BYU basketball: Why a Big 12 analyst said ‘what’s going on in Provo is crazy’

As the Deseret News reported, the BYU Cougars men’s basketball program had a huge day on the recruiting front Wednesday, getting a commitment from Serbian big man Mihailo Boskovic and visiting top prospects AJ Dybantsa, Xavion Staton and Caleb Wilson.

That led a very prominent Big 12 Conference expert to give extremely high praise to the Cougars on X Wednesday night.

“I have no idea how good @BYUMBB will be but, in the best league in the country this year, they are an absolute wildcard,” wrote ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla, who was a college head coach for 10 years and now covers the Big 12 and international basketball.

Fraschilla went on to write that “It’s a given” fellow Big 12 teams Kansas, Houston, Baylor and Iowa State will be top 10 teams in the country this season, “But what’s going on in Provo is crazy.”

Fraschilla’s statement came on the heels of BYU’s big recruiting day, but did not note how of the above mentioned four players, only Boskovic will play for the Cougars this season.

All the rest will be freshmen in the 2025-26 season, playing somewhere in the country.

Still, Fraschilla’s point is well taken. Not only does BYU have great momentum on the recruiting trail, but it has also brought in a bunch of players who are primed to help this season and in the future.

Since Kevin Young became head coach in April, the following players have/are set to join the 2024-25 roster:

• Mihailo Boskovic
• Kanon Catchings
• Elijah Crawford
• Egor Demin
• Keba Keita
• Brody Kozlowski
• Mawot Mag

They join returnees Dawson Baker, Dallin Hall, Trevin Knell, Jared McGregor, Richie Saunders, Trey Stewart, Fousseyni Traore, Max Triplett and Townsend Tripple.