Provo, Utah, erupted with outrage when starting point guard Robert Wright III entered the transfer portal. It wouldn't have been so bad under normal circumstances; after all, in the current age of NIL and transfer freedom, there's practically no such thing as a sure-thing returner in college basketball.
It was Wright's own fault -- he promised BYU basketball he would return, granted the NBA doesn't give him a call at the end of the season.
So confusion and outrage weren't completely unwarranted when he put his name in the transfer portal. The top point guard in the transfer portal was Wright, and BYU felt he owed it to the program to hold out his end of the deal.
It didn't help matters to see him flirting with Mark Pope, the current head coach of the University of Kentucky and Kevin Young's predecessor at BYU. Set to take an official visit to Lexington earlier this week, all reports, rumors, and indicators were screaming that Kentucky was the favorite for Wright's junior season. Heck, even the experts at On3 were convinced Rob would be a Wildcat by the end of the transfer window; the trip to campus was practically a formality.
But we saw the same story with Richie Saunders two seasons ago, and we all know how that turned out.
signed. sealed. delivered. pic.twitter.com/uNnGjvQePw
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) April 15, 2026
Sure enough, in a nearly 1:1 recreation of Saunders' recruiting saga, the news broke earlier today: Rob Wright is back with BYU. The crystal ball must be foggy these days.
His signing makes one critical point to BYU fans. Though it wasn't as straightforward as we may have expected, he kept his promise to come back. That's all that matters now.
Wright will be the only returning starter from last season's team, barring the microscopic chance that AJ Dybantsa shrugs off the likelihood of being the number-one selection in the upcoming NBA Draft for one more year in Provo. For continuity -- which is an absolutely critical factor of success in college basketball -- Wright's return is far more valuable than face value would lead one to believe (and face value is very high on his worth).
Rob Wright III will be the Cougars' starting point guard again in 2026-27, joining Bruce Branch III and Collin Chandler as a deadly three-headed monster in the starting five. Is this Wright-Dybantsa-Saunders 2.0?
Now all we can hope is that BYU's depth can more evenly round-out the roster, with less weight at the top and more competence at the base.
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