What Kevin Young said about his roster, coaching staff and 1st year expectations at BYU

The Cougars’ new basketball coach appeared on ‘BYU Sports Nation’ Tuesday to discuss all his latest hoops happenings

The most popular man in Provo has spoken.

New BYU basketball coach Kevin Young — already beloved by Cougar fans for his immediate and impressive recruiting successes — appeared on BYUtv’s “BYU Sports Nation” to discuss his roster, coaching staff, and more.

Here are some of the notable highlights from Young’s interview.

On the Skillsets of Some of the Team’s New Players

• “Kanon (Catchings) is an amazing shooter, (he’s) got great size, high release, tough to block his shot, big-time athlete.”
• “At this point, it feels somewhat well documented what (Egor Demin) brings to the table, but unique size and skill level for that length, his ability to handle the ball, pass, and be a playmaker. Pairing him up with some of the other guys we have is exciting for us.”
• “(Mawot) Mag’s obviously a tremendous defensive player, very experienced, big and strong. Actually bigger than I thought he would be, usually it’s the other way around, usually they shrink on the plane. But he’s a good size.”
• “And Elijah (Crawford), first of all, great kid, great personality, really brings a lot out in the group. He’s had a really good summer so far, gives us a little bit more dynamic ability with the ball in his hands.”

On Recruiting International Star Egor Demin to BYU

“When I first got the job and I was trying to figure out staffing and so forth, my goal was to get people that had ties and connections all over the world, and we were able to do that with the staff we put together. It led to conversations about who might be some of those international targets. (Egor) was at the top of that list.

“The basketball world is a pretty small one, so a couple of calls here and there led to connections we could lock into. Then I think the staff did a really good job of the recruitment and tying into all of our networks. I’m really happy that it got done.”

Kevin Young talking about the new signee's for @BYUMBB 🏀 pic.twitter.com/gBxbxHRfif

— BYUtv Sports Nation (@BYUSportsNation) June 25, 2024

On What He Likes About His Current Roster

“I like the character of the group, something that we’ve added quite a bit with every guy we’ve brought in. That’s very similar to the way NBA teams operate. The amount of intel that NBA teams have on players is really impressive. If a guy comes on my radar, there are a few people I can call in the NBA who will send me crazy amounts of information on that player, their circle, their coach, what all people have said about them. So the character of our group, I think, is really high.

“Everyone understands the BYU way, and we’ve been mindful of that. I think we’ve done a good job of putting together a team of guys that fit in terms of different skill sets, and that’s probably got me the most excited.”

On the Chemistry Within BYU’s New Coaching Staff

“Most of these guys didn’t really know each other, certainly hadn’t worked together before, with the exception of a few of them. But I think the staff has gelled really well. I think people can feel that when they’re around us. I’ve been on a lot of different staffs in the NBA, and the most fun times I’ve had as a coach is when the staff all gets along and everyone’s rowing in the same direction. When it’s not that, I think the players can feel it. So I tried to get guys that I thought would all mesh well together.”

On the New Hype Surrounding BYU’s Program

“You can feel the excitement in the community and on campus. It’s been really impressive, honestly, just how much people care about what we’re doing, whether that’s fans or people on campus.

“A lot of people have come out of the woodwork that I haven’t talked to in a long time, dropping, ‘Hey man, I love what you guys are doing.’ But also in the NBA world, I’ve had a lot of people hit me up like, ‘Man, that’s cool what you guys are doing so far.’ Obviously, there’s a ton of work to do still, but it’s been cool for people to be this excited about BYU basketball.”

The most surprising thing Kevin Young has encountered moving from NBA to college basketball!! pic.twitter.com/BA3yZ2hy49

— BYUtv Sports Nation (@BYUSportsNation) June 25, 2024

On His Personal Expectations for Year One at BYU

“I’ve always struggled with the idea of expectations. If you’re supposed to do this, then you try harder to do that, or if you’re not, you know what I mean? What I expect is for us to show up every day and try to be — and it sounds extremely coach-y, and I try not to sound super coach-y all the time — but just literally try to be the best version of ourselves that day and get better, and the next day show up and get better.

“One thing Monty Williams said every day when I was with him, every single day, is good days add up, and that’s kind of what I expect. I expect good days to add up, and where we end up, we’ll see. But the one thing I do expect for our group is just to not believe in what people say. Whether we’re ranked here or there, we want to be the best that we can be, and we can climb the mountaintop just as well as anybody else. So why can’t we do it? That’s kind of the way I see expectations.”