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BYU's Robert Wright III (left) is cut off by Houston's Isaiah Harwell in a Big 12 men's basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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BYU's Robert Wright III goes up for a shot against Colorado in a Big 12 men's basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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It may be time to start filing anything college athletes say under the “It-was-true-at-the-time” category.

Despite telling reporters last month that he would only play college basketball in a BYU uniform next year, sophomore guard Robert Wright III entered the transfer portal on Tuesday, according to multiple reports.

So what changed?

There are several reasons an athlete enters the portal, but “follow the money” seems to provide the most logical and accurate conclusions . Name, image and likeness has created a arms race to spend more dollars in securing talent and Wright, who averaged 18.1 points and 4.6 assists per game for the Cougars last season, would be among the top portal entrees this cycle.

Wright caused a commotion at Baylor last season when he left for a bigger payday at BYU.

“When I say you expect it, you know people are going to leave,” Bears coach Scott Drew told reporters last June. “Rob obviously was someone we had an agreement with, so when you make an agreement, you think you’re done. Obviously that was a surprise.”

It’s still possible Wright could decide to return to Provo, but it’s looking more and more as if BYU will enter the 2026-27 season without its top three scorers: Wright, AJ Dybantsa and Richie Saunders.

Dybantsa (25.5 points per game), a first team All-American, is expected to be one of the top choices in the NBA Draft and Saunders (18.0), who missed the final seven games of the season with an ACL injury, is out of eligibility.

Also on Tuesday, redshirt freshman guard Dominique Diomande, who transferred from Washington to BYU last spring, had announced he’s headed to the portal as well. Diomande played in 24 games and averaged just 7.2 minutes per contest but performed well, especially defensively, in the Big 12 Tournament.

On Monday, freshman center Xavion Staton entered the portal. Staton was No. 55 in ESPN’s Top 100 as a high schooler. He played in nine games before an injury sidelined him the rest of the season.

After losing to Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 19, BYU head coach Kevin Young was already being asked about constructing his roster for the 2026-27 season.

“The rules are ever changing,” Young said. “The landscape is ever changing. We try to stay on top of it the best that we can. So we’ll have some deep reflection on just what the roster looks like for next year, who we think is going to come back from this year’s team. They all have choices as well. That’s the thing that is so different. In the NBA, you get multi-year deals. Here, every year is a contract year. So it makes it really challenging.

“But the good news is we’re not the only one. Every team is going to go through the same thing. What I learned last year is that the portal season, if you want to call it that, it’s a ‘buckle up’ type deal, man. It’s a long grind. Luckily, the portal is shorter this year, but we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”

BYU searching for new women’s gymnastics coach

Director of Athletics Brian Santiago announced today that BYU Gymnastics Head Coach Guard Young will not have his contract renewed for the coming season.

“We are grateful for Guard’s 11 years of commitment and hard work with the BYU gymnastics program,” Santiago said. “His efforts in coaching and mentoring student-athletes have made a meaningful impact and we appreciate the time and dedication he has given through his tenure. After thoughtful evaluation of the program’s direction, we believe this is the right time for a change in leadership that can take BYU gymnastics to the next level.”

Young had been in the role since 2015. During his tenure, he led the Cougars to six top-25 final national rankings. BYU was ranked No. 1 in the MRGC for three consecutive seasons (2019-2022) before making the move to the Big 12 in 2023.

A member of the BYU men’s gymnastics team from 1996 to 2000, Young won six All-America awards and two NCAA National Championships on the vault (1999, 2000). As a senior, Young was also the runner-up for the individual all-around at the 2000 NCAA Championships. He was inducted into the BYU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.

With Young’s departure, BYU will conduct a national search for the next gymnastics head coach.