"Outside of Dylan and Cooper, [Egor] has the most upside," declared BYU basketball head coach Kevin Young in a pre-draft interview with Jake Fischer.
"[The] margin for error seems much larger this June, with such wild variance among scouts' rankings and projections of so many prospects. Working within those confines could very well lead some teams to choose the player they deem has the highest possible floor. Or the lowest risk of failure. Or the skill set and tools most likely to translate at the next level.
"All of those descriptors might well apply to Egor Demin, BYU's supersized playmaker who is known for his standout feel on both sides of the court."
“Outside of Dylan [Harper] and Cooper [Flagg], he has the most upside," said BYU head coach Kevin Young.
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) June 20, 2025
Meet Egor Demin, the Cougars’ supersized playmaker, who’s worked out for teams all across the second half of next week’s NBA Draft lottery: https://t.co/gBlFhR5Ojc pic.twitter.com/gbuWlk1yt7
Demin, a nearly extraterrestrial playmaker standing at 6-foot-9, recently played his lone collegiate season with the BYU basketball program, opting to take the increasingly popular scholastic route for foreign players hoping to break onto the scene in the United States. Though heavily recruited by some of the most historically verified names in the NCAA, this spindly 18-year-old Russian ran with head coach Kevin Young in his inaugural campaign with the Cougars.
The product of his freshman season has been... polarizing.
Posting averages of 10.6 points and 5.6 assists an outing, Demin's playmaking ability has been his calling card from the jump. Playing as the primary ball handler and offensive initiator, his stretchy frame offers nearly periscopic vision above the perimeter line of defense, which he uses to find gaps while utilizing that same upsized frame for passing angles unreachable by more traditionally-sized 1-guards.
In his first few appearances with the Cougars, his potent two-pronged attack left inferior competition bewildered and draft analysts raving. Through five games, he was averaging 15.2 points on exceptional efficiency, including 56.5% from beyond the three-point arc.
Not to mention the passing ability -- which had me salivating as an unashamed lover of assists. Egor was dishing out meals to his awaiting teammates as if he were volunteering at a soup kitchen. A 3-ball for Trevin Knell, a tasty lob for Keba Keita, and sure, why not a backdoor dish to a cutting Richie Saunders? Egor stuffed the assist column to its seams in that same five-game stretch with a 7.2 average.
And while comparatively little-heralded, Demin showed up on defense more than he's often credited with, with only one game's sum dipping below 3 steals. Again in five games. It was Egor mania for a brief moment, with some even positing he may possess enough juice to challenge Flagg for the top slot in the draft.
But nearly every arduous journey comes across a nigh impassable valley, and the Moscow native's low points were, indeed, quite low. His shooting numbers fell off a cliff once he faced the first power conference foe on BYU's slate, Ole Miss, and with his jumpshot went his confidence. Hyper-aggressive defensive looks frazzled the freshman and forced him to settle on offense in repetition.
The slope became a cliff shortly thereafter, as his jump shot lost all credibility for the next 19 appearances, where he failed to hit more than one 3-ball per night save for an ugly 2-for-9 showing against Arizona.
Thus, the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. When the opposition stiffened, Egor rightfully became timid, passive, and sheepish during his playing time. For many, his scoring woes were enough to cause a mass exodus from the Demin cruise liner.
But through his struggles, Egor remained a surprisingly effective playmaker. The relationship between an offense and defense is often very give-and-take. As one team flexes its scoring muscles, the opposite defense is forced to respect and adapt. Conversely, when a weak link on the offensive end weak link fails to hold its end of the load, his game becomes far more challenging as the defense neglects any scoring threat and insists on protecting from other off-ball attacks.
Demin remained an elite passer, despite his adversaries' efforts to shut him out from his teammates. That, to me, is a far more telling indicator of his potential.
For those who abandoned ship during Demin's slump, they may have brushed aside his near triple-double in a Round of 32 upset win over 3-seed Wisconsin. They likely overlooked his deliberate brilliance in a riotous road win against red-hot Arizona.
In defense of Demin, Fischer contests that, "with the NBA Finals headed for a deciding seventh game and having repeatedly illustrated how handy it is in the modern NBA to assemble a roster outfitted with multiple ballhandlers and positional versatility, Young argues that what the scouts see as Demin's floor needs to be raised."
Certainly, following an NBA Draft Combine appearance that silenced many doubters about his quote-unquote "broken jumper", the narrative pendulum began to swing back toward the Cougar's favor.
That's not to say there is no likely worst-case scenario, nor would I argue that he's a can't-miss prospect, as I don't believe those truly exist. Instead, I link my voice to Coach Young, declaring that the floor of Egor Demin's game is highly exaggerated, and perhaps the perceived ceiling should even open up a touch more. This likely lottery pick is ready to let the sun in.