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BYU Basketball is just a few months away from returning, which means the roster has pretty much shaped up. A newly-minted version of it is up on byucougars.com. Most of the big roster moves, we’ve been aware of for quite awhile... Yoeli Childs didn’t enter the draft, Nick Emery is back, Elijah Bryant left, Jesse Wade transferred to BYU (although he’ll have to sit out a year). So what do we learn from the latest edition of the roster? Braiden Shaw is missing from it, and Taylor Maughan has been added.
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Maughan will join the team as a walk-on. According to his BYU Cougars Athlete Profile, the last time he played basketball was from 2012-13 at BYU Hawaii. His jersey number will be 13.
Nothing official has been released by BYU about Shaw’s departure. Shaw had some heroic moments (like those huge free throws against Gonzaga in 2016) but otherwise had some pretty sporadic playing time, and ended up battling injuries and missing most of last year.
The roster is upperclassmen-heavy, boasting a whopping eight juniors and two seniors (last year there were no seniors). There are three freshmen and two sophomores on the squad. One of those sophomores listed is Ryan Andrus, so it looks like he was granted a redshirt year after having to sit out most of last season with knee problems.
Evan Troy is the other walk-on, on the squad, in addition to Maughan. The other 13 listed are on scholarship.
BYU’s season officially tips off against Nevada at Nevada on Nov. 6. How do you think the Cougars will fare with this roster? Comment below.