Egor Demin has made up his mind.
BYU’s star point guard will forego his remaining college eligibility and declare for the NBA draft, he announced Tuesday at a press conference at the Marriott Center Annex in Provo.
The news was first reported by Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
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“I’m super excited to announce that I will be putting my name in the 2025 NBA Draft,” Demin said. “It’s another challenge that I’m willing to take, and I’m not scared of any troubles I could meet on this path.”
As a freshman, Demin started in 33 games for BYU and averaged 10.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists to earn All-Big 12 Honorable Mention status.
He did struggle at times with turnovers and shooting inconsistency this past season, but when Demin flashed, he clearly looked the part as one of college basketball’s top talents.
Such was the case in the NCAA Tournament, where Demin played some of his best basketball of the year when the lights were brightest. He scored 13.7 points per game in March Madness along with 17 total assists against six turnovers as the Cougars reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011.
The 19-year-old Russian star is a projected first-round selection in this summer’s NBA draft. ESPN ranks Demin as the No. 12 prospect in the current draft class, with CBS Sports listing him at No. 9, Yahoo Sports at No. 19 and The Ringer at No. 15.
“Demin is the Three-Eyed Raven of this draft — he sees everything at all times,” wrote J. Kyle Mann of The Ringer. “He is the most talented all-around passer in the draft, spotting cutters and weakside looks from 3 that others simply do not. He makes simple reads within the flow of the offense, whether he’s playing off the catch and attacking a closeout or catching the ball in the middle of the floor, but most importantly, he’s gifted at using his outside-the-box thinking to pry open passing windows.
“With a live dribble, he excels at using his terrific size to sling pinpointed darts with overhand touch. And, crucially, he passes a shootable ball — they’re typically on time and on target, with the right amount of ball deceleration so that the recipient can flow into their motion.”
With Demin’s departure — along with Dallin Hall’s intention to transfer — Kevin Young and his staff will search for a new starting point guard out of the transfer portal to play alongside consensus No. 1 recruit AJ Dybantsa this coming season.
