Will 2025 be when BYU ends its NBA draft drought? One mock draft is predicting Egor Demin, Kanon Catchings make history

It’s been 13 years since the last time a BYU player was selected in the NBA draft, when Jimmer Fredette went 10th overall in the 2011 draft.

Thanks to the incoming class from first-year coach Kevin Young , though, there are multiple projections that indicate that drought could end next year.

With the 2024 NBA draft wrapping up Thursday afternoon, several media outlets churned out their look to the future with their own versions of a way-too-early 2025 NBA mock draft.

In four of the five mock drafts used as reference for this article, international guard Egor Demin was included as a first-round pick. Those mock drafts come from ESPN , CBS Sports , USA Today , Yahoo Sports and On3 .

In addition to Demin, fellow incoming freshman forward Kanon Catchings and former BYU wing Jaxson Robinson , who’s now at Kentucky with former Cougars coach Mark Pope, appeared in at least one mock draft.

If ESPN’s projections for BYU prospects were to come true, it would create a historic moment that has never happened in the school’s history.

Here’s what each mock draft projected for BYU prospects next year:

ESPN

Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo project two BYU players will be taken during the first round of the 2025 draft: Demin at No. 9 overall to the San Antonio Spurs and Catchings at No. 26 to the Utah Jazz.

This is the only way-too-early mock draft where Catchings appears.

The last time BYU had two players selected in the same draft was 1984 — back then, the draft was 10 rounds and included more than 200 draft picks.

The Cougars have never had two first-round draft picks in the same year, though. The closest the school has ever come to having two first-round draft picks came in 1951.

That year, Mel Hutchins went second overall in the first round to the Tri-Cities Blackhawks.

Then, Roland Minson went midway through the second round to the New York Knicks — in that year’s draft, each round consisted of 10 picks, and Minson ended up being the No. 16 overall pick.

That is the only year where two BYU players have gone in the top 20 picks of a draft.

CBS Sports

Adam Finkelstein and Travis Branham project that Demin will go No. 10 overall to the Spurs, one spot after San Antonio also selects his former Real Madrid teammate Hugo Gonzalez.

“Scouts rave about his natural talent, including his perimeter size at 6-foot-9, ability to make plays for himself and others, as well as his shooting, but caution about his overall inconsistency and lack of physicality,” Finkelstein and Branham wrote. “Billed as a potential top 10 pick, the way his stock evolves at BYU could have implications on other draft hopefuls considering a year in college basketball.”

Finkelstein and Branham also classify Demin as a tier three prospect among the 2025 class, a tier labeled “potential high-end lottery picks.”

Robinson also appeared in the CBS Sports mock draft, going No. 21 overall to the Golden State Warriors.

“Robinson is a sizey wing who drills shots from beyond the arc. Every NBA team knows he can shoot the ball from three but next season they want to see improved strength, toughness and proof Robinson can impact the game beyond shooting jumpers,” Finkelstein and Branham wrote.

Robinson was classified among tier five, or “Round 1 candidates.”

USA Today

Cydney Henderson and Jeff Zillgitt also projected Demin as a top-10 prospect in the 2025 class, putting him 10th.

Unlike the two previous mock drafts, though, USA Today did not predict which teams would take players at different picks — instead, they listed their version of the top 30 prospects for next year.

Yahoo Sports

Like USA Today’s 2025 mock draft, Yahoo Sports’ Krysten Peek listed her version of the top 30 draft prospects for next year.

This was the only list, though, where Demin was not projected as a first-round prospect.

On3

Again, like USA Today and Yahoo Sports, the On3 mock draft was a list of the top 30 prospects and did not include projections for which team they would end up with.

On3′s James Fletcher III, though, included Demin among his top 10, at No. 8.