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BYU guard Dallin Hall, center, splits two Iowa State defenders during a Big 12 men's basketball game at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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(From left) BYU's Atiki Ally Atiki, Trey Stewart, Richie Saunders, Fousseyni Traore and Marcus Adams Jr. prepare for a men's college basketball game against Wyoming in the Marriott Center on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023.

Nate Edwards/BYU Photo

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Nothing brings a bunch of college students together better than a road trip.

New BYU coach Kevin Young flew his Cougar players to Phoenix on Friday for an NBA playoff game between the Suns (the team Young is still an assistant coach with) and Minnesota.

In his introductory news conference, Young said he wanted his players to watch film on what the Suns are currently running to get an idea of what they might see in practice.

They’re getting a closeup view in Game 3 of the NBA Playoffs.

Young also said retaining the current talent on the team was his No. 1 priority and the 2024-25 roster grew by two over the past 36 hours with recommitments from sophomore guards Dallin Hall and Richie Saunders.

Hall was getting looks from some pretty serious basketball programs (Duke, Creighton, Virginia, Clemson, among others) after entering the transfer portal a couple of weeks ago before ultimately deciding to return to Provo.

Hall’s social media post said, “Run It Back,” which is what the kids say when they are opting to stay with their original school.

Hall has started 51 games over the past two seasons. In BYU’s first year in the Big 12, Hall averaged 9.0 points and 5.1 assists per game at the point guard spot. Those numbers and his experience brought a lot of attention his way in the transfer portal, but he was convinced by Young to come back.

Saunders entered the portal after Mark Pope left to take the Kentucky job and made a trip to Lexington to check out opportunities with his former coach. Saunders let Cougar Nation know he was returning with a social media post that read simply, “I’m in.”

Saunders has played in 68 games, 65 of them off the bench, in two seasons. He averaged 9.6 points per game in 2023-24 and shot 36% from the 3-point line, but his real value is his energy and intensity on both ends of the court.

Both players were rated 4-star transfers by 24/7 Sports.

The BYU roster for next season is expected to include seven returning scholarship players (Hall, Saunders, Trey Stewart, Dawson Baker, Trevin Knell, Noah Waterman and Fousseyni Traore) along with incoming freshmen Isaac Davis and Brody Kozlowski.

Kozlowski was officially announced as a signee on Friday.

“We are thrilled to add Brody to our program,” Young said. “He is a high character and high achieving student-athlete on and off the court, evidenced by winning back-to-back Player of the Year honors in the state of Utah. He will bring size, versatility, shooting and toughness to our program. It’s a great time for BYU basketball and we are excited Brody and his family are joining with us.”

Young and his coaching staff are making contacts in the transfer portal, including guards Pop Isaacs (Texas Tech), Mike Sharavjamts (San Francisco) and Jalen Blackmon (Stetson) and forward TJ Power (Duke). Young also recently offered four-star guard JJ Mandiquit (Class of 2025).

Hudgins signs with BYU women’s hoops

Cougar coach Amber Whiting announced on Friday the addition of Marya Hudgins to the 2024-25 roster.

Hudgins comes to BYU after playing the first two years of her collegiate career at Santa Clara where she appeared in 63 games, starting 13 during her freshman and sophomore seasons.

“Marya [Hudgins] is a two-way, competitive player who wants to win,” said Whiting “She is a scoring threat on offense and a menace on the defensive end. Her length and athleticism will help us on the perimeter. She is a great perimeter shooter but can also take defenders off the bounce and has an incredibly high ceiling. She and I connected instantly and she will be a great fit for the team and culture we are building at BYU.”

The incoming junior scored 7.6 points per game on 39 percent shooting from the field and a 33.3 percent clip from three over two seasons with the Broncos. Hudgins also pulled down 5.1 rebounds, dished 0.9 assists and recorded nearly a steal per game.

Whiting’s roster for 2024-25 is coming together with seven returning players: Her daughter, sophomore Amari, along with seniors Emma Calvert, Heather Hamson, Kylie Krebs and Lauren Davenport, redshirt junior Arielle Mackey-Williams (who missed last season due to injury) and sophomore Marina Mata.

Incoming freshmen include Canadian star Delaney Gibb, Lone Peak’s Sarah Bartholomew and Idaho standouts Brinley Cannon and Kambree Barber.

In addition to Hudgins, the Cougars have also obtained a commitment from 6-foot-3 Buffalo transfer Hattie Ogden.

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