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PROVO — Incoming BYU men's basketball coach Kevin Young picked up another impact transfer Sunday as the calendar flipped to June.
On the same day incoming freshman Egor Demin acknowledged his commitment to the Cougars on Instagram with a three-word commitment — "Let's rock BYU" — BYU added a commitment from Rutgers transfer Mawot Mag, he told On3.
The 6-foot-7, 216-pound forward from Melbourne, Australia, was born in Sudan before his family moved to Australia from a refugee camp in Egypt. A four-star transfer prospect by 247Sports, Mag played four seasons at Rutgers, averaging 5.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game in 17.8 minutes per contest over the past four years.
That included last season, when Mag started 16 of 17 contests and averaged 9.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 2023-24, when we also earned a reputation as a top-class defender around the Big Ten.
#Maryland HC Kevin Willard on Mawot Mag's performance last night.
— Rutgers Scarlet Knights | TheKnightReport.Net (@RutgersRivals) February 7, 2024
"He's probably the best college defender I've seen in a long, long time."
🎦FULL PRESSER --> https://t.co/TXmXL0zIPLpic.twitter.com/KKSTIC5uvq
"He's probably the best college defender I've seen in a long, long time," Maryland coach Kevin Willard said of Mag. "He puts his pick and rolls, he switches out on pick and rolls. If you get beat, he's just there.
"That defense is Mag and Mag alone. That dude, he's special."
Mag joins former Utah rim runner Keba Keita to commit to BYU out of the transfer portal, as well as a freshman class that includes a pair of four-star recruits previously committed to Power Five programs in Corner Canyon's Brody Kozlowski (USC) and Brewster Academy's Elijah Crawford (Stanford).
The Cougars also lost a handful of players to the portal, including Aly Khalifa (Louisville), Noah Waterman (Louisville), Jaxson Robinson (Kentucky) and Marcus Adams Jr. (CSU Northridge).
Like Crawford, Mag's commitment has been commonly referred to be aided by the hire of assistant coach Brandon Dunson by several observers.
Update: BYU announced the signing of Mag on Monday afternoon.
"Mawot is an outstanding young man who has overcome a lot of adversity in his life," Young said. "We are thrilled to welcome him and his family to BYU. He has established himself as one of the elite defenders in college basketball, and we love the edge that he plays with. Mawot's experience, energy and toughness are welcome additions to our program."
