New rosters take the court when BYU, Arizona State meet in Big 12 opener
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- BYU men’s basketball coach Kevin Young watches the action from the bench during a game against Florida A&M at the Marriott Center on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.
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- Players on the BYU bench, along with assistant coach Chris Burgess (in black) celebrate a basket during a men’s college basketball game against Florida A&M at the Marriott Center on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024
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- BYU men’s basketball coach Kevin Young calls out a play during a game against Florida A&M in the Marriott Center on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.
The transfer portal and NIL have created annual roster chaos around college basketball.
Kevin Young had to completely revamp the BYU roster since coming to Provo, melding returning veterans (Dallin Hall, Richie Saunders, Trevin Knell and Fousseyni Traore) with a collection of newcomers (Egor Demin, Kanon Catchings, Keba Keita, Elijah Crawford and Mawot Mag).
The Cougars open Big 12 play on Tuesday afternoon by hosting Arizona State at the Marriott Center. The two teams played last year in the Vegas Showdown (a 77-49 BYU win) but that ASU roster has turned over quite a bit since then. In fact, the top nine players in that game for the Sun Devils have all moved on through graduation or transfer. BYU’s leading scorer in that game, Noah Waterman (24 points), now plays for Louisville.
That’s the new landscape of college basketball.
Young isn’t new to roster chaos. Creating and re-tooling rosters are coaching skills he and much of his staff picked up over the years.
“It’s something I’ve done a lot over my career, especially early on when I was in the G League,” Young said. “That’s something you do pretty much daily. You’re used to doing that in that league because your roster was different every day. Will (Voigt) brought a lot of experience from a roster construction standpoint, and then (Chris) Burgess, (Brandon) Dunson and (John) Linehan as well.
“We were so far behind when I got the job (at BYU). We were just working around the clock to get the best players we could get. And we’re fortunate with some things that we got to the finish line. We feel good about the stuff we were able to get done in a short amount of time.”
Young’s latest addition to the roster is Khadim Mboup, a 6-9 forward from the Senegal by way of NBA Academy Africa. Mboup’s signing was announced on Dec. 19, the day before the Florida A&M game.
“He’ll be on the floor over the (Christmas) break, and then he’ll be practicing with us on that first day back,” Young said. “We’re excited to add him. He’ll be a big-time athlete. Our practices will automatically have a different look to them with his size and athleticism. Our practices have been tremendous. I think that is a byproduct of some of the depth that we have. Every day in practice is really competitive, and I think he’ll add to that.”
Young has had to do some lineup juggling over the past few weeks as Demin and Saunders were recovering from injuries, which allowed him to find more playing time for Mag and Crawford. Young should have both Demin and Saunders in the lineup for Tuesday’s Big 12 opener.
I think everyone has had a good moment, all the way down the line,” Young said. “The challenge for me is when we have a full slate of guys, making sure that I’m subbing it the right way, making sure we got the right groups of players out there and who plays well with who. Then how does that all kind of like co-exist? So that’s the challenge for me.
“I’m extremely confident going into conference play of all the things we’ve been able to do, to go through different teams and different game plans and learning things against teams that do different things. I think we’re feeling pretty confident about what we have in our system.”
Scouting Report
Arizona State, picked to finished 12th in the Big 12 preseason poll, begins its first year in the league with a 9-2 record. The losses for the Sun Devils were both against ranked teams: At then-No. 6 Gonzaga 88-80 on Nov. 10 and against then-No. 9 Florida 83-66 at the Holiday Hoopsgiving in Atlanta on Dec. 14.
ASU’s non-conference schedule was certainly unique: It played just four games at home, had one true road game and posted a 5-1 mark at neutral sites.
The Sun Devils offense revolves around 6-foot-9 Ball State transfer Bashir Jihad (13.9 points, 5.7 rebounds per game). Alston Mason, a 6-2 guard transfer from Missouri State, averages 11.5 points and 3.5 assists and Milwaukee transfer guard BJ Freeman scores 11.3 per contest . A pair of freshmen — 6-5 guard Joson Sanon (14 ppg) and 6-9 Jayden Quaintance (9.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.5 blocks) — also figure prominently into Hurley’s attack.
One of the few returners, 6-3 senior guard Adam Miller, also averages in double figures (10.2).
The Cougars, who have played just two games over the past 17 days, say they are prepared for the grind of Big 12 play.
“I feel like we’ve made some big strides, especially on the defensive end,” Hall said. “That was a big focus after Providence. We’re executing on that end and on the things that we really want to focus on offensively. I feel like we’re just getting a better feel for one another. With some of these new guys and the old core that was just like a given that it was going to take a little bit of time. I think we still have a lot of space to improve, but we’re ready. We’re excited and we’ve gone through this before.”
Men’s College Basketball
Arizona State (9-2, 0-0 Big 12) at BYU (9-2, 0-0 Big 12)
Tuesday, 2 p.m. MT
Marriott Center, Provo
TV/Streaming: ESPN2
Radio: BYU Radio
Live stats: byucougars.com
The Word: BYU leads the overall series with Arizona State 28-22. … The two teams met last year the Vegas Showdown, a 77-49 Cougar victory as Noah Waterman, now at Louisville, scored 24 points. … The Sun Devils are second in the Big 12 in blocked shots (5.73 per game) and third in 3-point shooting (39%). … The Cougars are first in the Big 12 in 3-pointers made (11.3 per game) and in rebound margin (13.5).
