Going into his first year as a college head coach, Young’s strength was assumed to be X’s and O’s after ascending to the highest-paid assistant in the NBA. But where Young has already set himself apart is on the recruiting trail.

“For me it’s like, what do we have to offer that people will be interested in, right?” Young said. “One of the things that I think is unique with us is that the stuff that we’re talking to recruits and their parents about, it’s not hypothetical. I’ve done it at the NBA level, where these guys are trying to get to. I’ve been there, I’ve lived that life, and I’ve brought a lot of people here on our staff who have also lived that life. We talk about a strength and conditioning program. It’s not hypothetical. We talk about a nutrition plan for someone to grow their body. It’s not hypothetical.  We talk about player development on the court. Again, it’s not hypothetical. So I think that message has resonated with people. We’ve tried to be selective about who those people are, and really try to vet, character wise, and make sure it’s just guys that we want in our program.”

That approach brought in freshman phenoms Egor Demin (ranked as the 16th-best prospect in the country by 24/7 Sports) and Kanon Catchings (No. 40) this season, along with four-star commitments from Elijah Crawford and Brady Kozlowski.

This week, BYU announced the official signing of two member of the Class of 2025 in center Xavion Staton of Las Vegas and forward Chamberlain Burgess, a Utah product.

Courtesy BYU Photo

Young addressed questions about his two newest signees after Wednesday’s 99-55 victory against Queens University.

“I think commonalities with both of them is just the athleticism and the length,” Young said. “That’s something that definitely caught my eye with both of them. I was tracking both of them pretty heavily this summer as I was trying to figuring out how to do this job. Chamberlain, he really came on as the summer progressed, and he’s only going to get better. His body will mature. We have an NBA level strength and conditioning coach and we have a director of nutrition who was with me in Phoenix. I’ll put our performance staff up against anyone’s in the country. And I think it’s really attractive for athletes to come here and get better with with what we have to offer them.”

Stanton is the highest-rated high school recruit to sign with the Cougars (a 247Sports composite score of 0.9883) and Burgess is a four-star who averaged 12.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season at Lone Peak High School. Burgess, the nephew of BYU assistant coach Chris Burgess, will play at Orem High School this winter.

“Xavion, I think he’ll fit in really well with the amount of vertical threats that we have out there,” Young said. “He’s a guy who’s getting more skilled as he progresses in his high school career, and then defensively, he’s the best rim protector in the high school ranks in the entire country. So he’ll be able to shore our defense up on that side.

“Chamberlain, offensively, he can do a little bit everything. He can shoot, he can handle it, he can pass, he can roll as well. So I liked his versatility. And both of them come from great families and will be tremendous fits here at BYU.”

SCOUTING REPORT

Game 4 for BYU is an afternoon (1 p.m. MT) meeting with the University of Idaho at the Marriott Center. The Vandals were 11-21 overall and 5-13 in the Big Sky last season under Alex Pribble, now in his second season. Leading scorer Quinn Denker (12.5 points, 119 assists) transferred to Northern Colorado this spring. Pribble returns 6-9 senior forward Julius Mims (11.1 points, 7.2 rebounds per game) and brought in four transfers in 6-7 junior forward Jayden Steven (Oregon State), 6-4 junior guard Isaiah Brickner (Marist College), 6-6 sophomore guard Jack Payne (Colorado State) and 6-1 redshirt freshman guard Kolton Mitchell (Idaho State).

Idaho, picked to finish seventh in the Big Sky, is 1-2 this season after beating Northwest 94-60 and losing to UC Davis 79-75 and Washington State 90-67.

The Vandals trailed the Cougars 38-31 at halftime but was outscored 55-36 in the second half.