A No. 1 hire, NBA coach and big-money boosters: BYU
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- =”40″/ > Myron MedcalfFeb 5, 2025, 01:00 PM ET Close Covers college basketball Signed up with ESPN.com in 2011
- Graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato
PROVO, Utah– The Strap Tank Brewery appears like a postcard from a scenic ski resort, the type of place where you can eat half-pound bison hamburgers while surrounded by vintage airplanes and motorcycles, all with the snow-covered Rocky Mountains as the backdrop.At a table near the back of the brewpub, Paul Liljenquist– among BYU’s most active boosters– took a sip of water and made a declaration days after he and coworkers had dedicated practically 8 figures to secure A.J. Dybantsa, ESPN’s No. 1 recruit of the 2025 class, in an attempt to improve the college basketball landscape.
“You’re not going to outbid us,” said Liljenquist, the CEO of Focus Services, a $500 million company based in Utah.It stunned the basketball world when the high-flying prospect– a Black, non-Mormon kid from Boston– zeroed-in on a private, predominantly white, Mormon school in the mountains of Utah.But BYU’s
backers– featuring rich business owners who have actually helped the Salt Lake City location earn the moniker “Silicon Slopes,” a rewarding center for tech mavens who profited from the early-2000s tech boom– made it clear they might provide the reported $8.5 million sum Dybantsa’s signing required.
“You couldn’t do this if the tech boom didn’t take place twenty years earlier since you would not have the donor base now,” Liljenquist said. “You would just have physicians and lawyers and, well, they’re not writing million-dollar checks.”
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1 Associated The flagship program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU has aspirations to create a new association with its brand name: As a blue blood. College basketball’s legacy programs remain the most prominent in the nation, however NIL rules have actually restricted their monopoly on five-star skill, opening the door for teams like the Cougars.
“I believe BYU basketball can be among those basketball … powerhouses,” said Cougars guard Dallin Hall. “And so I think that’s something we’re attempting to build. I think that’s something that BYU can become, that when you see [BYU], you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s one of the basketball superpowers in the country.'”
Can a recent mid-major group really soar into the discussion with the sport’s distinguished programs?A fervent, lucrative group of advocates want to pay to find out. And their efforts started with a signing probably more important to their long-lasting trajectory than a leading prospect: a brand-new head coach.Days after Kevin Young left the Phoenix Suns to
prosper Mark Pope last April, the Cougars ‘wealthiest boosters packed in a room– where the net worth exceeded$10 billion, per sources– to hear from the Cougars’new leader who had actually made a stellar reputation as a future NBA head coach thanks to his deal with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid and other stars.Young beamed a PowerPoint onto a screen to present everything he believed
he might achieve at BYU if they promised to back him. That technique– an arranged, passionate address that made the boosters feel like they became part of the group and not simply abundant backers– attracted the business-savvy crew that left the conference as believers.Young told the group that his NBA experience, his attention to detail, a winning culture and circulation of cash to match the coffers of powerhouse programs around the nation might alter BYU basketball, a Huge 12 team that battled Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference only 2 years ago.And as not likely as the rise BYU is banking on seems, Young’s career is a testament to fast rises.In 2006, he was coaching the Shamrock Rovers Hoops pro team
in Ireland. After numerous stops as an assistant in the NBA and 3 years as an associate head coach in Phoenix, Young was thought about a leading candidate for the Charlotte Hornets’head coaching opening when BYU was recruiting him this previous spring. However as a member of the Mormon church, Young had specific interest in the opening at BYU.Like his interaction style, however, Young keeps his spiritual views understated around his groups– players he has actually coached have appreciated his capability to develop a connection
without making an attempt to flex his authority. “[ Young] is an amazing coach,”stated Chris Paul 3 years earlier when he bet Young in Phoenix.” He’s a fantastic coach. He is among the most competitive guys in our locker space.” Kevin Young coached stars such as Chris Paul during his time with the Phoenix Suns. Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports In 2018, asan assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers and head coach of the franchise’s Summertime League team, Young walked into the locker space following an 88-86 win over the Suns. His postgame speech, which included appreciation for individual contributors, lasted just 42 seconds. “Now it’s enjoyable, right?”he told them.”Now we remain in the fight a bit more. Great task, fellas.”These qualities are evident in his approach in Provo, too.
At a December practice, Young rarely spoke– however when he did, he did not squander words.Young’s NBA experience has also assisted him put a spotlight on BYU, compelling decision-makers at the professional level to include Provo as a stop on their scouting tours regardless of the school not having
produced a first-round draft pick in more than a decade. Last Tuesday, 32 professional scouts watched BYU’s Kanon Catchings(23 points)and Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe(28 points)fight in the Cougars’93-89 overtime success at the J. Willard Marriott Center.But Young also has an NBA mindset when it comes to how cash affects the game.Over the past 5 years, multiple veteran coaches have actually cited NIL as a difficulty that encouraged them to leave college basketball. Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim, Jim Larranaga, Tony Bennett and Jay
Wright have actually all retired from illustrious careers in part because they didn’t wish to handle teams
in this evolving environment. Simply earlier this month, previous Florida State players filed a lawsuit that alleged head coach Leonard Hamilton– who has since announced he’ll step down at the end of this season– failed to satisfy his NIL promises.Young, however, has actually invested the bulk of his coaching career in the NBA, where cash is just part of the game.”I believe I’m at a significant benefit because I have no points of referral prior to this,”he stated.”I think that has actually helped me considerably with the mix of the support we have here. I believe they quickly understood that we were going to
have the ability to get things done.”Simply a couple of short months after Young brought BYU’s deep-pocketed boosters together, Dybantsa and his Oakland Soldiers colleagues ran onto the flooring at Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina, as every Department I coach in the health club livened up at the top possibility’s introduction.John Calipari, who ‘d been joining other coaches at the time, concentrated on the court. Costs Self waved to a few of his coworkers before he quickly plopped down in his seat, too. And the 6-foot-10 frame of Kentucky head coach Mark Pope was front and center as the first-class recruit overlooked the rim with a ferocity that made spectators gasp.Dybantsa is a shooting guard trapped in a power forward’s body.
He levitates, moving with grace few his size can match. And when he’s granted any area near the rim, he soars. A.J. Dybantsa throws it down for Utah Prep. John Jones/Icon Sportswire”Right now, he would be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft,”said one NBA scout
of that day’s effort from Dybantsa, who ‘d simply completed his junior year of high school.”Right now.” Dybantsa had actually drawn scholarship deals from every elite coach in that gym at Peach Jam, however he picked to bet one of the least-recognizable faces in attendance: Young.”A lot stuck out on my check out,” stated Dybantsa, who attends high school in Utah, throughout an interview on ESPN’s”First Take.” “He coached my favorite player of all time, Kevin Durant. And [Durant] had high praise about him. “I believe it’s going to be the best development program for me.”
The No. 1 hire doubled down on a current episode of Stephen A. Smith’s podcast.” They have an NBA staff, all the method to the dietician, strength coach, analytics guy,”Dybantsa said.
“And my supreme objective is to go to the NBA. Why not surround myself [with those resources] a year early?” Ultimately, there were considerations Dybantsa needed to accept about dipping into BYU that would not have actually been an aspect at other schools, including that he’ll have to abide by an honor code that bans premarital sex,
alcohol, coffee and tea. And as non-Mormon professional athletes who came before him have found out, that code is really enforced by BYU’s honor council.There’s likewise the matter that any 6-foot-11 Black trainee would stand apart on BYU’s predominately white campus, despite athletic capability or religious association. But demographics didn’t worry Dybantsa and his household
— they value their connection with the coaching staff and the Cougars ‘capability to prepare him for a future in the NBA.”My wife and I went to Provo back in April. That was throughout the [NBA] playoffs, “stated Ace, Dybantsa’s father, on Smith’s podcast.”Kevin Young flew from Phoenix, Arizona, to come and say hey there to us. He sort of set what he wished to do, so we listened. And after that he continued to have discussions with us. He introduced us to his personnel, much like [my kid] stated. Whatever was NBA.”The calculus of Dybansta’s choice is a testament to what Young is integrating in Provo– he’s created an expert structure similar to the blue bloods that have adapted a comparable approach. His brother, Justin Young, is basically the Cougars’general manager in his role as director of recruiting. The Cougars likewise have a director of analytics and technique, a director of player development, and seven graduate assistants.Unlike the coaches who have actually left the sport, Young is not running from the idea that college basketball has actually become a business that more closely looks like the NBA. He’s welcoming it– and it’s currently doubling as a beacon for the program.”After [Dybantsa] revealed he was coming here, we were already getting some intriguing calls and now it’s like, in between me and the rest of my staff, we’re fielding some quite fascinating calls, whether that be prospective games, possible [nonconference competitions] that people want us to play in or from recruits from all over the world, “said Young, who signed a seven-year,$30 million
deal when he accepted the task. “Therefore it’s kind of putting us in an area where we resemble, OK, ideally that all has legs, and now we can be selective on who we bring in.” Kevin Young has big-money boosters and a No. 1 hire to lay a brand-new structure at BYU. Andrew Wevers/Getty Images On a late December night, Young stood in a hallway as an audience of BYU fans awaited his entrance. A bright red indication started to flash “APPLAUSE”as the first-year Cougars head coach walked onto the set of the BYUtv studio. The crowd required and clapped when Young appeared.The studio that hosts Young’s weekly coaching program resembles the set of “Saturday Night Live “or a prime-time comedy; BYUtv is a fully operating network that airs more than 2,000 hours of shows on a channel that’s readily available to more than 50 million homes.The polished discussion is a stark contrast to coaches’shows around the country, which are in some cases transmitted from a local restaurant or dive bar– another sign of BYU’s investment in this program and the function behind
it.But while the Cougars intend to compete with blue bloods for several years to come, they’ll also need to contend with precedent: Programs that have actually remained in their position before have actually struggled to turn a surprise signing like Dybansta into a gold rush.Look no further than Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 choice in the 2022 NBA draft, who led Oklahoma
State to the second round of the NCAA tournament that season– however whose star power the Cowboys stopped working to parlay into more leading potential customers, firing head coach Mike Boynton 2 years later.The list goes on: Markelle Fultz at Washington(2017), Ben Simmons at LSU (2016), Anthony Bennett at UNLV(2013)– all No. 1 picks who signed with programs that were not considered powerhouses at the time. Washington and Simmons both stopped working to lead their teams to the NCAA competition in their only seasons, which did not improve their respective programs ‘stature while UNLV lost in the first round of the competition with Bennett, not going back to the Big Dance since.All of their coaches were fired years later when they failed to sign similar skill. And all 3 players fell short of expectations in the NBA, too.Finally, there are the
circumstances in which leading potential customers don’t even equate to on-court success for the programs they join: Georgia won simply 16 games in 2019-20 with Anthony Edwards, the No. 1 choice in that year’s draft, and Tom Crean was fired 2 years later. And simply this season, Rutgers signed not one, however 2 predicted top-three choices in ESPN’s newest 2025 NBA mock draft– Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey– only for the Scarlet Knights to discover themselves on the outdoors looking in of the NCAA tournament bubble.Whether BYU can buck this trend with Dybansta will be the looming concern as the Cougars go into the spotlight. The buzz they’ll delight in– or come to hate– 9 months from now is an element blue bloods need to handle every season. There is constantly analysis for those schools to not just match expectations, but frequently to surpass them, too.But it’s the cost BYU and its backers
are paying to run the risk of, going all-in on Dybansta in what Young and the Cougars want to be a long line of leading prospects in Provo.”I really seem like it’s just this perfect storm that’s converging,”stated Liljenquist.”I believe Young has developed a machine here that I believe is going to produce for several years and years to come.”Only time will inform.