The Egor Demin bandwagon is filling up quickly.
After BYU’s 88-50 win over Central Arkansas this week, the freshman point guard has been showered with praise from pundits across the country.
Denim, a 6-foot-9 point guard who was part of the Real Madrid system last season, had an 18-point, 11-assist double-double in his debut.
“I can’t say I was focusing on some exact thing,” the 19-year-old said. “I was just trying to be effective and stay physical since it’s my first game in the NCAA. I was just trying to be myself and enjoy the game.”
His double-digit assists were a school record for a player making his Cougar debut.
“I didn’t know that, actually,” he said afterward. “This is something I’m doing all the time. I’m not saying that I’m doing history. I’m saying I like to pass the ball. … I really believe that my first option is to involve everybody in the game before I get in my game, and if my team is playing good, I’m playing better, too.”
(Nate Edwards | BYU) BYU freshman Egor Demin talks with head coach Kevin Young during his debut on Nov. 5, 2024
NBA draft analyst Sam Vecenie originally thought Demin would go in the 20s during the draft next year. Now, he thinks he could be a lottery pick.
“I thought in the half court it was a bit of a struggle for him to make the right decisions at Real Madrid last year,” Vecenie said on his YouTube channel. “... But I was too low on him. What I heard over the offseason was you have to see him. He looks great. He’s stronger. He looks like a lottery pick and I get the hype now.
“He is processing the game on a level I did not really see on tape.”
That’s a big reason why Demin is being projected as an NBA lottery pick next spring and why college basketball writers and analysts were fawning over the freshman after his debut.
Another college basketball analyst at The Athletic, CJ Moore, believed Demin could be one of the country’s assist leaders this year.
“Three freshmen have led college basketball in assists. I’d bet BYU’s Egor Demin becomes the fourth,”Moore tweeted. “Every pass is on target and with touch. Sees everything. Controls the defense with his eyes. Shot is pretty too. Just an awesome talent.”
ESPN’s NBA draft guru, Jonathan Givony, has Demin high on his draft board at the moment. He was impressed by his scrimmage tape.
Meanwhile, longtime ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla wrote that Demin was “as good as advertised” and predicted he would have a 20-assist game at some point this season.
Demin’s teammates will be waiting and ready.
“When you have a 6-9 point guard whose mindset is to pass the ball first and get everybody involved before he gets his own, it’s really fun,” BYU senior Trevin Knell said. “I almost get caught off guard sometimes with his passes, so I need to change my mindset and stay ready for all the cool passes Egor is going to be throwing.”
