For what could be the biggest season in BYU basketball history, the Cougars are putting together a big-time schedule, too.
Along with 18 Big 12 games, the Cougars have added at least five marquee matchups for No. 1 prospect AJ Dybantsa’s college tour.
Dybantsa’s first taste of college hoops will come in Las Vegas against three-time NCAA champion Villanova on Nov. 3. The Wildcats won 21 games last season and just hired head coach Kevin Willard after a successful run at Maryland.
BYU will take Dybantsa back home to Boston to play six-time champion UConn at TD Garden on Nov. 15, the Cougars announced Thursday.
“The game against UConn in Boston is going to be a great test for our team and allow Cougar fans all over the East Coast to see us play in one of the premier venues in the NBA,” BYU coach Kevin Young said.
It will also be a homecoming game for Dybantsa, who grew up in Massachusetts before leaving the state for prep school.
A week after taking on the Huskies, Wisconsin will come to Delta Center for a rematch of last year’s Round of 32 classic. The Cougars beat the Badgers 91-89 behind a 25-point performance from Richie Saunders in March.
Young has the Cougars playing in Orlando over Thanksgiving for a tournament with Miami, Georgetown and Dayton.
As of now, the whirlwind nonconference slate caps off at Madison Square Garden against Clemson in the Jimmy V Classic.
Under former head coach Mark Pope, BYU’s general nonconference strategy was to play the weakest teams possible and stack wins. In his second season as head coach, Young is sharply departing from that.
The Cougars are likely to be a top-10 team in the preseason with the amount of talent on the roster.
Around Dybantsa, Young has a potential NBA draft pick in Saunders. He also added Rob Wright III, a guard from Baylor, and Kennard Davis, a scoring threat out of the mid-major ranks.
