Gordon Monson: Turns out, BYU is a big boost to the Big 12, and to college sports as a whole

Never been much of a cheerleader for any team, any school, any franchise. Being a homer, at least from this job, this corner, does nobody a bit of good. Criticism comes easy around here. But, on the other hand, praising a sports enterprise when it deserves it stirs no hesitation, causes no consternation either. And it’s time to hand out a major compliment to … drumroll please … BYU.

The Cougars have had success in multiple areas, but if you were to focus on the two major college sports — football and basketball — what they’ve achieved over the past year is nothing short of remarkable. And if you include in the fact that they’ve done it in the midst of transitioning from independence in football and the West Coast Conference in basketball to the Big 12 in both, that makes their success that much more notable.

Maybe reviewing the specifics of what BYU accomplished during the 2024 football season is unnecessary on account of so much reporting already having been completed in that regard. Everyone saw what Kalani Sitake’s team did in its second go-round in the Big 12, elevating from an initial season when the Cougars won just two league games and finished with a 5-7 overall record to finishing at 7-2 in league and 11-2 in total, including an impressive bowl win over Colorado that seemed to indicate that BYU might have made a mark on the College Football Playoff, had it been selected by a committee that left it out.

Detractors could suggest that some of those football wins were gained by slight margins, but in some ways an outfit that regularly finds victory in tight games is the epitome of a competitive characteristic that is every bit the equal of dominating in blowouts — namely, clutch play. Magic Johnson, who led the Los Angeles Lakers to so many championships back in his day, had a descriptive phrase that illustrated the ability and the time and place for a team to rise up when circumstances required it. He called it “winning time.” Good enough, then.

As for basketball, before anyone details what Kevin Young has pulled off — and is yet pulling off — in his first year as BYU’s coach, which is a huge flare shot over the heads of the entire Big 12 and over the head of college basketball as a whole, the Cougars can be commended for hiring Young in the first place. Some of that was good fortune, some of it was the fortunes of boosters who have enough money to funnel without so much as a belch or a burp a boatload of it into the bank account of the basketball bossman at the school they support.

You know the story. Young was a bright up-and-coming assistant in the NBA, an assistant that was in the running for a head coaching position up where the best basketball in the world is played. BYU and the financial forces behind it were able — and wise enough — to pry Young away from the NBA to their own advantage. BYU has always had money, had access to money, but, no matter, the powers that be at the school out of principle or just plain stinginess have almost always hesitated to pay coaches the going rate, even as it’s been evident that having a top-drawer coach is a key to opening the door to big-time winning.

That changed when Young was hired for the millions of dollars it took to make it happen. And the beneficial results are clear now to see. Prior to the season’s start, Young, and the heft he carried with his NBA experience and connections, not only recruited a player like then-18-year-old Egor Demin, a 6-foot-9 point guard from Russia who had played in Europe, but also persuaded players — like Richie Saunders — already in the program to stay and play.

He then took that group, formed it together, learning nuances of the college game himself as he went, and utilized professional aspects to mold the Cougars into what they’ve become — at present, a Sweet 16 team — that has generated more national buzz than any BYU basketball team since Jimmermania hit a decade-and-a-half ago. More than that, other college programs are observing what Young is doing, liking it, and learning from it, too.

So are recruits, talents such as AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 prep prospect in the country, who announced months ago that he would be coming to BYU for his one-and-done season before becoming an NBA lottery pick. The way that whole story came about was an astounding collection of semi-happenstances. Young was a big part of it, considering he had coached and grown close to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker with the Phoenix Suns, Durant being one of Dybantsa’s favorite players. The pros spoke highly of Young. Moreover, Danny Ainge, a former Cougar and player and executive with the Boston Celtics before joining the front office of the Jazz, had a certain je ne sais quoi factor going for him since Dybantsa had grown up in Massachusetts, following Ainge and the Celtics.

That all came together for BYU, garnering national attention for the Cougars as they were more than adding to that renown as the winning started to swell this season. Now, they’ve won 11 of their last 12 games, including the two NCAA Tournament games that have them playing Alabama on Thursday in Newark, NJ, for a shot at making the Elite Eight.

They haven’t actualized that kind of deep run — if they were to defeat the Tide — since Ainge beat Notre Dame with his famous last-seconds drive down the court for the game-winning flip shot as time ran out. That was 40-plus years ago. A lot of people — not just BYU fans — who were alive back then still remember that play.

Some folks now don’t like the direction college sports is taking, awash as portions of it are in cash, what with some players in these major sports getting much more than pats on the back from fans for their efforts, much more than just glory for the school.

But schools are getting the glory, the recognition alongside the athletes. That’s why it’s smart for BYU and its donors to do what they’re doing: Invest in high-profile teams — coaches and players and facilities — to succeed in the games they play, most of them televised to a national audience. If you’re going to play the games, you might as well do what’s necessary to win them. And if you win them, you bring a gazillion eyeballs to your brand.

In BYU’s case, that brand is not just the school itself, but the church that owns and operates the school. If the teams representing the university grow name recognition or leave a favorable impression, that benefits The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well. Some folks might not give a rat’s rear end about religion, but a few might. And while it’s pretty certain that Jesus wouldn’t care at all who wins or loses football and basketball games, some administrators at the school have said spreading at least bits and pieces of the word is a part of BYU’s mission.

A number of years ago, a well-known Christian pastor who ran a large church in the L.A. area was attempting to establish and draw students to and generally publicize a college there. That school included newfound sports teams. When I asked him why athletics was so important to building his school and his Christian cause, he said, “Sports is the God of our age.”

He thought headlines brought through even modestly successful teams would bring attention to his endeavor.

Over the past two weeks, the aforementioned national audiences have seen and heard the name of BYU invoked again and again during games and on sports programs of varying kinds, much of that exposure and many of those mentions including the “exciting” and “fun” brand of ball BYU plays.

Either way, the Cougars are winning more games. They’ve been a big boost, not just to themselves and their university and whoever else is connected to the blue and the white, they’ve also boosted the Big 12. Yeah, they’ll lose some games, as the seasons come and go, as they ebb and flow, but they’ve figured how to play the games, they’ve found a way to fit in and to win out.

The praise, then, is warranted. The praise is theirs.

Note to readers • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.