PROVO, Utah – Five members of the 2024-25 BYU men’s basketball team that advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third time in program history have signed professional contracts for various teams across the globe.
“We are thrilled to see five of our players from last year’s squad start their professional playing careers all across the world,” BYU head coach Kevin Young said. “Egor, Trey, Fous, Trevin, and Mawot all embody everything we are about. Each one of them embraced our player development program and style of play and put the necessary work in to be in position to play professionally. I am so proud of each one of them and look forward to following their careers.”
Egor Dëmin, Fousseyni Traore, Mawot Mag, Trevin Knell and Trey Stewart join former Cougars Zac Seljaas (France), Brandon Davies (Japan), Yoeli Childs (Japan), Alex Barcello (Spain), Spencer Johnson (England), Elijah Bryant (Israel), Matt Haarms (Japan), Rudi Williams (Canada) and Brandon Averette (Luxembourg) in the pro ranks.
Egor Dëmin
Dëmin became the fifth NBA Lottery Pick in program history earlier this summer when the 6-foot-9 guard was selected with the eighth pick in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets.
Egor Dëmin has TAKEOFF 😲 pic.twitter.com/EVxNBVFNXt
— NBA (@NBA) July 16, 2025
In three Summer League games in Las Vegas, Dëmin averaged 11.3 points per game while shooting 41 percent from the field and 43 percent from 3-point range. His best game came against Orlando, where he scored 14 points, including knocking down three 3-pointers in the final minutes to lift the Nets to a 94-90 victory.
Fousseyni Traore
After scoring more than 1,300 points during his four-year career in Provo, Traore will begin his professional career in France’s Pro A with SIG Strasbourg. The 2003-04 French League Champions finished 12th last season while advancing to the quarterfinals of the Leaders Cup.
Traore made 128 appearances, including 63 starts for the Cougars, where he averaged 10.5 points per game. He is the program’s all-time leader in field goal percentage, highest points available percentage and highest effective field goal percentage. The native of Bamako, Mali, also ranks second in offensive rebounds, sixth in total rebounds and 18th in double-doubles.
Mawot Mag
Mag returns to Australia to play for the Cairns Taipans of the Australian NBL after concluding his five-year collegiate career this past spring. In his lone season at BYU, Mag appeared in 34 games, including 22 starts, where he averaged 5.9 points per game, shooting a career-best 48.6 percent from the field, 39.7 percent from three and 75.0 percent from the free throw line.
Current BYU assistant coach Chris Burgess spent two seasons with the Taipans, earning All-NBL First Team honors in 2005 and third team accolades in 2006.
Trey Stewart
Stewart becomes the fifth Cougar in recent history to sign with a professional team in Germany, joining the likes of Alex Barcello, Matt Haarms, Yoeli Childs and Zac Seljaas. The 6-foot-4 guard joins SBB Basketba Wolmirtedt of Germany Pro A after appearing in 93 games during his time as a Cougar.
The American Fork native appeared in 29 games as a senior in 2024-25, including significant minutes in the final 14 games where the Cougars went 11-3 and advanced to the Sweet 16 for a third time in program history. He scored a season-high eight points in BYU’s win at West Virginia, including going 2-of-2 from 3-point range.
Trevin Knell
After playing in the second-most games in BYU men's basketball history, Knell has taken his talents to the world of 3x3 to represent USA Basketball in tournaments across the world.
Key Buckets 😮💨@trevin_knell ➡️ @JWieskamp21 @Bryce_Wills5 🤝 @JWieskamp21 pic.twitter.com/RHUGzDSGc8
— USA Basketball 3x3 (@usab3x3) July 19, 2025
He got his first taste of international experience in July, helping USA Basketball win the 3x3 Open Air in Germany. He is also a member of USA Basketball’s Team DC that competes on the FIBA 3x3 World Tour. Last weekend in Edmonton, Canada, Knell scored six points, including going 2-of-4 from beyond the arc in Washington DC’s upset victory over the seventh-ranked team in the world, Partizan.