Egor Demin is not on BYU’s roster anymore. That is exactly why his Summer League matters for BYU.
The current Cougars cannot borrow his step-back jumper in January. They cannot put his 6-foot-8 frame back at the top of the offense when a Big 12 game gets muddy. But they can point to him. And right now, the pointer is hard to miss.
KSL Sports reported Saturday that Demin has looked sharp in Las Vegas Summer League, including a 20-point night for the Brooklyn Nets against the Knicks on 7-of-15 shooting with three rebounds and two assists. KSL also noted the recent scoring run around it: 23 points, 23 points, then 20 points across his summer action.
BYU Cougars Wire’s earlier Summer League piece framed the first burst clearly enough: Demin had 23 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes against Sacramento, shooting 8-of-15 in a 79-76 Nets loss.
That is not a trophy. It is Summer League. Half the fun is trying not to overreact before the broadcast even cuts to the next sideline interview.
Still, for BYU, this is useful evidence.
Why BYU should care about an ex-Cougar in July
Demin’s BYU story already had the clean recruiting-brochure shape. He came to Provo, started right away, helped BYU win, and became the program’s first one-and-done lottery proof point under Kevin Young.
KSL’s recap has the BYU receipt: Demin averaged 10.6 points, 5.5 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.2 steals across 33 starts at BYU, earned Honorable Mention All-Big 12 and Big 12 All-Freshman Team honors, and helped the Cougars go 26-10 with a No. 13 final AP ranking.
The next question was always the one recruits and agents care about most: did the BYU year actually translate?
Summer League does not answer that completely. But it keeps the story alive. Demin is healthy enough to play after the foot issue KSL noted from his rookie season, strong enough to get downhill more often, and productive enough that Brooklyn’s summer offense is giving him real creation work instead of hiding him in the corner.
That is the part BYU can sell without sounding desperate.
This is bigger than one former guard
BYU’s current roster is built around the same argument, just louder.
The local BYU men’s basketball roster, pulled from BYU’s official roster feed, lists 17 players: 8 guards, 6 forwards, and 3 centers. It has lottery-sized wings and bigs all over the page. AJ Dybantsa is the obvious headliner at 6-foot-9. Xavion Staton gives BYU a 7-foot freshman. Robert Wright III brings Baylor guard experience. Richie Saunders is still the older, steadier proof that development in Provo does not have to mean one-and-done or bust.
Demin’s run matters because it gives that whole sales pitch a recent NBA example. Not a theory. Not a staff slogan. A player who handled the ball for BYU and now looks comfortable enough to control Summer League possessions for Brooklyn.
There is a big difference between saying, “We have NBA people on staff,” and saying, “The last jumbo guard who trusted this plan became a lottery pick and is still getting better.”
Recruits hear that differently. So do transfers.
The warning label still matters
BYU fans should not turn every Demin bucket into a guarantee for the next guy. That is how July optimism turns into February yelling.
Demin was a strange player in the best way. He had rare size for a primary creator, advanced passing feel, and enough patience to run offense without looking like he was auditioning on every touch. Even then, his BYU season had warts. The three-point shooting at BYU was not automatic. KSL noted he shot 27.3 percent from deep as a freshman in Provo before making a major jump as a Nets rookie.
That leap is the lesson. Not that every BYU guard is secretly an NBA player. Not that Kevin Young can hand out lottery tickets like Cougar Tails.
The lesson is that BYU now has a believable path for a certain type of player: big guards and wings who want NBA spacing, NBA language, and enough on-ball freedom to show scouts more than catch-and-shoot clips.
That is why Dovydas Buika’s signing is interesting. That is why Dybantsa’s year will be watched like a weekly referendum. That is why Wright’s fit matters. BYU is trying to become a place where pro-style size and skill do not feel like a marketing costume.
Demin gives the pitch a face.
The clean takeaway
Summer League is noisy. Great players have looked ordinary there. Ordinary players have looked like future All-Stars for three games and then vanished into the basketball fog.
So keep the right level of excitement. Demin scoring in bunches for Brooklyn does not win BYU a Big 12 game this winter.
But it does give Kevin Young’s program another public receipt. A former BYU guard is not just in the NBA pipeline. He is still improving inside it.
For a program trying to recruit like an NBA development shop, that is the kind of July news that actually travels.
Sources and further reading
- KSL Sports: Egor Dëmin looking strong in Las Vegas Summer League
- BYU Cougars Wire: Egor Demin dominates for Nets in 2026 NBA Summer League debut
- Official BYU Athletics: men’s basketball roster
- Official BYU Athletics API source used by BYU Sport Nuts: 2025-26 men’s basketball roster data
- BYU Sport Nuts context: men’s basketball hub, roster, AJ Dybantsa player page, Robert Wright III player page, and BYU basketball NBA-pitch roster test
Want the BYU hoops roster read before the national chatter gets loud? Join The Cougar Report.
