Patrick Kinahan: Top basketball recruit's commitment makes for new day at BYU

PROVO — Aside from a few games against inferior competition, Kevin Young has yet to win much as the new BYU basketball coach. Hold on a bit, winning time is coming.

Young got his biggest win yet on Tuesday without even roaming the sidelines. Tapping into the coach's longtime NBA connections, BYU got a double dose of great publicity with the commitment from the nation's top recruit AJ Dybantsa.

As high schoolers often do, Dybantsa wanted to make a bit of a ceremony out of his decision. But the smooth-shooting swingman took it to the highest level, making the announcement on ESPN, flanked by his father and the network's highest-profile commentator, Stephen A. Smith.

Among his reasons, Dybantsa cited a recommendation from Kevin Durant. The future basketball Hall of Fame superstar made a deep connection with Young over the last two seasons when both were with the Phoenix Suns.

Since arriving at BYU after working as an assistant for the Suns, Young has touted his ability to send players to the NBA. But don't overlook the program's ability to get recruits with a significant amount of cash in the form of NIL opportunities.

Heady times, indeed, for a university known for trying to run an athletic department on the cheap. Remember, this was an institution that saw legendary football coach LaVell Edwards do a radio call-in segment with fans after games.

"I made $75 a show," he deadpanned years ago during an interview on The Zone, implying he needed the extra cash.

Those days are gone for BYU, which has poured more resources into its athletic programs. Safe to say, the football and basketball coaches are well compensated, but it goes beyond their individual salaries.

In hiring Young away from the Phoenix Suns, BYU added multiple full-time positions to his staff. Young also brought back assistant Chris Burgess, who had left BYU for a similar job at Utah that paid $265,000 (as a private institution, BYU is not subject to open records requests).

"The commitment BYU has made is amazing," former BYU basketball coach Steve Cleveland said this week on The Zone.

In addition to multiple pay raises in recent years, BYU has given football coach Kalani Sitake substantial security. Late Saturday night, the university announced he agreed to a long-term contract extension that did not include a time frame but is "well into the future."

Three years ago, athletic director Tom Holmoe said BYU signed Sitake to an "unprecedented" contract through the 2027 season. Former Weber State coach Jay Hill later became the defensive coordinator.

The Alamo Bowl-bound Cougars finished the regular season at 10-2, achieving double-digit victories in three of the last five seasons. In his ninth year at his alma mater, Sitake will be inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame next month.

At the time of the contract extension in 2021, Holmoe referenced the interest Sitake was drawing from other programs during the coaching carousel that annually happens after season's end. He likely was a hot commodity this year, too.

"He's deserved it for a long time," senior offensive lineman Connor Pay said. "I'm glad they finally got it done. I don't think there's a better man to lead BYU than Kalani, and all you have to do is spend a few minutes with him and you can just tell he resonates everything that BYU represents.

"For me as a player, I've got to be around that leadership for the last four-and-a-half years and have a kind of a living representation of the man I want to be one day leading our team. It's easy to have the desires to do the right thing and to do what's best for the team when you have a leader like that. He's turned down a lot of money and a lot of other opportunities to stay here because he loves this school, and he loves us as players."

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