{"id":724226,"date":"2026-05-03T01:45:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T01:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/724226\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T01:45:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T01:45:18","slug":"longtime-aau-coach-breaks-down-byus-latter-day-saint-players-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/724226\/","title":{"rendered":"Longtime AAU coach breaks down BYU\u2019s Latter-day Saint players \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kevin Young\u2019s rebuild of BYU\u2019s basketball roster<\/a> continues to evolve, but one aspect of his philosophy for his future team is evident and simple: He\u2019s tipping his hat to the program\u2019s roots.<\/p>\n

While bringing in five-star recruit Bruce Branch III<\/a> and four-star transfers Tyler Betsey<\/a> (Syracuse) and Collin Chandler<\/a> (Kentucky), Young has assembled a Latter-day Saint core to complement the roster.<\/p>\n

BYU will tap into half a dozen players who were raised in the faith\u2019s culture via The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Those players (including Chandler) don\u2019t need an orientation speech to the school\u2019s honor code because they\u2019ve digested the popular \u201cStrength of Youth\u201d<\/a> pamphlet most of their lives.<\/p>\n

And they can play.<\/p>\n

Some will play more minutes than others. Some will have key roles, others will simply add depth. But they\u2019ve all played AAU ball on a national stage, most of them for the Utah Prospects, co-founded by Tim Davis<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Utah Propects won the 17-under Adidas Summer Championship with current Cougar Brody Kozlowski<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n

In addition to returning senior Dawson Baker, BYU\u2019s team will be constructed with a cultural tweak. <\/p>\n

Young will welcome former top-30 Kentucky transfer Chandler, four-star freshman guard\/forwards Dean Rueckert<\/a> and Brooks Bahr<\/a> and former Utah and Clemson forward Jake Wahlin<\/a> to campus. He\u2019ll also add 6-foot-11 TCU transfer Adam Stewart<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This group will provide core leadership in and out of the locker room for the Cougars, who just finished a season laced with key injuries, questionable depth and shaky leadership. <\/p>\n

The team was filled with young players, some stepping foot on campus and experiencing the BYU culture for the first time in their lives.<\/p>\n

I asked Davis to break down the skillset of these six players from his experience dating back more than a decade of watching them play. He graciously agreed to lend his voice, breaking down this crew.<\/p>\n

Collin Chandler<\/p>\n

Collin Chandler, <\/a>6-foot-4, guard\/forward, junior Kentucky transfer, former top-30 recruit out of Farmington, Utah, where he was named Deseret News Mr. Utah Basketball. <\/p>\n

He signed with BYU over Utah, Arizona and Utah State before going on an church mission. He followed Mark Pope to Kentucky following his mission service.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Davis on Chandler: \u201cI think with Collin, there is something that is going to be unlocked or unleashed. I think a lot of people see him like, \u2018Oh, a good shooter and that stuff.\u2019 I\u2019m not saying that\u2019s not what Collin is, but I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised. When I coached him, even in high school, he was so dynamic with the ball in his hands, getting downhill and using the ball to create for others and himself. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he has the ability to do is get his hips so low and also be so fast as he drives the ball up in transition as well as halfcourt. He\u2019s just very athletic. I think people will be surprised a little bit how dynamic he\u2019ll be with the ball in his hands off the bounce, more than you saw him as a freshman or sophomore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis continued: \u201cHe\u2019s a great shooter, but what he really is, is so dynamic getting to the hoop and finishing as well as getting to his mid-range spots and making his shot. It\u2019s a very unique part that most kids in Utah do not have as part of their game. He has it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t think people know what\u2019s coming with him really, in my opinion, especially if Kevin lets him sort of just roll a little bit. He looked like a spot-up shooter at Kentucky and that\u2019s not just what his game is. It is part of what he is, but he\u2019s so dynamic with the ball in his hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooks Bahr<\/p>\n

Brooks Bahr, 6-4<\/a> combo guard, Keller, Texas, signed in the class of 2024 under Mark Pope, with finalists including USC, Utah, Wake Forest and Saint Mary\u2019s. He recently returned from missionary service.<\/p>\n

Davis on Bahr: \u201cI\u2019ve known Brooks since he was in the fifth grade. He played for an AAU team called Texas Impact since he lived in Texas. How it works with AAU is you can\u2019t play for anybody unless they\u2019re in the state you are in, or a neighboring state.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s really a point guard to me. I would say he plays like Dallin Hall, but is probably a better scoring version of Hall, if that makes sense. He has a very strong body. He\u2019s a great decision maker, but he\u2019s a lefty so he can create some advantages because it\u2019s a bit hard at times to guard lefties if you aren\u2019t familiar with them. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say if you asked me to describe him, he\u2019s a more scoring mentality version of Dallin Hall, which is a compliment for sure. He\u2019s just tough and really resilient. He has a great basketball body, especially for the Big 12. He\u2019s sort of built for that league in my opinion. He played such a high level of basketball in Texas, and because of that, he\u2019s prepared himself for the Big 12. A freshman is a freshman, but I think he\u2019ll be a lot more ready than people probably anticipate or realize.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dean Rueckert<\/p>\n

Dean Rueckert, <\/a>6-8 forward, Timpview High, class of 2026 will be an incoming freshman, signing with BYU over Washington, Clemson, Stanford and Utah. He is a top-75 recruit out of Provo.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Davis on Rueckert: \u201cI\u2019ve known Dean since he was a seventh grader and he played for us. I\u2019d describe him as a relentless worker, probably almost too much, which is a good thing. He works so hard at basketball and his passion for it is something most top-50 players in the country do not have a great desire to do to get batter. That\u2019s one of his greatest strengths. He\u2019s always asking, \u2018How can I get better?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Dean took a huge jump from his sophomore year to the summer of his junior year. BYU had offered him when he was a sophomore and Kevin got the job. They liked him and wanted him to work on some things. He made a decision to work on those things and Kevin loved that he wanted to change and adapt and grow himself. They saw a huge change in a year. It was like, \u2018We are all-in with Dean.\u2019 That\u2019s why he got done earlier than most kids in regards to recruiting because that\u2019s where he wanted to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a big-time shot maker. Everybody sees him as a shooter, but I think he\u2019s really become a very versatile defender who can guard a lot of positions at his size and mobility and he\u2019s also become a lot better rebounder. You look at his stats from his junior year to his senior year and I think its close to double. He\u2019s what I describe as making game-changing plays. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe made a decision to impact winning without scoring, which is really important when you are a freshman. As you can imagine, it\u2019s really important to be like, \u2018Hey, what can you do without the ball in your hands?\u2019 when you are a freshman.<\/p>\n

\u201cDean is really a good athlete like Richie Saunders. Dean has a lot of pop in him. Not all kids have that. He can really get up quickly off the ground. He\u2019s a little bigger than Richie, who might have been a little quicker at the same age. Dean is more of a small forward who can play the guard positions because of his versatility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jake Wahlin<\/p>\n

Jake Wahlin, 6<\/a>-10, senior from Tiimpview High by way of Utah and Clemson, is the brother-in-law of Davis and served a mission to Lithuania after signing with BYU out of high school. He enrolled at Utah when he returned from his mission and transferred to Clemson after a coaching change at Utah.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Davis on Wahlin: \u201cJake\u2019s journey has been a bit more unique because he was sort of raised to be a football kid. He moved from Texas to Utah in the eighth grade, where all of his buddies were and played basketball. So, he started transitioning into basketball and that\u2019s why his basketball has been a steep trajectory \u2014 he\u2019s gotten better quickly as he\u2019s grown. He grew about a foot from eighth grade to when he came off his mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of his advantages, I think, is he\u2019s just really a 6-11 versatile, whatever-you-want-to-play. I think BYU will play him at the four, just because of how they play offensively. But he really can guard every position, really, one through four. And then, depending on the five, he can guard the five. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think his versatility defensively and offensively is really what makes him unique. And that\u2019s the way he impacts winning in a lot of ways. He\u2019s a good shot maker, a catch-and-shoot guy, who is also a straight-line driver. He\u2019s really like a cutter, slasher, mover. That\u2019s how I\u2019d describe him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"BYU head coach Kevin Young talks with his players as they and coaches huddle during a practice the day before a first-round college basketball game against Texas in the NCAA Tournament held at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kevin Young\u2019s rebuild of BYU\u2019s basketball roster continues to evolve, but one aspect of his philosophy for his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,1111],"class_list":["post-724226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-basketball","tag-news-feed-local"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116508120681461503","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}