Despite the recent home loss to Arizona, BYU basketball is still providing fans with a healthy helping of reasons to remain excited about the state of the program. One of those reasons has to relate to the Cougars' NBA draft magnetism, with Egor Demin and Kanon Catchings arriving in Provo specifically to prepare themselves for the next step of their careers.
With varying levels of success, the Cougs are poised to appear in this draft certainly at least once, as Demin remains a lottery projection even after a few rocky performances.
Demin, the Moscow native who recently played for Real Madrid's U18 squad before crossing the Atlantic to play in Provo, is putting the pieces together, and has put forward some of his best performances over the past four games with the Cougars.
Kanon Catchings, while his stock has certainly dipped from the beginning of the year, broke out against Baylor to remind the scouts in attendance that he is a viable hooper as well to the tune of 23 points on perfect shooting splits.
But beyond those two, a few more Cougars are beginning to generate some buzz from the next level, as Richie Saunders makes a case as one of the best hustle players in college basketball, and even players like Keba Keita continue to rock rims and get us to imagine the potential in pro ball.
Taking a look at recent mock drafts and projections, let's get a pulse on the NBA's eye for the Cougars.
BYU basketball players in NBA Mock Drafts
Egor Demin
CBS: 13th
Sports Illustrated: 20th
Tankathon: 8th
NBADraft.net: 13th
Bleacher Report: 17th
NBA Draft Room: 7th
Kanon Catchings
Sports Illustrated: 21st
After scrounging the internet, I've determined that Sports Illustrated may be a bit uninformed.
Did not appear: Richie Saunders, Keba Keita
The NBA world is a mystery, and that much is apparent when you look at the wide range of Demin's potential landing spots.