serbian addition, Mihailo Boskovic?
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Two, are reports that BYU is willing to spend more than $4 million in NIL funds to land the nation’s top high school prospect, AJ Dybantsa, accurate, or even in the right ballpark?
Of the first question, answered exclusively to the Deseret News, Young said that Demin has been cleared to play by the NCAA and will be available in the opener next month. He said the 6-foot-10 Boskovic’s situation is less clear.
“Egor is good to go. Mahailo is working with compliance, and it is kind of in their hands,” Young said. “… I am just kinda going on what the compliance people are telling me (on Boskovic’s case). I think there are a range of outcomes and I am just leaving it to those guys.”
Asked if Boskovic’s situation is similar to Demin’s, Young said he isn’t sure. Boskovic was one of the stars of BYU’s Blue-White game two weeks ago, showing outstanding shooting range and athleticism.
“I don’t know what the sticking points are, to be honest with you,” Young said. “I think there are a lot of rules that are changing every day, it feels like, in that space. So like I said, I am leaving it to the people who know what they are doing.”
Earlier this week, Pete Nakos of On3sports.com, who calls himself a “college sports business and transfer portal reporter” on his profile on X, reported that “a source close to BYU” told him the school is prepared to pay “4 to $4.5 million” for Dybantsa, the No. 1 recruit in the country who plays for Hurricane’s Utah Prep, to play for the Cougars next season.
Asked if that report is accurate, Young answered as if it were not.
“I think just across the board, like, none of the reports of what any kids are making (in) NIL have I found to be true. Across the board,” Young said. “If you are talking about a top 150 kid, or whether you are talking about whoever. It is hard. I think that is the hardest part of the NIL space. If you compare it to the NBA, there is so much transparency. Like, you know what someone’s market value is, right? It is different (with college NIL).
“From what I have learned, just being at BYU, is we want to be able to compete with the other teams in the country,” Young said. “That is what we have done to this point, and hopefully we will be able to continue to do that.”
Are people overstating the amount of NIL money being asked for, and promised?
“Honestly, I think your guess is as good as mine. And that’s the truth. I am not trying to (duck the question),” Young said. “No one knows what is going on, unless you are just talking to thee person that is doing it. There is so much hearsay out there, I can’t keep track of what is true and not true.”
Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy and commissioner of education for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said on the Y’s Guys podcast that when it comes to managing NIL, the church leaves that up to BYU.
“The church isn’t going to weigh in on dollar amounts or recruits, that’s the job of the university,” said Elder Gilbert. “But we will lay out some principles. We can never become a place where the culture is pay to play. We would undermine everything at BYU if that wins out. It’s tempting (but) if they don’t fit the mission, we’d unravel everything.”
Seniors Fousseyni Traore and Trevin Knell also accompanied Young to Kansas City for media day to represent BYU. Junior guard Dallin Hall was originally on the list to make the trip, but did not after he and Traore were there last year.
Both Traore and Knell said they had no direct knowledge of what was being offered to prospective recruits regarding NIL funds, but both said they were happy with how BYU basketball is handling NIL.
Having coached in the NBA since 2016 with the Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns before replacing Mark Pope at BYU last April, Young said when it comes to how much money players are making, the NBA is far more transparent than college basketball.
“I think college is coming from a space now where no one really knows. Like, what is the (House) settlement going to be? How is that going to impact everything? So I would say it is to be determined,” Young said. “I would say no matter what it is, you just learn the rules of engagement.
“For us at BYU, whatever the rules are, we are going to operate within those rules, and that is what we are going to do, like you have to in the NBA,” Young continued. “No one is cheating in the NBA, right? So you learn the rules and you figure it out and you try to make really good decisions based on those rules, and that is how we are operating.”
When he was on the main stage answering questions in a televised event, Young repeated what he has said before regarding BYU and NIL. When he looked into the job, he considered it “massively important” to know that BYU would be “supportive” in regards to NIL.
“When BYU decided to make the move to the Big 12, in my mind, that was them just saying they want to compete with the best. Just trying to get a better understanding of what that looked like in the NIL space, wanting to be able to compete with the best programs in the country in that area (was important to him),” he said. “There is a lot of support. BYU has an unbelievable fanbase and unbelievable amount of support. So being able to see what that translated to from the NIL space has been something I have tried to do my homework on quite a bit before taking the job.”
He said his work in the NBA has made him feel “real comfortable” with dealing with NIL issues at the college level.
More from Kevin Young at media day
Although Demin’s status was only recently cleared and Boskovic’s availability for the first game, and perhaps beyond, is still in question, Young said the Cougars have been fairly close to full strength the past few weeks. He said point guard Trey Stewart will be out for a short time, but didn’t give the reason why.
“We got a couple minor things going on, but nothing that is serious,” Young said. “By the we get the season going, for the most part, we will be good.”
Are the Cougars going to be a threat in the Big 12, which has five teams in the top 10 of The Associated Press Top 25 survey?
“It is hard to answer that question. Other people have asked me that. For me, in the NBA world I know who the good coaches are, I know who the good players are, I know what the schemes are. Here, I don’t have a great gauge,” he said. “I asked (assistant coach) Chris Burgess the exact same question yesterday. I think we have talent. What that is like relative to the league is to be determined. But I think more than anything we are excited about where we can get to by the time not just conference play starts, but the end of the season. We will see.”
Asked which players have helped themselves in training camp, Young said the returning contributors have been solid, naming Richie Saunders, Knell, Hall, Traore and Dawson Baker.
“Fouss is steady as a rock. I thought (Utah transfer) Keba Keta, when the lights came on in that intrasquad scrimmage, I thought he was really good,” Young said. “There have been plenty of guys who have had good moments. Dawson has been coming on strong, too. I am happy with what I am seeing across the board.”
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Knell said that when BYU was picked to finish ninth in the 16-team league last week, it hardly caused a stir. That’s the opposite of last year, when the Cougars were picked 13th and got the No. 5 seed for the conference tournament.
“I feel like we proved a lot of people wrong last year and that is kind of the mentality we have this year again. We don’t pay a ton of attention to the rankings. We just pay attention to getting better every single day,” Knell said. “With the new coaching staff our motto is toughness. That is something people are going to experience when they play us.”
Traore echoed Knell’s notion, saying the pieces are in place to return to the NCAA Tournament.
“We kinda dealt with the same thing last year. Nobody expected anything from us. It was a good spot to be in to show people they were wrong,” Traore said. “We are in a good position to make noise again. … We have a lot of young, talented guys and a lot of veterans. We are going to help each other. We have a lot of talent and I am super excited about it.”
