2020–21 BYU Cougars men's basketball team

Seven seniors departed from the basketball team either to graduation or a completion of their college eligibility. Three of the seven were starters - Yoeli Childs, TJ Haws and Jake Toolson and two of them were important bench players that saw significant playing time - Zac Seljaas and Dalton Nixon. These seniors contributed 70% of the scoring for the prior year team.[3] Blaze Nield also left the team after entering the transfer portal in March 2020. In April, he transferred to Utah Valley University making it the third team Nield had played for in as many years.[4] He played his freshman season at Utah State University Eastern in Price, Utah.[5]

On October 18, 2019, Spencer Johnson announced his decision to transfer from Salt Lake Community College to BYU.[9] Johnson had initially committed to Weber State in 2016. But when he returned from serving a mission in Milan, Italy, he transferred to Utah Valley University partway through his redshirt freshman year. Then he decided to transfer to Salt Lake Community College where he played his first season of college basketball.[10] For the upcoming 2020-21 season, Johnson will be a redshirt sophomore with 3 seasons of eligibility remaining. On February 24, Gideon George from New Mexico Junior College announced his decision to transfer to BYU. He will transfer as a junior and will have two years of eligibility remaining.[11] On April 23, 2020, Purdue center Matt Haarms, decided to transfer to BYU for his final year of eligibility. Haarms, reported as the nation's top available transfer at the time, had previously narrowed his choices to BYU, Kentucky and Texas Tech despite 25 or more schools contacting him regarding his decision. Because he is a graduate transfer, Haarms is eligible to play immediately.[12] On June 12, 2020, it was announced that Brandon Averette would transfer from UVU to play his final year of college eligibility for BYU. Because Averette is a graduate transfer, he is eligible to play for the 2020-21 season.[13] In June 2020 Brandon Warr was reported to have transferred from Westminster College to walk-on the roster. Warr will reshirt the 2020-21 season and play his final year of college eligibility during the 2021-22 season.[14]

One returned missionary was added to the roster for the 2020-21 season. Hunter Erickson wore #1 and played at Timpview High School averaging 22 points his junior season. He is a 6'3" guard and weighs in at 185 pounds. He also received scholarship offers from Utah, Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara.[18]

During the 2020-21 season, there are four team members that are currently serving full-time missions. Each of the four players have four years of eligibility remaining and will be part of the roster for the 2021-22 season. Nate Hansen and Trey Stewart will hold scholarship positions while Casey Brown and Jeremy Dowdell will join as preferred walk-ons.[22][23]

Five high school players committed to play for BYU from the 2020 recruiting class. Richie Saunders, Dallin Hall, Tanner Hayhurst and Tanner Toolson each plan to complete two-year full-time missionary service before joining the team for the 2022-23 season.[28][29][30][31] Only Townsend Tripple will join the roster for the 2020-21 season. Tripple had originally planned to complete missionary service before joining the team and was assigned to Argentina, but decided to delay his mission trip due to coronavirus and joined the roster as a walk-on.[32] In early June, it was reported that Caleb Lohner, a four-star forward from Texas who had previously signed with Utah, requested a release from his National Letter of Intent to sign with BYU. Lohner was released, and on June 26 officially signed with the Cougars. Lohner will be a true freshman and is immediately eligible to play.[33]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Richie Saunders Guard	Mount Pleasant, Utah	Wasatch Academy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Oct 30, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Dallin Hall Guard	Ogden, Utah	Fremont High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Mar 13, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Townsend Tripple Forward	Meridian, Idaho	Rocky Mountain High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Apr 13, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Tanner Hayhurst Guard	Eagle, Idaho	Eagle High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	May 7, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Tanner Toolson Guard	Vancouver, Washington	Union High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	May 14, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Caleb Lohner Forward	Flower Mound, Texas	Wasatch Academy	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jun 26, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 81
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: nr   Rivals: nr  247Sports: nr
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "BYU 2020 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "ESPN". ESPN.com. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. "2020 BYU Basketball Commits". 247sports.com.

Several players dealt with injuries during the off-season. Jesse Wade had for some time had a knee injury which has prevented him from playing for BYU since he transferred from Gonzaga. He sat out the 2018–19 season due to his transfer, but was not able to play during the 2019–20 season due to his knee injury.[34] Wade was cleared by doctors to practice with the team on June 1, 2020.[35] Alex Barcello injured his wrist during the game at Pepperdine on February 29, 2020, yet still played 33 minutes in the final game of the season in the WCC Tournament against St. Mary's. Barcello later had surgery on his wrist and was expected to be ready for team practices on June 1, 2020.[36]

Greg Wrubell and Mark Durrant return to call men's basketball for the 2020–21 season.

Affiliates:[37]

• BYU Radio- Flagship Station Nationwide (Dish Network 980, Sirius XM 143, KBYU 89.1 FM HD 2, TuneIn radio, and byuradio.org)
• KSL 102.7 FM and 1160 AM- (Salt Lake City / Provo, Utah and ksl.com)
• KSNA 100.7 FM - Blackfoot / Idaho Falls / Pocatello / Rexburg, Idaho (games)
• KSPZ 105.1 FM and 980 AM- Blackfoot / Idaho Falls / Pocatello / Rexburg, Idaho (coaches' shows)
• KMXD 100.5 FM- Monroe / Manti, Utah
• KSVC 980 AM- Richfield / Manti, Utah
• KDXU 94.9 FM and 890 AM- St. George, Utah

In September 2019, the West Coast Conference (WCC) agreed to a multi-year deal through the 2026-27 season with ESPN and the CBS Sports Network to broadcast numerous basketball games each year. Previously, the WCC had an agreement with ESPN, but the new agreement adds additional television coverage of basketball games through the CBS Sports Network. Games broadcast on the CBS Sports Network are carried on channel 158 on the Dish Network, channel 221 on DirecTV and channel 269 on Xfinity. Under the terms of the deal, ESPN will broadcast 17 games during the regular season and the CBS Sports Network will broadcast a minimum of 9 games. ESPN will continue to broadcast the quarterfinals, semifinals and the championship game of the WCC Tournament.[38] BYU maintains the rights to broadcast home games on BYUtv (11.1 in Salt Lake City, Utah, channel 374 on the Dish Network, and channel 4369/9403 on DirecTV).[39] Meanwhile Stadium broadcasts will be simulcast on KJZZ or KMYU because Utah doesn't have a Stadium tv affiliate.