With lessons learned, BYU basketball analyst likes how BYU is rebuilding the roster

The search is on for a big man, but even as BYU looks for a new center, the pieces they retained and have added has Mark Durrant bracing for another wild ride.

“I think Rob (Wright) will be an all-conference player. Collin (Chandler) will blossom,” the long-time BYU Radio basketball analyst told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show this week. “You have enough good people around with depth and shooting that BYU will be a force to be reckoned with if they can find that last missing piece at the five spot.”

Advertisement

Grossly undersized in their biggest games — UConn, Arizona (twice) and Texas, the Cougars went 0-4. The loss to the Longhorns in the first round of the NCAA Tournament showed Durrant that the days of needing a dominant big man who can do more than rebound remains as relevant as a point guard who can do more than pass.

Texas center Matas Vokietaitis, a 255-pound, 7-foot behemoth, punished the Cougars for 23 points and 16 rebounds to offset AJ Dybantsa’s 35 points and bounced BYU from the Big Dance, 79-71.

“The best teams have at least a 7-footer who is a rim protector so every shot for the other team becomes hard, because you have a 7-2 guy in there,” he said. “BYU had some really good athletes, but there was no scoring presence down low. You need to have the basic ability to put the ball into the hoop. The problem is everyone wants that and they are willing to pay. That’s going to be a challenge to see what BYU comes up with.”

Advertisement

The Wright move

Retaining Wright, who entered the transfer portal and even took a recruiting trip to Kentucky, is as big of a signing as Kevin Young could have hoped for.

“I think he can be an all-American player. He’s not big but he’s a guy who can score at any time from any position of the floor and those are rare to find,” Durrant said. “I think BYU has probably learned some lessons this year about who to surround him with, the depth and shooting and all of that, but he is the cornerstone of what…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/lessons-learned-byu-basketball-analyst-152852184.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-04-22 15:28:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.