NCAA Basketball: Top 25 offseason winners entering 2024-25 season

No. 24 - BYU Cougars: Kevin Young’s instant impact

Kevin Young was among the more savvy, out-of-the-box hires in the coaching carousel after the departure of Mark Pope to Kentucky -- and the early returns are as positive as ever in Provo.

Young, who recently served as the associate head coach with the Phoenix Suns, has deep professional ties. The former G-League coach was the highest-paid assistant in the NBA last season and now turns to the collegiate ranks for the first time since 2006 when he served as an assistant coach at Utah Valley for one season.

Even if the collegiate ranks aren’t so familiar to Kevin Young, he is fitting in seamlessly. Headlined by a pair of highly-touted freshmen, projected first-round pick Egor Demi and four-star Purude decomitt Kanon Catchings, Young has flourished on the recruiting trail.

To complement its upside, Mawot Mag (Rutgers) and Kebe Keita (Utah) are excellent frontcourt portal additions that expect to fit well alongside BYU’s impactful returnees, Dallin Hall and Richie Saunders, both of whom withdrew their names from the transfer portal.

The BYU Cougars have a nice blend of returning experience, transfers and upside that will make them a tough out in the grueling Big 12. It’s rare to find a team that lost its head coach as an offseason winner, but thanks to Kevin Young’s instant impact on the program, the BYU Cougars are not like the others.