BYU Roundup: Cougars extend Kevin Young’s contract ‘for the foreseeable future’
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- BYU men’s basketball coach Kevin Young (left) gives instructions during summer workouts in the Marriott Center Annex on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
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- BYU’s Legacy Hall, which houses Cougar memorabilia and trophies, is receiving an upgrade to be completed this fall.
Shams Charania, an ESPN Senior NBA Insider, broke the news on social media that BYU men’s basketball coach Kevin Young had signed a “new long-term contract extension.” BYU’s own news release indicated that the University and Young have agreed to an extension for “the foreseeable future.”
Why be coy, guys? Just how long will that contract be?
Being BYU (i.e., a private university), they aren’t telling, but when you do what Young and his coaching staff did in Year 1, perhaps you have the right to hold out on some of the details.
Young and the Cougars are coming off a 2024-25 season where they went 26-10 overall, 14-6 in Big 12 play, reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011 and landed the No. 1 recruit in the country. He was named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award, given to the top first-year head coach in NCAA Division I men’s basketball after leading the Cougars to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for just the third time in program history.
“My family and I have loved our first year at BYU, being surrounded by great people, at a great university with shared values,” Young said. “I’m excited to continue to build a program based on trying to help young men prepare for the NBA, win at the highest level and do it at BYU. This is an exciting time for all of BYU Athletics with Brian Santiago recently being named athletic director. I look forward to continuing to work with Brian and am excited to be in lock step with his leadership.”
After starting Big 12 play 2-4, BYU found its groove, winning 12 of its final 14 games in league play, including an eight-game win streak to finish the regular season and finish tied for third with Arizona. During the streak, Young led the Cougars to wins at nationally-ranked Arizona and Iowa State while handing Kansas its worst loss in program history as a ranked team vs. an unranked opponent, in front of a sold-out Marriott Center.
After being named a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive season, BYU defeated VCU in the Round of 64 to make Young the first, first-year BYU head coach to win an NCAA Tournament game since the field was expanded to 64 teams. The Cougars held on to defeat Wisconsin, 91-89, behind 25 points from Richie Saunders, to advance to the Sweet 16 for a third time in program history.
Under Young’s tutelage, Saunders was named the Big 12 Most Improved Player while earning First Team All-Big 12 accolades. The Lute Olsen Award finalist averaged a career-high 16.5 points per game while becoming the fifth player in program history to shoot 50/40/80 as he went 202-of-390 from the field, 79-of-183 from three and 96-of-115 from the charity stripe. Saunders was instrumental in the Cougars reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time since Jimmermania as the Riverton native averaged 22.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 59.5 percent from the field, 41-7 percent from three and making all 11 of his attempts from the free throw line.
Projected lottery pick Egor Demin was equally impressive during the Cougars’ NCAA Tournament run as the 6-foot-9 guard averaged 13.7 points, 5.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. In the win over the Badgers, Demin nearly had a triple-double finishing with 11 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. He broke Danny Ainge’s freshman record for total assists (180) and assists per game (5.5) that had stood since 1978.
Legacy Hall receiving an upgrade
BYU Athletics has begun renovating Legacy Hall, located in the Student Athlete Building. The project will run from this summer through the fall.
Relocation of memorabilia is already in progress, with demolition projects set to begin next week.
Due to the scale of the renovation, the main entrance to Legacy Hall on the south side of the Student Athlete Building will be closed. Access to Legacy Hall will be restricted until the project is complete. The Student Athlete Building can still be accessed by students and employees through various other entrances. General public access to the building will be limited.
The updated Legacy Hall will feature a refreshed look with modern displays, expanded event and hosting spaces and a renewed focus on celebrating BYU Football’s legacy. Key themes will include the program’s winning tradition, NFL placement, missionary service and culture of loving one another. A new highlight of the space will be the True Blue Theater, where visitors can choose from a variety of video content such as Deep Blue features, game highlights and episodes of The Cut.
BYU Athletics is committed to the care and preservation of the items displayed in Legacy Hall. During the renovation select memorabilia may be returned to their original owners. Other items will be securely stored until the project is complete. If you’d like to inquire about having an item returned, please send an email to Duff Tittle or Jon McBride.
BYU women’s volleyball releases non-conference schedule
BYU women’s volleyball head coach Heather Olmstead announced the Cougars’ 12-game 2025 non-conference schedule on Wednesday evening.
BYU will begin the year in Provo, hosting the dōTERRA Classic and BYU Nike Invitational on consecutive weekends before taking a trip to Los Angeles and returning to the state of Utah to face three in-state opponents.
The Cougars will welcome Fairleigh Dickinson, Central Michigan and High Point to the Smith Fieldhouse for opening weekend, facing the Knights and Chippewas in a Friday doubleheader and the Panthers, who come to Provo for a second year in a row, on Saturday.
BYU will host a second four-team tournament in week two with matchups against Northern Colorado, Wichita State and Incarnate Word from Thursday-Saturday.
Heading out to the West Coast in the third week of non-conference play for a second season in a row, the Cougars will play USC, former WCC foe LMU and Western Michigan in LA.
Wrapping up the slate in week four, BYU will play a trio of in-state matches, hosting Weber State before visiting both Utah State and Utah Valley on the road.
The Cougars will then begin year three in the Big 12 with a pair of conference matches at home for a third-straight year. View BYU’s full 2025 schedule at the Cougars’ website.
