BYU Basketball careers likely over for Davin Guinn, Jamal Aytes

BYU juniors Jamal Aytes and Davin Guinn are more than likely done with their basketball careers in Provo, as evidenced by the speeches given by head coach Dave Rose and the players during the team’s postseason banquet on Wednesday night.

Aytes, a 6’6 forward who began his career at UNLV in 2013-14 before transferring to BYU, has a long history of ankle and knee injuries, and played very sparingly this past season with the emergence of freshman Yoeli Childs. As a 4th-year junior, he has one year of eligibility remaining, but it doesn’t look like he will use it based on the observations of the Salt Lake Tribune’s Jay Drew, who was at the banquet:

“Aytes spoke briefly as well, thanking the entire BYU community for the love and support he received since joining the program in 2013. It certainly sounded like a farewell speech, and Rose and Aytes shared a hug when Aytes concluded his remarks.”

Aytes was still a valuable and active presence on the team, and rarely missed practice despite all of his physical ailments. He contributed well to the team’s chemistry and remained positive despite his limited playing time over the past two seasons.

Davin Guinn began his college basketball career at UC Riverside in 2012-13, and joined the BYU basketball team as a walk-on for the 2015-16 season following his 2-year mission. Guinn earned a scholarship this year, and ended up playing a large role toward the end of the season as a defensive stopper at the top of the 1-3-1 zone.

Jay Drew also reports that Guinn will be graduating this spring, and will both attend law school and pursue his MBA, which is a strong indication that he will not be a part of the basketball team next season. As a precedent, former guard Jordan Chatman was not permitted to be a part of the BYU Basketball team last season when he wanted to enroll in law school, so he ended up transferring to Boston College, where he is playing basketball and now pursing an MBA instead.

Connecting the dots, it seems that between an MBA and law school, there is little chance that Guinn would be able to do both of those have enough time to play for BYU next season. Even if Eric Mika returns, BYU will have at least one open scholarship next season after these two departures, and the Cougars will have the ability to pursue the transfer market this offseason, for both Junior College players and Division 1 transfers.