Not so underrated, No. 8 BYU basketball sets sights on keeping main thing the main thing

KANSAS CITY — There was no plucky underdog on the banks of the Missouri river when No. 8 BYU men's basketball brought out top-rated recruit AJ Dybantsa, point guard Rob Wright III and last year's leading scorer Richie Saunders to the Big 12's annual media day on Wednesday.

No talk of being underrated or a Taylor Swift-themed soliloquy about the No. 13 preseason projection. Of course, that last one was under Mark Pope, who is now entering his second season at Kentucky and such things aren't the style of BYU's new management.

Once hunter, now hunted.

The Cougars were picked to finish second in the stacked conference, trailing only Houston, after Kevin Young guided BYU to a Sweet 16 appearance in his first season and added the No. 1 recruit in the country.

Another Pope-ism: pressure is a privilege, and Young believes that as much as anybody. He just isn't showing it.

The longtime NBA and G League coach is trying to focus on the next day.

"I want our guys to have a great practice tomorrow," he said in between bouts with microphones and sportswriters. "I want us to come in and get better from whatever film I show tomorrow, and then come back the next day and do the same thing.

"I know it sounds really cliche and coach-y," he added, "but that's how I live my life. That's how I've always coached and that the only way I think you can really get better."

His players understand that, too, he said. While most soundbites and the biggest crowds followed Dybantsa, who is projected to be an NBA draft lottery pick, the Cougars also made the shrewd move of bringing Saunders.

The 6-foot-5 guard from Riverton by way of Wasatch Academy averaged 16.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game a year ago, shirking off the mantle of anonymity for a place on the All-Big 12 first team and league most improved player honors.

But Saunders is also a grinder, described as a gym rat, and has been since his days in rural Sanpete County.

That's the only way Saunders is — even amid his basketball stardom, social media clout and as the grandson of Ore-Ida Potatoes founder Nephi Grigg, and it jives with Young's mantra of getting better every hour and "stacking days."

"He's talked a lot about blocking out the noise, focusing on what we got to do to get better," Saunders said. "He brought us into the Marriott Center and showed us a video of KG's Beats commercial, and talked about all of these guys, yelling and screaming. The moral of the story is that outside stuff does not impact us internally."

Dybantsa, too. The 6-foot-9 jumbo wing who signed with the Cougars over Kansas, Alabama and North Carolina, among others — many, many others — before dropping 30 points in an exhibition opener against Nebraska last week, has individual NIL deals with Nike, Red Bull and some of the biggest brands in sports marketing.

He's also trying to embrace his newfound college life, going from the airport after returning from Nebraska a week ago to LaVell Edwards Stadium, where he swayed with his teammates on the first row of the Roar of Cougars student section while the BYU football team beat rival Utah 24-21.

There's no "Jimmer Mania" plan for Dybantsa to enroll strictly in online courses and focus solely on basketball during what many believe to be his only season in Provo.

He attends class with other BYU students, dines at Station 22 and Pizzeria 712 with friends and teammates, and looks forward to facing fellow top recruit Darryn Peterson at Phog Allen Fieldhouse against Kansas.

"I'm a competitor," Dybantsa said. "I love to compete; that's why I chose this conference. I think it's one of the best conferences, if not the best, to play in. I just want to test myself."

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