For BYU’s future lottery prospects, there is a ‘time and a season’

As Kevin Young knocks on the door of 2025, the Cougars new basketball coach does so with tremendous optimism that includes a basketball forecast previously unthinkable — a calendar year that will feature two future NBA lottery picks, if not the overall picks, suiting up for BYU.

Egor Demin, a 6-foot-9 freshman from Moscow, Russia, is predicted to go high in June’s draft. AJ Dybantsa, a 6-9 senior at Utah Prep, will join the Cougars in the summer as the nation’s top recruit and the NBA’s projected 2026 overall draft selection.

Neither teen is expected to be a teammate while at BYU, but it’s possible. The day after Dybantsa announced on ESPN that he was coming to Provo, I informally asked Demin what he thought about it.

“Amazing. It’s amazing,” he said prior to sitting out the Fresno State game on Dec. 11 with a sore knee. “All my friends are texting me, saying I have to come back next year to play with AJ. We shall see.”

Then Demin offered this nugget: “You know, I have never said I was a ‘one and done.’”

With that, the 18-year-old, who has been programed for professional hoops since he could walk, smiled and walked into the locker room. To the grownups around him, the idea of passing on a lucrative lottery pick for another year of college is something only a kid would do — and they probably wouldn’t recommend it.

But what if he does? What if Demin likes being a kid and wants to be one for a little while longer? What if going to class, dating and horsing around with friends — and playing basketball in the BYU environment — is enough for the moment?

Does the risk of injury make the price for that kind of freedom too high, or could an insurance policy, which Demin may already have, be enough to hold off the hard life of the NBA for another 12 months until he is the ripe old age of, say, 20?

NBA? A hard life? It looks like fun on television, but as I have talked with those who did it, the grind of 82 regular-season games, including 41 on the road, the pre- and postseason travel, fan and team expectations, absence of privacy, and an abundance of alone time can turn a love for the game into just a job, and that’s a lot for a teenager to tackle.

Sure, there is enough excitement and athletic challenge to make the “right now” choice intoxicating, but there must be a legit reason why the old spend so much time joyfully reminiscing about when they were young. This doesn’t have to be a time for Demin, or anyone like him, to be in a hurry. The hard knocks of life will arrive soon enough.

Fortunately, Demin can get plenty of advice, including from his head coach, who left the relentless NBA regimen for the BYU job last April. Demin’s parents, Vladimir and Natalia, are paying as close attention as possible from overseas. They, too, have indicated their son will go to the NBA only when he is ready, and that doesn’t necessarily mean this June.

NBA analysts (and many in the general public) scoff at the idea of a young person turning down instant fame and fortune as if an alternative shouldn’t even be considered; however, today’s NIL and student-athlete compensation gives a guy like Demin some options. There is no doubt the Russian phenom is destined for the league, but could you blame him if he stuck around for another year?

Society is always pressing forward. There is no crime in pushing back.

Just the idea of Demin and Dybantsa playing together triggers selfish thoughts of a roster that could finally take BYU to the Final Four and even win an NCAA championship, which both youngsters have declared as being among their goals. That’s what a handful of those kinds of athletes can do — and the Cougars have never had them, at least not like this.

In a recent interview with Demin, he told me he knows his time in Provo is limited and a whole new world in the NBA is coming soon, so he’s trying to take everything in, have fun and live in the moment in the season of life that he is in.

Recently, he secured his first driver’s license, and on Tuesday, Demin will play in his first Big 12 game against Arizona State at the Marriott Center (2 p.m. MST, ESPN2). This is his time, just as there is a time and a season for everyone.

There was a time when I stood on my bed, planted my nose against the cold window and stared up into the stars, searching for Santa’s sleigh. To my astonishment, I saw it! It was fantastic. Only later in life did I learn that low-flying satellites also scoot across the nighttime sky, even on Christmas Eve. Hmmm. Imagine that?

There was a time when a Big Mac required both hands to hold and a mouth stretched beyond its capacity to devour. Today, with bigger hands and a wider mouth, the Big Mac is not so big (I’m convinced they’ve shrunk it).

There was a time when I high-fived my dad while rounding third base at the Orem City Center at the peak of Little League glory. Today, I visit his gravesite with priceless memories.

There was a time when we welcomed our first child into the world. Today, she has four of her own that look and act just like her — and call me grandpa.

There was a time when I pretended to be a BYU broadcaster as I played football in the yard and shot hoops in the basement. Today, I am in my 34th year announcing games on television and radio.

We may not be able to stop the years from flying by, but we can create moments that make time stand still. Demin is in his moment. His time in Provo won’t last long, but it doesn’t need to be rushed. Right now, as his constant smile indicates, he’s playing for fun — and playing for fun, for a kid who will soon be playing for work, is reason enough to keep doing it for as long as he chooses.

There was a time when BYU only dreamed of landing NBA lottery picks out of high school. Today, they have at least two of them, and if they choose to suit up together, it will make 2025 a time and a season that will stand still, even as it races by.

And if they don’t, each alone still gives the Cougars something special that will make the new year and beyond unlike anything we have seen in Provo before.

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.