One of the underreported storylines about BYU’s run to the Sweet 16 -- and potentially further -- is the impact the 2024–25 Cougars will have in framing the future success the program may enjoy.
This team proves BYU didn't buy its way to the top.
With the hiring of Kevin Young nearly a year ago, enthusiasm from deep-pocketed boosters to invest in the men’s basketball team has spiked. ESPN recently ran an article about the recent boon to BYU basketball’s NIL offers. The article quotes Paul Liljenquist, a significant program booster, as saying, “You're not going to outbid us” when it comes to the financial commitment of the BYU community in landing top talent.
BYU’s detractors criticize with righteous indignation the reported $8.5 million it took for any school, BYU included, to secure the commitment from next year's No. 1 overall recruit, AJ Dybantsa.
Quotes like Liljenquist’s cause them to complain that BYU is just buying talent. They bemoan that the school is somehow selling its soul to win basketball games. They allege the Cougars can only succeed by throwing outrageous amounts of “filthy lucre” at 5-star talents who will endure a year at BYU, win a bunch of college games, then bolt from Provo to the NBA as fast as they can, already multimillionaires.
And, frankly, if BYU had laid an egg in its first two seasons in the Big 12, those criticisms could have had some merit.
If BYU was struggling, the optics of 5-star talents signing with a bottom-tier Big 12 program wouldn't be great. If the Cougars were a sub-.500, so-so Power Four program, it could look like BYU was just paying mercenaries. But after finishing fourth in the Big 12 last year, then finishing third in the conference this season and now in the midst of a Sweet 16 run, the "hired gun" argument doesn't hold water.
Thanks to this season’s team that's built on the foundation of long-term, home-grown veterans, BYU has proven it doesn’t need to just buy wins.
BYU can grow them.
The home-grown core of the Sweet 16 team
The core of this 26-9 BYU team that’s headed to the Sweet 16 is a collection of players who have developed in Provo for years.
They aren’t short-term contractors looking to maximize NIL. They aren’t 5-star guys who just took the largest NIL package. They are mostly guys who were solid but not spectacular high school recruits who chose to come to BYU and developed there over the course of years.
Here are the backgrounds of the six core guys who have been with BYU for two years or more that just led the team to the Sweet 16. Recruiting ratings are provided by 247 Sports.
Richie Saunders, SF - 3-star recruit (.879) from Mount Pleasant, Utah.
Trevin Knell, SG - 3-star recruit (.870) from Woods Cross, Utah.
Dallin Hall, PG - 3-star recruit (.856) from Fremont, Utah.
Fousseyni Traore, C - 3-star recruit (.850) from Mali, then Mount Pleasant, Utah.
Trey Stewart, SG - Unranked recruit, American Fork, Utah.
Dawson Baker, SG - 3-star transfer recruit (.880), Mission Viejo, California.
These six long-term, foundational players combined this season to average 50.3 of BYU’s 81.2 points per game.
None of these players were four-star recruits, but most of them developed into big-time players in Provo. Richie Saunders was named All-Big 12 First Team this year. Dallin Hall was All-Big 12 Honorable Mention last year. Trevin Knell and Fousseyni Traore both surpassed the 1,000 career points threshold. Trey Stewart was never a starter, but this year he has proven to be a ball hawking defensive stopper in limited minutes. Dawson Baker gets buckets despite coming off the bench on a team stocked with wing talent.
The Cougars are in the Sweet 16 because of these six home-grown, long-term guys.
BYU’s current success is what’s fueling the support from boosters and donors, not the other way around.
If in the future BYU becomes a year-in, year-out national powerhouse that wins games behind 5-star, one-and-done NBA talent, nobody can rightfully claim that the Cougars only rose to prominence because they spent their way to the top.
The 2024-25 Sweet 16 (and possibly more) team proved BYU was already winning before the serious dollars were flowing.