PROVO, Utah (AP) — Kevin Young wants to turn BYU into a breeding ground for NBA talent.
Young, who was introduced as the Cougars’ new head basketball coach on Wednesday night, said he plans to use his NBA experience and player development skills to turn Provo into an NBA pipeline for the players while building a consistently successful program in the Big 12.
It’s a major selling point Young used when he first met with his current roster that’s already seen three major contributors — Dallin Hall, Aly Khalifa and Richie Saunders — enter the transfer portal since Mark Pope left to coach Kentucky.
“These guys are all hungry to get better,” Young said. “That’s been obvious since I talked to them. They’re just dying to get better and dying to have a little specificity on what that looks like for each one of them.”
BYU has a coach who has the experience to back up the NBA development talk. He spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers before joining the Suns in 2020. After one season on the Phoenix coaching staff, Young was promoted to associate head coach in 2021.