The NBA off-season is in full swing for most teams as we await the start of the NBA Finals, but a Big 12 basketball coach may be the target of one of the biggest openings of the off-season. According to ESPN reporter Jamal Collier, BYU head coach Kevin Young is expect to be a part of the early conversations.
Young has plenty of NBA experience, as he was the associate head coach of the Phoenix Suns before he ended up taking the job with BYU prior to the 2024-25 season. Prior to Phoenix, he was an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers from 2016 to 2020. The 44-year-old replaced Mark Pope when he left for Kentucky and in his two seasons is a combined 49-22 and 23-15 in the Big 12. In his first season, he led the Cougars to the Sweet 16, but this past season, the Cougars were knocked out in the First Round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. However, he did coach the player who might be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft draft next month in AJ Dybantsa.
The Bulls have been on the hunt for a replacement for Billy Donovan, who stepped down as the head coach of the team on April 21st. They went 31-51 this past season and finished 12th in the Eastern Conference. The team hasn’t made the playoffs since 2022 and hasn’t won a playoff series since 2015, when they beat the Bucks in the first round and then lost to the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
BYU has reloaded and had Top 30 2026 recruiting class and a Top 40 transfer portal class as they look to put themselves back into the Big 12 basketball race next season.
