BYU Player Profile: Egor Demin

We're living in an unprecedented era of boundless optimism for BYU basketball, and no incoming player better embodies that sentiment than Russian-born star Egor Demin (Ye-gor Dyo-min). Demin is a 6'9" guard from Real Madrid--the basketball club, of course--who only recently considered playing college basketball to prepare for the NBA rather than staying in Europe for one more season a la former member of Real Madrid, Luka Doncic.

New head coach Kevin Young jumped at the opportunity to recruit Demin, who is projected to be a lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. His blend of size and skill fits perfectly in the modern NBA where tall playmakers dominate the land. Young, of course, wasn't the only American coach who salivated at the prospects of securing Demin's commitment. Illinois came through the woodwork early, followed by John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks and the USC Trojans.

With an apparently excellent recruiting pitch from BYU's camp (and a ludicrous payday awaiting) Demin decided on BYU, receiving a promise from Coach Young that his program would prepare Demin to rocket himself into the NBA following a season in Provo.

With Demin committed, BYU has obtained the highest-rated prospect in program history. Sure, go ahead and do a little happy dance. Since Shawn Bradley, the Cougars haven't seen a projected lottery pick don "Brigham Young" on his uniform as a one-and-done prospect, and he arrived during a significant hinge point in the BYU hoops program.

So, with that history class concluded, let's shift our focus to current events. Who is Egor Demin, who is he not, and what will he bring to the table at BYU?