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PROVO — The job of the next head men's basketball coach at BYU will begin before he formally starts.
Just a day after being introduced as the 19th head coach in program history, Kevin Young was headed back to Phoenix, where the associate head coach will rejoin the Suns in preparation for the NBA playoffs opener Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves (1:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN).
He'll formally take over at BYU upon the completion of the season in Phoenix, though the 42-year-old first-time collegiate head coach obviously hopes that is a ways off.
"It's going to be a challenge, but I look forward to it because there are a lot of special relationships I have with the guys in Phoenix," Young said. "I've been with a couple of them, Devin Booker in particular, for four years and came two wins away from an NBA championship. I'm invested in those guys."
In the meantime, here are three focuses for Young's new job, even before he formally moves into his office at the Marriott Center Annex.
Retain, retain, retain
Well before Young's introductory press conference Wednesday, the new coach jumped on a group FaceTime call with his current roster — a group that included several players in class and a few who were in the transfer portal.
Many of them were in attendance at Wednesday night's introduction, including Trevin Knell, Fousseyni Traore, Atiki Ally Atiki and Dallin Hall, the former Fremont High star who is currently in the portal (but considering a return to BYU, in addition to Creighton, Clemson, Cincinnati, Florida, Washington, Utah and Utah State, he said).
Retaining that group — or at least as much of it as he can, after Aly Khalifa transferred to Louisville — is Young's first priority, by his own admission.
"I just told all of them in the locker: The things you guys were able to accomplish in the first year in the Big 12 was absolutely remarkable. I cannot wait to have every one of you guys back in a BYU uniform and get to it," Young said. "Make no mistake about it: that's my first priority, those guys. I've already started building relationships with those guys, and we're going to take that part of it to a whole new level."
Young said he's already spoken with Hall, Saunders and the rest of his team to try to bring them back.
"The thing that's blown me away so far in talking to the players is their level of maturity you're dealing with in these young men," he said. "Very smart, and they know what they want to do. The conversation is very adult-like, and it gave me a lot of confidence in swaying them to try to come back more once I realized how dialed in those guys were."
Assemble a staff
After working to retain his roster, Young's immediate attention turns to building his staff of assistant coaches — a move he says he's already begun.
Plenty of names will be on the extended list. They'll include University of Utah assistant Chris Burgess, who previously worked for the Cougars under Pope, as well as UNLV assistant Barret Peery, the Payson High alum with head coaching experience at Portland State and Big 12 experience at Texas Tech.
Current assistants Cody Fueger, Nick Robinson and Collin Terry will also merit a look, if they don't follow Pope to Kentucky. Lehi's Quincy Lewis and Wasatch Academy's Paul Peterson would provide an immediate boost to recruiting. Young will also have interest in bringing at least one assistant from his connections in the NBA.
It may be worth noting that Robinson, Terry and BYU director of basketball operations Nate Austin were present at Young's introduction, as well as BYU alums Eric Mika, T.J. Haws and Marty Haws, who currently coaches at Anthem Prep in South Jordan.
"Juggling the staffing here is huge though," Young said. "I've been working tirelessly assembling a staff. I've been on the phone more in the last 24 hours than ever. Outside of building relationships with our players here, my first order of business is assembling a staff who can hold the fort down."
Hit the recruiting trail
The transfer portal has changed how college basketball teams can assemble rosters, but high school recruiting is still the lifeblood of the sport.
Most high school seniors have already signed, but some movement could still occur around the NCAA's quiet period May 1 through June 30 with an official evaluation period May 17-19.
BYU has one signed player in the 2024 class in Isaac Davis, the 6-foot-7 power forward from Hillcrest High in Idaho Falls who reportedly was watching Young's introduction in royal blue.
The Cougars also signed Brooks Bahr, a 6-foot-4 combo guard out of Keller, Texas. But he'll leave for a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Alpine-German mission July 8.
To mine the recruiting trail, Young will likely lean heavily on his forthcoming assistants — as well as a family connection in Justin Young, his older brother who was the national basketball editor for Rivals.com before launching HoopSeen.com in 2013 and who has run Young Basketball recruiting services since 2002.
"We've had crossover for years, him and I. We used to run camps together back in the day," the younger Young said. "He's my big bro, and he's as connected as anybody. Everybody knows him. He definitely is, and will continue to be a huge resource for me."
