NCAA Basketball: 25 biggest offseason winners heading into 2021-22 season

The offseason started off fairly slow for the Cougars, as they were waiting on a pair of key decisions from WCC Defensive Player of the Year Matt Haarms and Alex Barcello, last season’s leading scorer and passer along with being one of the best pure shooters in the country. They each took their time in making their move and in the end, it was Barcello who came back, while Haarms moved on.

While losing a 7’3 big man who is also one of the best defenders in the country certainly hurt but the Cougars still have plenty of depth in the frontcourt. Richard Harward is capable of starting, while incoming freshmen Atiki Ally Atiki and Fousseyni Traoré will have a chance to crack the rotation.

Bringing back Barcello, however, instantly makes this an NCAA Tournament caliber team. He averaged 16.1 ppg and 4.7 apg on 52/48/86 shooting splits, something only a handful of NCAA Basketball players were able to do last season. All while being the clear-cut No. 1 option on offense while still having to create for others.

BYU also brought in a pair of former all-conference players in Te’Jon Lucas (Milwaukee) and Seneca Knight (LSU via San Jose State). Both are backcourt players and are upgrades over Brandon Averette and Connor Harding in the rotation. With them and Barcello leading the way in the backcourt, the Cougars are the clear-cut No. 2 team in the WCC and may even be more capable of beating the No. 1 team next season.