BYU Basketball: Elijah Bryant won’t return for senior year, turning pro
By Shaun Gordon
BYU basketball will lose a key contributor for 2018-19, as Elijah Bryant has announced that he’ll turn pro after his graduation next week.
The first domino in BYU basketball’s scholarship crunch just fell.
In a YouTube announcement, Cougar guard Elijah Bryant announced that he’ll forego his senior season to chase his dream of playing professionally.
In the video, Bryant expressed his love of basketball and his appreciation for all of the opportunities that shaped him. He showed special appreciation for BYU, where he met his wife and was able to grow both as a player and as a person.
His departure may be one of the worst-kept secrets of this offseason, as rumors of Bryan turning pro have spread throughout the last month.
The move makes sense for Bryant. He’s coming off a monster year, where he averaged 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists.
He’ll also be 23 when he turns pro.
Bryant took a winding path to BYU. He spent a year after high school at a prep school, then spent his freshman year at Elon in 2014-15.
After transferring to BYU, he redshirted in 2015-16 and battled injuries during his sophomore campaign in 2016-17. He still managed to score 11.7 points per game that season in 23 games, including a 39-point explosion at Portland.
Because of his prep year and redshirt year, he’s older than the average senior-to-be, and if he’s serious about making the jump professionally, there’s no better time to do it than after his monster junior season.
It’s a tough break for the Cougars, though. It will be the second straight season that BYU loses one of their best players early. While it will aid in solving the scholarship dilemma that Dave Rose has, it will put a bigger burden on players such as Yoeli Childs and TJ Haws. If Nick Emery returns it would certainly help replace at least some of Bryant’s production.
This may be the biggest roster news of the offseason for the Cougars, but there’s certainly more to come. The next domino will be Childs, who has declared for the NBA draft but still has the option to return to BYU.