It wasn’t all that long ago that Kanon Catchings was only pretending to face off against basketball’s bluebloods.
“It’s like when you go to your cousin’s house and you’re playing on a mini hoop playing against ‘Kansas’ or big schools like that,” the 18-year-old BYU freshman reminisced recently.
Now Catchings and the Cougars are about to get the real deal.
BYU opens Big 12 Conference play this week, hosting the Arizona State Sun Devils on New Year’s Eve to begin one of college basketball’s toughest regular season gauntlets.
“It’s super exciting to finally be in that position,” Catchings said.
Over the next three months, the Cougars will travel to No. 15 Houston (Jan. 4), play No. 19 Cincinnati twice in a matter of weeks (Jan. 25 and Feb. 8), take on No. 3 Iowa State (March 4) and host perennial contenders the Kansas Jayhawks (Feb. 18) in Provo.
Junior guard Dallin Hall knows how difficult the road ahead can be. He’s faced (and beaten) the Jayhawks for real during BYU’s introduction to the conference a season ago.
“The Big 12 is super physical, that’s the first thing that jumps out to me,” Hall said. “Every night is a dog fight, so there are no off nights, but every night you are living your dream. You get to play on the biggest stage against the best teams. So I think you put that all in one, and it’s just fun basketball, fun hoops and we are excited for the challenge.”
Hall said the Cougars have tried to replicate that in their preparation.
“Obviously, the Big 12 is a beast of itself, so we have just been making sure the practice environment is similar to what it will be like when we step out there on the floor,” he said.
And he believes his teammates are ready for the challenge.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars forward Richie Saunders (15) as BYU faces Wyoming, NCAA basketball in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024.
“I think guys like Kanon and Egor [Demin] have played against the best talent in the country their whole lives. They’re top recruits and they’ve earned that, so they are used to playing against the best,” he said.
Catchings is coming off a career-high 21-point performance last week against Florida A&M and seems to be settling into the college game. Denim, meanwhile, dazzled NBA scouts with his passing before missing time with a knee injury. He is expected to be back on the court soon.
“These guys can handle their business on and off the court and I think they’re excited to prove themselves to everyone out there,” Hall said.
The Cougars went 9-2 in preseason, suffering an overtime loss against No. 23 Ole Miss and a blowout defeat on the road against Providence. First-year head coach Kevin Young said he believes those tests have prepared him and his team for what’s next.
“I think I probably learned more than the players. I am extremely critical of what we do and I always ask myself if we are on the right path, which is something I always asked myself in the NBA,” Young said. “We do a lot of analytical check-ins to make sure we are on the right path, and I think playing some of the teams we had in that stretch, with Providence, Ole Miss and NC State, I learned a lot there and was able to take some of those lessons and put them into play against Fresno, Wyoming and [Florida A&M] as well. I learned a ton and will continue to do so as the schedule gets harder.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ryan Smith courtside as BYU faces Wyoming, NCAA basketball in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024.
After a decade of coaching professionals, Young is learning how to win at the collegiate level, where his recruiting successes have resulted in a wealth of talent and a puzzle to solve because of it.
“I think everyone has had a good moment, like all the way down the line. I think the challenge for me is when we have a full slate of guys, just making sure I am subbing it the right way and making sure we have the right groups of players out there, who plays well with who and how that all coexists,” Young said. “I am extremely confident going into conference play with all the things we have had to go through when you face different teams with different game plans. I think we are feeling pretty confident about what we have in our system, and there will be more things to add as we go through the rest of the season for sure.”
The Cougars are certainly confident in Young’s ability to put it all together. His resume and basketball IQ have helped lure star recruits like Demin and Catchings to Provo after all.
But so has the intrigue of the Cougars’ new conference.
“It was a big draw because it’s probably the best conference in college basketball,” Catchings said, “but you just have to be ready for everything that it brings as well.”
