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BYU head coach Kevin Young (grey shirt) talks to his players in a time out during a Big 12 men's basketball game in the Marriott Center on Saturday, March 1, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Fans spell out BYU on their T-shirts at a Big 12 men's basketball game against Utah at the Marriott Center on Saturday, March 8, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Richie Saunders (15) drives around Utah's Jake Wahlin in a Big 12 men's basketball game against Utah at the Marriott Center on Saturday, March 8, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Dallin Hall (30) celebrates with teammates after making a 3-pointer to end the first half in a Big 12 men's basketball game against Utah at the Marriott Center on Saturday, March 8, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU women's basketball coach Amber Whiting (left) gives instructions to her team against UCF in the first round of he Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, March 5, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe addresses questions about his pending retirement in a news conference at the BYU Broadcasting Building on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Daily Herald sports writers Darnell Dickson and Jared Lloyd give their opinions on the hot BYU sports topics this week:

1. There are still games left to play, but is this BYU men’s basketball team better than the 2020 group that didn’t get a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament because of COVID?

DICKSON: It’s always a slippery slope when you compare teams from different eras. The 2020 team was very talented and built pretty organically. There were a couple of significant transfers (namely Alex Barcello from Arizona and Jake Toolson from UVU, though he began his career at BYU), but the core of the team were guys that Dave Rose recruited out of high school like T.J. Haws, Yoeli Childs, Dalton Nixon, Connor Harding and Zac Seljaas.

The way Kevin Young has built this season’s Cougars is very different, obviously, because of NIL and the transfer portal. I would say this team is deeper than the 2020 group but the biggest difference is level of competition.

Would the 2019-20 team be able to go 24-8 with a Big 12 schedule? Would that team have been able to win nine games in a row, including four wins against ranked teams?

It’s an interesting question, but I would go with the 2024-25 group because of who they’ve played.

LLOYD: If you asked me if the 2024-25 BYU men’s basketball team is playing better right now than the 2019-20 did at this point of the season, I would say yes … but only because the Cougars lost their first game in the West Coast Conference tournament in 2020 while this year’s team defeated Iowa State.

There are a lot of similarities, when you break it down. Both teams had some ups and downs early in the season (including overtime losses at Utah).

But that 2020 Cougar squad was really good. It’s easy to forget that BYU that year had three overtime losses, three other losses by a total of seven points and two losses to teams ranked No. 4 and No. 1 (as well as a win over No. 2-ranked Gonzaga in Provo). It was a different level of competition, but there weren’t any faceplants like the 2025 BYU team had at Providence and at Cincinnati.

As I make the attempt to take in all the complex factors (NIL, conference affiliation, level of unity, etc.), I’m still going to give the edge to the 2019-20 team … but it’s really, really close.

2. Who would you say is the most valuable player on this year’s BYU men’s basketball team?

LLOYD: The beauty of this Cougar team is there really are a lot of valid candidates for that title.

I don’t think there is any doubt that Richie Saunders has been BYU’s most consistent player at both ends of the court, with his ability to score and tirelessly chase around opposing players on defense.

Despite everything that so many other players bring (Egor Demin with his passing and explosiveness, Keba Keita with his shot-blocking, rebounding and dunking, Dallin Hall with his presence and shooting, Mawot Mag with his defense and outside shot, etc.), I’m going to give the nod to Saunders.

But I’m going to give a second-place award to an unlikely candidate: Trey Stewart.

If you want to talk value, it’s hard to not look at Stewart’s patience, dedication, determination and resiliency. In many ways, while Saunders may be the heart of this Cougar squad, Stewart has epitomize the soul of a team that wants to have players be unselfish and ready to step up whenever they get the chance.

DICKSON: You can define “MVP” a lot of different ways. Richie Saunders, who could have left with Mark Pope to Kentucky, came back and was first team All-Big 12. That’s pretty impressive.

But I am going to go with junior guard Dallin Hall, who also could have left with the coaching change but opted to return. Hall’s biggest contribution may be mentoring freshman Egor Demin, but there have also been times when Demin has struggled with turnovers against pressure. Remember, he’s a 6-foot-9 point guard and is often defended by smaller, quicker players.

Hall has been able to come in, solve the turnovers and settle down the Cougars. He’s so solid and has no agenda. If he gets an open shot, great, but he’s more concerned about running the offense to get his teammates open shot.

His connection with Fousseyni Traore is pretty amazing at times. You’ll see Hall feed Traore three or four times a game in a perfect spot to get an easy layup. I can’t imagine BYU’s success this season without Hall.

3. Where do you think the Cougars should be slotted when the NCAA Tournament seeding comes out on Sunday?

DICKSON: I think BYU has played itself into the four or five-seed conversation. There aren’t many teams in the nation that are playing as well as the Cougars are right now.

It looks like BYU’s light non-conference schedule could be a factor and we can’t forget what has happened in the past, where the NCAA committee usually under-seeds the Cougars because of the no-Sunday-play issue. So while I think BYU has earned a four or a five seed, we’ll most likely see a six or a seven.

Let’s not get caught up in seeding, anyway. It’s such a crapshoot, as we found out last year when the No. 6 Cougars lost to an 11 seed, Duquesne, in the first round.

I think this year’s team is going to be better at adapting to whoever the opponent is in the first round of the NCAA’s. Just go in and win Game 1. BYU hasn’t won a first-round tournament game since 2011. Take care of that first.

LLOYD: Regardless of how the Big 12 tournament plays out, the Cougars have earned their designation as a darkhorse candidate to make a run in the Big Dance. BYU has played excellent offensively and shown it can settle in a lockdown better on defense at times.

Looking at the entire season, though, I don’t think I could make a valid case for the Cougars to be better than a No. 5 seed. Yes, they’ve been great down the stretch and the analytics aren’t bad, but there wasn’t much to look at in the first three months of the year.

I expect the committee to drop BYU a seed line to place them in a Thursday-Saturday bracket, so I expect the Cougars to be a No. 6-seed for the second straight year. We’ll see if BYU can do better in that position this year than it managed in 2024.

4. While the BYU administration is searching for a new women’s basketball coach, what do you think is the most important attribute for whoever is hired?

LLOYD: In this day and age, moving on from a coach often requires a complete restart for a program. Players who played under the previous coach often transfer (some Cougars have already entered the transfer portal), meaning a new coach sometimes has nearly a blank slate to work with.

I think whoever gets the job needs to follow the formula that has generally worked really well for the BYU women’s soccer and volleyball teams: Get the best LDS talent to come to Provo and then fill in around them.

There are some gifted athletes with BYU ties who could be difference-makers for the Cougars, with former Lone Peak star Kailey Woolston and Big 12 Freshman of the Year Delaney Gibb headlining that list. But it might be a tough sell, depending on who takes over.

DICKSON: Amber Whiting had some great connections for recruiting but it never seemed to create a consistent winner. There were some big upsets and close losses, especially in Big 12 play, so I don’t think the Cougars were far off from being a competitive team.

I think the next coach is going to have to hit the portal pretty hard at first and bring in some post players. It’s not easy because post players are at a premium, but BYU struggled with teams that had multiple post players who could score.

The Cougars also could use a little more quickness on the guard line, because they face a lot of that in the Big 12. Without a big NIL pool, women’s college basketball handles differently than the men. There’s still money there but not life-changing money.

It also wouldn’t hurt if the new coach managed to hold on to Delaney Gibb, the Big 12 Freshman of the Year.

5. While we’re on the subject of hiring, what is the most important attribute needed for whoever is going to be BYU’s new athletic director?

DICKSON: I’m tempted to say “do more interviews with the media” but that’s a selfish response. Tom only did about one group interview a year and an occasional radio appearance and I just wanted more opportunities to pick his brain.

One of Tom’s best attributes was his ability to build relationships with administrators from other schools, which became apparent in 2020 when he had to totally rebuild the football schedule. The new AD has to understand how BYU is viewed around the country and help build new relationships. Being a “people person” is probably too simplistic but that’s a good start.

LLOYD: I think the biggest challenge that the BYU athletic director faces is understanding and balancing the position of Cougar athletics between the academic objectives of the university, the religious objectives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which owns the school) and the competitive objectives of the teams.

Tom Holmoe did an excellent job at figuring out how to meet all of those needs, but it’s not an easy task. If any of them get out of sync with the others, it causes major problems.

If the new athletic director can maintain that equilibrium, it will enable the Cougar programs to continue to evolve and grow in the modern era of college athletics while maintain the standards that are so important at BYU.