PROVO, Utah – BYU’s Richie Saunders and AJ Dybantsa were named to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List on Monday morning.
The Cougars are one of 12 schools in NCAA Division I men’s basketball to have multiple players on the 50-player list.
Saunders returns for his senior season after earning First Team All-Big 12 accolades in 2024-25. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged a team-high 16.5 points per game while becoming the fifth player in program history to shoot at least 50.0 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from 3-point range and 80.0 percent from the free throw line.
In the Cougars' run to the Sweet 16 last season, their first trip to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2011, Saunders averaged 22.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He shot 59.5 percent from the field, 41.7 percent from three and made all 11 of his free throw attempts.
The Riverton native ranks 49th on the BYU all-time scoring list with 1,093 points, seven away from passing former teammate Trevin Knell. He also ranks seventh in program history in five 3-pointer games (5), 14th in three 3-pointers games (19), 15th in most 3-point field goals (141) and 15th in 3-point field goal attempts (360) with the 16th highest 3-point field goal percentage (.392).
Dybantsa had strong showings in each of the Cougars' two exhibition games, including a 30-point performance in his first game in a BYU uniform against Nebraska. He went 10-of-19 from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe against the Huskers to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
The nation’s top recruit followed that up with 18 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three blocks in BYU’s 78-76 win over No. 25 North Carolina at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Eleven of his team-high 18 points came in the first half, as he finished the game 6-of-13 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line
The Cougars open the season later this evening when eighth-ranked BYU takes on Villanova in the Hall of Fame Series Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena. It will the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools and first since 1984, a 91-61 win for the Wildcats in Atlanta, Ga.