BYU coach Kevin Young, who was an associate head coach for the Phoenix Suns, has led the Cougars to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament’s Sweet 16 after just one season in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
DENVER – When Kevin Young entered Ball Arena for this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, he returned to a place of familiarity.
Young, who spent four seasons as an assistant and associate head coach for the Phoenix Suns, experienced joyous and painful memories there coaching against the Denver Nuggets, one of the arena’s tenants.
“The familiarity for me was actually something that was kind of calm and soothing,” Young said.
Denver was kind to Young in 2025 as a pair of victories advanced the Cougars to a Sweet 16 game against Alabama Thursday at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
The Cougars, who are the sixth seed in the East Region, defeated 11th seed VCU 80-71 in the first round. Despite allowing a late surge against third seed Wisconsin in the second sound, they survived 91-89.
As Wisconsin graduate guard John Tonje missed a fadeaway shot in the waning seconds, numerous fans clad in royal blue, along with Young, roared with delight. Their cheers resonated throughout the arena.
“Just seeing my kids over there, my wife and all my family, there’s just so many people that care about this,” said Young, who was born in Salt Lake City, approximately 45 minutes away from BYU’s campus. “That part of the emotion kind of got to me once we got that last stop.”
After graduating from Division II Clayton State in 2004, Young spent two years as an assistant coach at various levels in college basketball. He then went to Ireland to coach the Shamrock Rover Hoops before joining the Utah Jazz’s then-NBA G-League affiliate, Utah Flash, in 2007.
That started an 18-year career coaching professional basketball in the United States, heading to the NBA in 2016 as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers. Young then joined the Suns in 2020 as an assistant, and was promoted to associate head coach in 2021. On April 16, 2024, he was named BYU’s head coach after Mark Pope left to coach Kentucky.
Young frequently refers to his time coaching professionally. This includes telling his players about the 2021 NBA Finals when the Suns blew a 2-0 lead to the Milwaukee Bucks to illustrate that they should not “let (their) guard down.”
The former Suns assistant has also used his NBA experiences in his coaching style. Since taking over, BYU’s preparations on and off the court have mimicked the preparations seen at the professional level. It has caused the program to lure players that want to play after college, like AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 recruit in the 2025 class.
“I know with this particular group, they’ve bought into our style of play,” Young said. “The way we warm up, the way we watch film, the way our analytics guys are involved, nutritionists are involved, literally top to bottom. That’s something I’m proud of, for sure.”
A BYU alumnus has not been drafted into the NBA since Jimmer Fredette, who was selected 10th overall by the Bucks in 2011. He also played in six games for the Suns in 2019.
Young’s players have embraced the new system.
“All of the things you need to know to be a pro can be learned by (being with) Kevin Young,” said senior center Fousseyni Traore, who has spent his entire collegiate career with BYU.
Young’s playing style also helped attracted his current players, who hail from four continents and want to play at the next level. This includes freshman guard/forward Egor Demin, a Moscow native who joined the Cougars after spending time with Real Madrid.
“It was (a) really big part of my decision coming here, right?” Demin said about Young’s leadership. “My goal is to play in (the) NBA and having (a) coach who is from there, there’s nothing really better than that. I’m just trying to be a sponge and just absorb everything that he says.”
Along with being one of the best basketball teams in Spain, Real Madrid has served as a transition program for many players to the NBA. This includes Luka Doncic and Arvydas Sabonis, the father of current Sacramento Kings player Domantas Sabonis.
“I’m trying to stay present, and even less, I’m trying to compare myself to somebody else,” Demin said when asked about Real Madrid’s history of players. “There’s somebody I’m trying to learn from and take some skills or whatever it is. But I’m trying to be myself and build my own life.”
BYU sports one of the best offenses in the Big 12, averaging 81.2 points per game and shooting 48.3% from the field. Additionally, it shoots 37.3% from 3-point range, which would be close to the Top 5 among NBA teams.
But Young is also ready for the March Madness frenzy and its quick turnarounds. Because of the 76ers’ and Suns’ frequent trips to the playoffs, he wrote close to 100 game plans per season, preparing his team to stop some of the world’s best basketball players.
“I always think, ‘Well, we tried this against Jayson Tatum,’ or ‘We tried this against Luka (Doncic),’ or whatever the case may be,” Young said. “ I draw on that quite a bit actually. There are some things that are different, obviously. But for me, that gives me a lot of comfort, and I think that gives our players comfort.”
The winner of the BYU-Alabama game will take on either fourth seed Arizona or first seed Duke in the Elite Eight.
“We just play for each other as a team,” Traore said. “Because of Kevin Young, I feel like we have a great team bond.”
Graduate guard Trevin Knell, 26, added, “The route it took to get us here and just the energy in the locker room, the energy on the bench … shout out to Cougar Nation. This (is) super remarkable and just something that I’ll remember forever.”