BYU defensive ace Mawot Mag enjoying return to New Jersey – Deseret News

[ad_1]

NEWARK, New Jersey — Leading scorer Richie Saunders told and retold his story about becoming the “Tater Tot King,” 26-year-old Trevin Knell joked about being so old that he could have been on BYU’s last Sweet 16 team in 2011, and teenager Egor Demin drew a lot of attention because he might be an NBA lottery pick in June if he decides to leave BYU after just one year.

But the player who drew the most attention from the East Coast media on Wednesday when the No. 17 BYU Cougars (26-9) spoke to reporters on the eve of Thursday’s Sweet 16 showdown with No. 7 Alabama (27-8) was Rutgers transfer Mawot Mag, naturally.

Mag played for Rutgers — Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway is less than an hour’s drive down Interstate-95 from Prudential Center — for four years before moving on to BYU for his final season of eligibility. Suffice it to say, some folks in Piscataway, New Brunswick, and other parts of the so-called Garden State (seriously?) were not happy that the man who Maryland coach Kevin Willard called the best defender he’s ever coached against left Rutgers.

Special Collector’s Issue: “1984: The Year BYU was Second to None”

Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football’s 1984 National Championship season.

“I just felt like it was best for me,” Mag said. “I spoke to my family. I felt like it was time. I spent four years here and I just felt like it was time to have a change of scenery.”

The 6-foot-7 graduate who was born in Sudan and moved to Melbourne, Australia, when he was 2 was asked several times about the differences — culturally, geographically and everything else — between Utah and New Jersey and every time took the high road.

Brigham Young Cougars guard Egor Demin (3), forward Richie Saunders (15) and guard Trevin Knell (21) laugh during a press conference about BYU’s upcoming NCAA Sweet 16 basketball game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://www.deseret.com/sports/2025/03/26/byu-basketball-sweet-16-ncaa-mawot-mag-rutgers-new-jersey/

Author :

Publish date : 2025-03-26 23:00:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.