When BYU basketball was announced as the frontrunners for 5-star transfer Rob Wright III, optimism for the second season of hoops under the Kevin Young regime blasted through the roof.
Maybe it's time we just leave the ceiling open, because it seems to get shattered on a biweekly basis at this point, and I'm tired of calling the contractor.
When Egor Demin declared for the NBA Draft -- becoming the first one-and-done player in BYU hoops history in decades -- the resounding sentiment surrounding the program in Provo was "who's next up?"
Drizzle the exits of Dallin Hall and Elijah Crawford via the transfer portal onto this backcourt sundae, and a school preparing to welcome AJ Dybantsa and Xavion Staton onto campus was suddenly left with a barren backcourt. So desolate, in fact, that I could have sworn Dawson Baker's mustache was a tumbleweed.
Enter Robert Wright the Third, a sophomore transfer from Big 12 peer, Baylor, who enjoyed a highly productive freshman year as a college basketball player. Starting and finishing games as a newbie may not be a very revolutionary concept in the modern age of college basketball, but for a team that advanced past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, trusting your offense in the hands of a freshman speaks volumes to that player's poise and maturity on the basketball floor.
But when you land a player as highly touted in recruiting circles as Wright, it's easy to understand the commotion.
A four-star player out of high school (rated the top point guard in his class) entered the Baylor program and delivered some headline-stealing performances from star teammates, VJ Edgecombe and Norchad Omier, including a heroic effort to force overtime against Kevin Young and the Cougars in the Marriott Center.
Now, exiting the program along with all 13 of his teammates, Wright joins a BYU basketball program on the rise, with a newfound taste for postseason glory.
Bolstering the backcourt and boosting expectations for the team, does the addition of Wright validate Final Four aspirations?
As a program, BYU has earned the most NCAA Tournament appearances without an appearance in the illustrious semifinal, peaking with a few trips to the Elite Eight throughout the school's history. This coming season, however, with All-Big 12 first-teamer, Richie Saunders, number-one recruit AJ Dybantsa, and a host of returning and incoming talent injecting the depth chart, Kevin Young's second season at the helm could prove to be an all-timer.
Time will tell, and the transfer shuffle is far from over, but BYU basketball is breathing rarified air, and don't plan on coming down any time soon.