Kevin Young Highlights the Importance of BYU's Returning Players

BYU has made major headlines in the college basketball landscape recently thanks to its recruiting prowess.

The Cougars and first-year head coach Kevin Young recently secured a commitment from AJ Dybantsa -- the top ranked prospect in the 2025 class -- and have quickly made Provo a potential destination for some of the nation's top players.

The current team, though, is playing pretty well.

BYU improved to 10-2 on Tuesday after a 20-point win over Arizona State and looks the part of a group that has the ability to play in the NCAA Tournament in 2025. A large part of the Cougars' nucleus played last season in Provo under Mark Pope, who's now at Kentucky.

"It's huge," Young said of BYU's returning players on this week's edition of the College Hoops Today Podcast. "My first matter of business when I got the job was to retain as many of those guys as I could."

Five of the Cougars' players who played double-figure minutes in Tuesday's win over Arizona State -- Richie Saunders, Dallin Hall, Fousseyni Traore, Dawson Baker, and Trevin Knell -- were a part of BYU's squad last season under Pope when this program earned a 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Cougars will next travel to Houston on Saturday.

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Jon Rothstein is not a FanDuel employee. The reporting of Rothstein is not subject to FanDuel's verification and does not represent the views or input of FanDuel. Betting based on Rothstein's reporting will not guarantee a successful outcome. Always do your own due diligence and use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.

Rothstein has been a college basketball insider for CBS Sports since 2010 and a contributor to the CBS Broadcast Network since 2016. He joined FanDuel in 2022 as a Content Creator. Rothstein is also the host of the College Hoops Today Podcast via Compass Media Networks.