Sometimes in order to truly appreciate the good times, we have to remember the bad times.
As a lifelong BYU fan who began as a student in Provo in 1996, I've lived through the best of times and the worst of times with my beloved Cougars. My first year as a student in 1996-97 was among the worst of times as BYU basketball went 1-25, a season full of a shocking amount of losses that most of us have erased from our memories.
But I still remember the gloom of the 1-25 season back in 1996-97, and those scars are making my enjoyment of the current iteration of the Top 10-ranked, AJ Dybantsa-led BYU hoops team that much sweeter.
The gathering storm of 1996
I am a lifelong, loyal, strong, and true BYU fan.
I was born in the mid-1970s in Salt Lake City. While my father graduated from the University of Utah, we were a BYU household. As a competitive youth basketball player I grew up idolizing Jeff Chatman, Andy Toolson, Michael Smith, and Marty Haws. I would pretend to be those guys when shooting hoops in the front yard.
After serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1994-1996, I enrolled at BYU prior to the 1996-97 basketball season. We knew it would be a rebuilding year for Roger Reid's program that was coming off a middling 15-13 season and 9-9 WAC conference record. The Cougs were losing their top three scorers in Kenneth Roberts (19.3 PPG), Bryon Ruffner (18.8 PPG), and Randy Reid (11.2 PPG).
Ruffner's departure was especially difficult on both the team and BYU as an institution after he pleaded guilty to felony theft for his part in a fraudulent check and credit card scheme. Ruffner had averaged 18.8 points per game for the Cougars as a junior in 1995-96, had NBA potential, and was expected to score 20-plus points per game for the 1996-97 squad. His potential was so high that even after resolving his legal issues he was invited by the Utah Jazz in 1997 to play in the Rocky Mountain Revue, though he was eventually cut by the Jazz and didn't latch on elsewhere in the NBA.
But Ruffner's issues weren't the only ones hanging over the program back in 1996. BYU had also lost out on prized LDS recruit Chris Burgess who chose Duke over BYU and other suitors. Coach Roger Reid had to apologize after Burgess claimed that Reid told the young recruit that he was "letting nine million people down" across the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by choosing Duke over BYU.
Between Ruffner's shocking departure, Chris Burgess's deflating decision, and Roger Reid's regretful comments, there was already a gathering storm on the horizon in Provo before the season even began.
But even with these dark clouds on the horizon, none of us were prepared for the storm of losing that was about to rain down on the Cougars.
A deluge of losing
I came to Provo on the heels of Ruffner's withdrawal and Burgess's decision, but I was still ready to cheer on what I thought could be a somewhat competitive team.
While there were no realistic expectations for the 1996-97 team to win the WAC or make the NCAA Tournament, none of us expected Roger Reid's squad would go on to have the worst seasons in program history.
After all, Roger Reid was a very good coach. Coach Reid had piloted the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament five times in seven years at the helm of the program. BYU had won at least 21 games in each of Reid's fist six seasons before a disappointing 15-13 season in 1995-96. Under his leadership BYU finished first in the WAC regular season three times and won the conference tournament three times. Roger Reid was a two-time WAC Coach of the Year, and deservedly so.
All of that previous success aside, which is the nature of big-time college sports, the program was already trending in the wrong direction going into the 1996-97 season, but there was hope the Cougars could at least take a few steps in turning the program around.
That didn't happen.
The Cougars lost their first game of the season to Cal State Fullerton. They then suffered a humiliating 51-point loss to Washington followed by a 22-point blowout to Pacific. BYU, now 0-3, had a chance to right the ship against in-state rival Weber State, but instead suffered a gut-punch 17-point drubbing on the road.
After this discouraging 0-4 start, I knew my first basketball season as a BYU student was going to be a long one. I had no idea just how long and painful it would be.
The only highlight of the season came the following game when BYU narrowly beat Utah State at home by three points to get to 1-4.
The Cougars would go on to lose their next 21 games in a row, finishing the season 1-25.
Roger Reid steps down
After the Utah State victory, the Cougars lost their next two games to fall to 1-6 then announced Roger Reid would "step down" as coach. Tony Ingle was tapped to lead the program and he would go on to lose every one of the 19 games he coached, and some of those games were cover-your-eyes bad. Nine of those 19 losses were by 20 points or more. BYU lost by 40 at TCU, 42 at New Mexico (scoring just 32 points), 36 at Utah, and 42 in their second showdown against New Mexico.
I remember attending a home game that year with my then girlfriend (now wife) and essentially sitting wherever we wanted at the mostly vacant Marriott Center. The arena was so quiet you could hear players, coaches, and referees talking. While the players on the 1996-97 team gave their best effort that season, I could see in their eyes just how defeated they looked as the season slowly, then mercifully, came to an end.
In 1996-97, BYU went 1-25.
As a lifelong BYU fan and first-year BYU student back then, it was the lowest period in my BYU fandom.
Enduring that season of prolonged losing has made the last two seasons of BYU winning in the Big 12 all the sweeter.
These are the best of times for BYU basketball
When it comes to BYU basketball, these are definitely the best of times! Over the last two seasons coach Kevin Young has elevated BYU hoops to a level not even the most optimistic among us could have dreamed of.
Last year the Cougs went 26-10, including 14-6 in a loaded Big 12 conference, and advanced to the Sweet 16. Richie Sanders blossomed into an All-Big 12 First Team selection. Freshman sensation Egor Demin was selected No. 8 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft and is off to a promising start with the Brooklyn Nets.
BYU's 2025 recruiting class ranked No. 4 nationally and included AJ Dybantsa, who could win the NCAA Player of the Year this season and be the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NBA Draft.
As BYU kicks off the Big 12 season this year, let's remember that these are the best of times for BYU fans!
As the 1996-97 season proved for those of us who lived it, every win should be celebrated.