As the BYU men’s basketball team prepares for the 2021-22 season it’s very apparent that much of the Cougars success will ride on the play of three transfers.

Guard Alex Barcello was a support player on the 2019-20 team during his first season after transferring from Arizona. He then became BYU’s No. 1 scorer in his second campaign. Over the summer, he decided to become a bonus senior and play another year for Mark Pope.

Two other key transfers are on this year’s roster. Te’Jon Lucas, who played at Illinois his first two seasons and Milwaukee last year, will join Barcello in the backcourt. Seneca Knight, who averaged better than 17 points per game as a freshman at San Jose State, transferred to LSU last season but did not play for the Tigers. He’s a 6-foot-7 swingman who can fill multiple spots for the Cougars.

The three players have spent the last several months trying to mesh each other’s games into Pope’s share-the-ball system.

“Yeah, I would say they are both playmakers,” Barcello said. “Te’Jon is a phenomenal passer. He’s really good off the bounce and I would say he’s a lockdown defender. He loves to get his teammates involved and who doesn’t want to play with a guy like that?

“Seneca, it’s the same way. He’s really aggressive off the bounce and he can shoot it really well. He has a nice mid-range game but he can also create and facilitate. He can get his teammates involved. I’m excited for those guys to step foot in the Marriott Center and see Cougar Nation and play in front of them. It’s going to be fun.”

Lucas arrived first in Provo, just in time to sit down and watch the NBA Finals with Barcello.

“Our chemistry came quick,” Lucas said. “Like, ever since I stepped on campus. He accepted me as family. We watched the NBA Finals together, even though he was a little disappointed since he’s from Arizona and I’m from Milwaukee. So you know, I had him on that, but we’ve been bonding ever since. We talk a lot, we watch film together. He checks up on me to make sure I’m alright. It’s been a great one-two punch that’s we’ve been able to provide out there.”

Barcello set the tone early on the practice floor.

“I’m impressed with how hard Alex works every day and his leadership and his shooting,” Lucas said. “I don’t ever think he’s going to miss. Honestly, I kind of look at him like he’s crazy when he misses. I’m like, did you do that on purpose? He’s definitely great.”

Knight arrived on campus a little later in the summer and leaned heavily on Barcello to show him the ropes.

“So you know, Alex was a transfer as well,” Knight said. “Being able to get here and get his perspective on everything and how it has gone according to plan, that was great. It’s hard sometimes being a transfer and being the new guy. But they’ve been making it real easy. I just want to fit it, whether its scoring or passing or defending or rebounding.”

Knight hasn’t had a chance to play in front of the ROC in the Marriott Center yet, but he’s gotten a taste by attending last week’s Midnight Madness and athletic events on campus this fall.

“Yeah, it’s crazy,” Knight said. “I’ve never been to a place where the soccer games are as packed as the volleyball games and are just as packed as the football games. Like every single place I go to events the stadiums are full, it’s ridiculous.”

A roster is made up of many distinct personalities. Pope and his coaching staff attack every season with trying to integrate those personalities to create “the best locker room in America.”

That is one of the selling points that drew Lucas and Knight to Provo.

“Every day we fight to put away our own agendas and I think that’s something that helps create that best locker room in America,” Knight said. “Everybody wants to have their own agendas coming into college and their own plans. They want to score 20 point or they want to be all-conference and all these things. But at the end of the day, all those things will come if we all buy in and win.”

Knight added: “I love learning the game and being able to learn from Coach Pope, who played nine years in the NBA. A lot of times I go out there and play basketball and I’m good at it and I can just freestyle it. But now I actually understand what needs to be done and I can be a student of the game. I can learn from the coaches and my teammates.”

Nate Edwards BYU forward Seneca Knight (BYU Courtesy Photo)

Nate Edwards BYU guard Te’Jon Lucas (BYU Courtesy Photo)

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