BYU Basketball: How will the Cougars handle a scholarship crunch?
By Shaun Gordon
The Seniors
BYU basketball in 2017-18 had zero seniors. Unless something catastrophic happens, that won’t be the case next season.
Three Cougars enter their senior seasons in 2018-19. Two are scholarship players (Elijah Bryant and Luke Worthington), while one is a walk-on (McKay Cannon).
There’s no concrete reason to expect any of these players won’t be back next year, but anything can happen.
If any of these three were to leave, the highest likelihood would be Bryant. The All-WCC guard will graduate this summer, so he could transfer.
Or he could go pro. It’s a long-shot that he’ll be drafted, but he could follow Eric Mika’s lead and head overseas.
He’s older than the average junior thanks to his prep year and redshirt year. He’s also had knee problems. He might decide to get paid before his body takes that opportunity away.
But for now that’s purely speculation.
The Juniors
This is where the list gets long. Eight returning players will be juniors, seven of which will be on scholarship.
Those seven are Yoeli Childs, TJ Haws, Jashire Hardnett, Dalton Nixon, Zac Seljaas, Payton Dastrup, and Braiden Shaw (assuming a medical redshirt). Evan Troy, a walk-on, will also be a junior.
And here’s where you get the first likely addition: Nick Emery.
Emery recently tweeted out that he still plans to return to BYU basketball, which would create one more scholarship need on the team:
https://twitter.com/NickEmery04/status/983989013567672320
One player here is more likely to leave than any other, and that’s Yoeli Childs. Like Mika did last offseason, Childs is testing the draft waters without hiring an agent. If he shows well in workouts, he could get an NBA look, although it’s still a reach that he’d be drafted.
That didn’t stop Mika from heading overseas though, and the same thing could happen with Childs. It’s not likely, but possible.
Anyone other juniors leaving would be a much bigger surprise.