This time last season, Kevin Young was a brand-new hire for BYU basketball, and his biggest move as a basketball coach was flipping 4-star local recruit Brody Kozlowski from USC to the royal blue in Provo, Utah.
Not to belittle that accomplishment, as Kozlowski is primed for an expanded role in his sophomore season with the program, but after adding NBA lottery hopeful and 5-star point guard, Egor Demin a short time later, the floodgates opened and drowned the valley with talented hoopers the likes of AJ Dybantsa, Xavion Staton, Rob Williams, Kenneth Davis Jr., and more and more and more.
BYU basketball projects to be something incredible, something unthinkable, something capable of far more than any Provo-based squad ever has.
So yes, with the potential number one NBA Draft pick on the roster, alongside a flurry of elite players dotting the roster, I was not alone in anxiously anticipating the first look behind the scenes of Kevin Young's NBA academy.
So, do you want to see it? AJ Dybantsa with BYU across his chest? Xavion Staton attacking on defense in Provo? The impending future of Cougar basketball gelling as a unit? Who am I kidding, you've already skipped to the video by now. so here you go.
Attention-grabbing details
So, a few things grabbed my eye while watching this brief, yet expansive 45-second clip of practice.
First, AJ Dybantsa is donning the number 23 on his practice jersey. Given that every returning player's number seems to match last season's uniforms (except for Keba Keita), it should be a safe assumption that we now know many of the players' jersey numbers for the season, barring a change.
Notable uniform numbers as seen in the clip:
AJ Dybantsa: #23
Keba Keita: #10
Kenneth Davis: #7
Xavion Staton: #8
We saw returning players Richie Saunders, Keba Keita, Brody Kozlowski, and Jared McGregor in this brief clip, and obviously all looked strong in this highlight reel. Watching Dybantsa, Staton, and Davis dunk, shoot, and develop alongside each other should get anticipation flowing for the upcoming season of BYU hoops.