BYU basketball has never been as exciting as it is today. Not from a talent, publicity, or competition standpoint. Sending top-10 NBA Draft picks to the pros in consecutive seasons isn't just rare for Cougar hoops -- it's rare across the entire landscape of college basketball.
BYU joined Duke University in sending top-10 players in consecutive draft classes over the last two seasons -- and that's it.
BYU basketball is a different beast altogether right now, and I want to take this moment to show appreciation for where we find ourselves.
In the finale episode of The Office (US), Andy Bernard looks into the camera with an expression of satisfaction blended with the longing of a time long past. Tears behind his eyeballs and a strain on his brow, this character reminisced on a period of his life that he will never be able to recapture, and delivered one of the most poignant lines in the entire 9-season show.
"I wish there was a way to know you're in the 'good old days' before you've actually left them," he said.
For fans of BYU basketball, here is my simple message to you: You are in the good old days right now. Don't forget to enjoy them.
It can be easy to grow accustomed to the new normal. After all, last season's team boasted All-Big 12 first team honoree Richie Saunders, 5-star point guard Robert Wright III, and the number-one overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, AJ Dybantsa, and fans (myself certainly included) still found new points to gripe over.
The team wasn't winning enough, the roster wasn't deep enough, the Big 3 is too ball-dominant. All of these were common friction points with viewers, and all of these are mostly true.
But it was just four years ago when the Mark Pope-led Cougars finished fifth in the West Coast Conference standings, with a roster of Seneca Knight, Caleb Lohner, Te'Jon Lucas, Alex Barcello, Gideon George, Gavin Baxter, and Hunter Erickson. Many of those players were the names that fans would fill the Marriott Center to see.
Now, BYU fans watch as 5-star athletes and future all-time greats take down top-10 programs like Iowa State and Texas Tech.
This year, BYU basketball sent two players to the NBA Draft. One, a home-grown LDS kid from Utah, was drafted in the early second-round after a four-year career in Provo. Another, a new era superstar and the number-one player in his recruiting class, was selected first overall "from Brigham Young University".
This season, BYU will roll out a roster that includes Robert Wright III, Bruce Branch III, and Collin Chandler. Though they likely won't win the national championship, that is a formidable line of top-end talent.
Don't forget to smell the roses, Cougar fans -- seasons change.
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