Just like that, another top-rated recruit is in Kevin Young's sights.
Eastvale, California's Brayden Burries is a 6'4", 200 lbs combo guard who is drawing great interest across the college hoops world. He's received offers from the basketball world's elite programs like Duke, Kansas, Arizona, and Houston to name a few. But on Monday, Burries announced that he'd received an offer to play at BYU.
Grateful to receive an offer from BYU . #AGTG #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/P0gknXUVYT
— Brayden Burries (@BraydenBurries) April 29, 2024
BYU is boldly making its presence known in the college basketball recruiting world, having already flipped a 4-star player in Brody Kozlowski in the offseason, and now extending offers to three 4-star prospects and two 5-star players--including Burries--in the 2025 class. BYU has never captured a 5-star recruit in its hoops history, but head coach Kevin Young's NBA experience has his new program's ambition at an all-time high.
Burries is a guard with great size and elite feel for the game. He's a top-tier athlete with a wide skillset on the floor. Comfortable with the ball in his hands, Burries is a willing passer and confident scorer. He initiates the offense confidently, and steals the defense's attention wherever he moves on the floor. With his tight handle, Burries has no problem slicing through the defense and carries enough strength to bump defenders off balance and draw fouls underneath the hoop.
With the ball, he has a great understanding of passing lanes and hits his teammates with well-timed dimes for open shots. On the next level, I wouldn't be surprised to see him playing lead guard, bringing the ball down the floor, and commanding the offense on a regular basis.
Defense is becoming something of a lost art in the modern age of basketball. In the world of basketball, few players receive praise for being a defensive ace other than players like Rudy Gobert and Matisse Thybulle of the NBA--great defensively, but below average offensively (as always, Victor Wembanyama is an exception to this rule). It's not uncommon to see players take plays off on defense to save energy for their offensive game. Burries, however, puts in great effort on the defensive end. He has great instincts and active hands, forcing plenty of turnovers and staying aware of what's happening on the floor.
He jumps to the ball and never lets the offense breathe. Constantly swiveling his head across the court, his off-ball awareness is a fantastic attribute that can be very hard to find in offensively gifted players.
Burries is likely a longshot to land with the Cougars, but receiving an offer from BYU is a great sign that Kevin Young is setting his aim very high when it comes to recruiting. When Young told us that he wanted to build an NBA pipeline through Provo, that meant he'd need to land NBA-level talent. We're off to a great start.