BYU’s backcourt depth took a hit as the school announced that UC Riverside transfer Nate Pickens will miss the season after undergoing surgery earlier this week. One source told me that Nate had surgery on his ankle after experiencing pain in his ankle during practice a couple weeks ago. The same source told me that Nate will redshirt this season and plans to return to BYU next season as a fifth-year senior.
Pickens is a 6-foot-3 combo guard spent his first three seasons at UCR, averaging over 9 points in each of the last two seasons. Last season, Pickens averaged 9.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists on 40% shooting from the floor, 39% shooting from three, and 76% from the foul line. Pickens was expected to be an additional ball handler on offense who could play either backup point guard minutes or time at the two, and defensively his role was to be a physical defender. I compare him in some ways to a Trey Stewart with higher offensive upside.
Rob Wright was going to get heavy minutes at point guard regardless, and Pickens’ injury will solidify that. I expect Wright to play 35+ minutes many nights in real games as long as he is out of foul trouble. Dawson Baker’s best position is the two, but he will likely play some backup point guard minutes like he did versus Villanova. Austrian Andrej Kostic can also play some backup point guard minutes. When Wright is off the floor, I expect AJ Dybantsa to have the ball in his hands as a creator and facilitator and BYU not run with a true point guard.
One wildcard in this is KJ Perry. Perry is the #1 JUCO player in the country and committed to BYU back in early October. He will enroll mid-year in late December and the plan for him when he committed was to redshirt and be a RS Sophomore in the 2026-27 season. With Pickens out, BYU’s staff and Perry can have a conversation about what the best situation is for Perry. Perry is certainly talented and can play point guard and could give BYU a boost off the bench in Big 12 play with his scoring and playmaking. Even though Perry is talented, I’m not sure how effective Perry can be coming in right at the start of Big 12 play with little time meshing with the team. Wright is gobbling up most of the point guard minutes anyways, so is burning a year of eligibility for Perry the right move when he might not be super effective? Maybe it is, but BYU and KJ will need to have that conversation.
KJ is in Provo this weekend for the Holy Cross game and is able to work out with the team, which should give all sides time to discuss.