This one hurts.
BYU guard Richie Saunders has officially suffered a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the 2025–26 season, delivering a brutal blow to a Top 25 team with real March aspirations.
There is no spinning this. It is a massive loss.
Saunders was in the middle of the best stretch of his career and had firmly planted himself in the First Team All-Big 12 conversation. At 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game, he was not just one of BYU’s leading scorers. He was their tone setter. He was also incredibly efficient, too, shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 37.6 percent from three.
In his final year of eligibility, this was supposed to be the payoff season before departing for a career in the NBA. He’ll likely still be a draft pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, but it definitely hurts his stock going forward.
Beyond the numbers, Saunders gave BYU a steady presence. He could create his own shot, space the floor, rebound, and defend. When games tightened, his game never sped up. Even at the top of opponents’ scouting reports, he still found ways to produce. That kind of reliability is hard to replace in February, let alone heading toward March.
For a team ranked in the Top 25 and eyeing a deep NCAA Tournament run, the timing could not be worse. Depth will now be tested, rotations will shift, and roles will expand for younger players who were not expected to carry this kind of weight.
BYU still has talent. They will still compete, but losing a potential All-American level guard changes the ceiling of a season.
