Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Provo, Utah. Currently writing for SB Nation and FanSided, he has covered the Utah Jazz and BYU athletics since 2024 and graduates from Utah Valley University in the Spring.
Throughout the 2024-25 college basketball season, the Beehive State has buzzed with the name of one Egor Demin. Demin, the corn stalk-esque point guard who left his home in Moscow (Russia, not Idaho) for a starting spot with Kevin Young and the BYU Cougars in Provo, elected to explore the college route before jumping to the pros.
A passer with gifted floor vision and a stopwatch that can halt the flow of time, Egor delivered cross-court dimes in the shooting pocket with regularity. Dishing laser beams from his hands that reached their target with a feathery touch, and displaying the occasional mind-melting finish inside the arc, some believers were vindicated.
His detractors were not without merit, of course, as his heirloom time-stopper was prone to malfunction, blurring the lines between playmaking brilliance and an application for a seeing-eye dog. His shooting touch was promising at the beginning of the season, but as he was burdened with fewer open looks from beyond the arc in Big 12 play, he was prone to becoming, if you’ll forgive my vocabulary, frazzled.
Of course, he had moments in royal blue that made one believe they were witnessing the dawn of a new basketball time period. But the whole of Demin’s freshman season was divisive.
Of course, he had moments in royal blue that made one believe they were witnessing the dawn of a new basketball time period. But the whole of Demin’s freshman season was divisive. Workplace arguments broke out. Family dinners were ruined. Even peewee football games became hotbeds of debate.
“His passing ability is virtuosic!” some would scream as they were buried under an ocean of jeers.
“He’ll never drag his paper frame to paint touches in the NBA!” cried his adversaries, mid-duck as a swinging fist flew overhead.
In a perilous environment such as this, I dare to boldly toss my hat into the ring and proudly declare before you, dear reader, that I still believe in Egor Demin, and I will die on this hill!
Though his enemies may be fierce and unforgiving, I stand beside my fellow believers arm-in-arm and shout our war cry as “You’re the Voice” by John Farnham blasts from a compatriot’s JBL Bluetooth speaker: “He actually projects really well to the NBA, guys, I promise!”
Who could say no to a smile like that?
Photo by Porter Binks/Getty Images
Gibberish in the Place of Lyrics
Yes, I understand that there is no such thing as the tooth fairy, but I’m 99% sure that was actually Santa at the mall this last December, so there is reason to believe in magic in this world. Not necessarily witchcraft, per se, but sorcery, wizards, and warlocks — sure.
With parascopic vision that allows him to see above the tempestuous sea of defenders, Egor can hit open teammates using exotic angles, prophetic foresight, and pinpoint precision.
Why not, right? A world that inspires unfiltered imagination is a world that sparks innovation. And the believers in Egor Demin understand that he could be the archetype of an ideal NBA point guard if he clicks the right pieces in place.
Standing at an elite 6’9”, the Russian point guard caught the lustful gaze of NBA scouts long before setting foot onto US soil. With parascopic vision that allows him to see above the tempestuous sea of defenders, Egor can hit open teammates using exotic angles, prophetic foresight, and pinpoint precision.
His playmaking ability stands to translate most easily to the pro level, where spacing is an inescapable constant, and jumbo, anticipatory passers can read the coverage like a quarterback and deliver the right pass at the right time to the right man. At BYU, Egor proved capable of accomplishing this feat, given the right conditions.
But the Egor experience so often strikes viewers with delerium as they scramble to comprehend if some of his more audacious passes were deliberate acts of brilliance, or thoughtless and fortunate should-be giveaways.
I was struck while listening to an interview with Amber Bain of The Japanese House (a band I refuse to stop talking about), where she described her method surrounding lyricism. “I usually think my lyrics are gibberish until I listen back to them and realize they were subconsciously about something. I never really know what my songs are about until I listen to them afterwards.”
I believe Egor often employs a similar approach to Bain, as some of his looks seem to find a slashing teammate at just the right moment, or a high-flying Keba Keita (Zion Williamson without ball skills) who often looks more like a janitor cleaning up the point guard’s mess rather than finalizing an angry email to the rim.
Sometimes, Egor’s play-by-play may be understood at face value as indecipherable gibberish, but when his actions lead to a ball going through the net, it’s hard to deny that he, at least subconsciously, understood his instincts to be reliable.
When Egor employs gibberish in the place of lyrics, the final melody can be burdensome to ignore.
Tossing the Ladder
So what’s the rub? What’s keeping this kid from being a sure-thing lottery pick? Well, just likely as his passing ability is to project to the highest level, the same hypothetical attitude is often applied to his weaknesses.
Though a lower frequency of unorthodox defensive schemes awaits this 19-year-old in the NBA, his tendency to cough up the ball has many skeptical about his playmaking gift.
How can Demin be a visionary playmaker while simultaneously being a habitual turnover baker?
Well, just as Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer exclaimed, “How can it be both? It can’t, but it is. It’s paradoxical, and yet it works.”
As Egor’s playmaking chops are nurtured through patience and experimentation, his ambition for threading the needle and unearthing an open teammate through the flight of the ball could elevate him to be one of the top assist men in basketball.
As Egor’s playmaking chops are nurtured through patience and experimentation, his ambition for threading the needle and unearthing an open teammate through the flight of the ball could elevate him to be one of the top assist men in basketball.
On the flip side, however, if his brain fails to keep up with the pace of the NBA game and the opposition proves too great to manipulate, Demin may find his turnover numbers impossible to salvage. For this reason, his landing spot will be so critical to his future success.
In my eyes, his physical development will be paramount to the profit of his cognitive development. Though his frame is tall and long — especially for a point guard — this boney playmaker only weighs in at 190 lbs. Against stronger defenders with a lower center of gravity, Egor is often standing too upright to use his size to his advantage.
His physique is somewhat ladder-esque; Egor stands tall, but could find himself knocked off his balance without much hope of resistance. Tall and mighty, though frail and defenseless, is not a recipe for long-term success at the highest level.
We all know how the likes of Giannis treat ladders on the hardwood.
The key to unlocking Demin’s full potential lies in two categories: weight training and plenty of shooting.
The most significant detriment to Egor’s freshman season was his inconsistency in finishing the play himself — putting the ball in the basket. Though he averaged double-digit scoring as a freshman, his percentages were unimpressive.
Knocking through under 30% on his three-point attempts is not a promising metric for a point guard in the modern NBA. As previously mentioned, spacing is everything in today’s offensive schemes. When the ball handler doesn’t own the defender’s respect from beyond the arc, the defense can relax and clog up the passing lane, knowing they have nothing to fear in terms of shooting.
The positive? The stroke looks good, and his shooting numbers improved gradually as he adapted to the super-charged pace of competitive hoops. My point is that his shooting woes seem very correctable, and Demin’s patience paired with willingness to learn suggest his development will turn for the positive sooner rather than later.
Currently standing 17th on the SLC Dunk Big Board, Demin sits right at the edge of the lottery. After enjoying a highly productive March during BYU’s run to the Sweet 16, he put the 3-seed Wisconsin Badgers on triple-double watch with his 11 points, 8 assists, and 8 boards with only one cough-up. If his strong performances at the game’s largest stage is any indicator of where he’s going, Egor may just be one of the steals of the draft.
Yes, I believe in Egor Demin, and I don’t care who knows it.