The overall work at BYU remains impressive even with Kevin Young taking the reins in recent years. The Cougars were in the Sweet Sixteen in 2025 and put together quite the powerful lineup last season, but it’s one that unfortunately fell in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. With the resources available from the faithful in Provo, could we see BYU making a deep postseason again this season?
Big loss with top pick
The obvious headline here is that AJ Dybantsa is not back, having just been taken with the first pick of the 2026 NBA Draft. Prominent guard Richie Saunders also isn’t back, but the Cougars do return one of their Big 3 in Robert Wright, a rising junior point guard who’ll be a major leader on this team. There aren’t a lot of other returning pieces, though getting Dawson Baker back and healthy will be great.
Young and his active staff keep building and have landed Top 10 recruit Bruce Branch III, a small forward who’ll be a major weapon next season. 4-star forward Dean Rueckert is another notable add while the Cougars also picked up a decent haul of transfers. They grabbed Syracuse forward Tyler Betsey and Clemson forward Jake Wahlin, two very solid players with potential to do even more with the Cougars this year.
Come way of Lexington
The most notable addition is a familiar face to BYU, with Collin Chandler heading back to Provo. A former Top 30 prospect, he’s a 6-5 guard who originally committed to BYU way back in 2022 under Mark Pope. After serving a two-year LDS mission, Chandler’s actual career began after transferring to Kentucky, following Pope to the SEC. He worked in a reserve role as a freshman before taking a step forward last season, putting up 9.7 points and 2.8 rebounds while making 41% of his 3-pointers.
When Chandler originally landed in Provo he was one of the more highly-rated recruits in recent memory for the program. The recent landings of players like Dybantsa and Branch have cleared changed that, but it doesn’t change the expectation. BYU is hoping they can plug Chandler into a major role in this backcourt and get results, especially after a full season of starting and being a decent option for a team like Kentucky.
The situation is a bit different this season but there’s still plenty of talent on this roster. Branch and Wright are two formidable stars and Chandler combines to form what could be another great Big 3 for the Cougars. It’s unlikely that all three average 18 points a game like Dybantsa, Saunders, and Wright did last season, but hopefully there’s a bit more talent down the roster, with BYU really needing someone like Betsey and Wahlin to step up.
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