Along with AJ Dybantsa, former BYU basketball star Richie Saunders is in Chicago at the NBA draft combine.
Saunders continues to work his way back from an ACL injury he suffered on February 14 in the opening minute of a BYU home game against Colorado.
The Riverton, Utah native exited BYU as a fan-favorite, helping guide the Cougars to the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance in 14 years in 2025.
In his two seasons with BYU head coach Kevin Young, Saunders emerged as one of the top players in the country. Going from a “glue guy” to an All-Big 12 performer.
Over the past two years, Saunders averaged 17.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 steals, while shooting 40% from 3-point range.
Richie Saunders is at the 2026 NBA draft combine in Chicago
Like Saunders, Kevin Young, formerly an NBA assistant coach, was in Chicago for the NBA draft combine.
Kevin Young, during the NBA draft combine, gives an update on BYU basketball star Richie Saunders, who is working his way back from an ACL injury. pic.twitter.com/tZUPXSxhQc
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) May 12, 2026
Young joined ESPN’s NBA draft combine coverage for 10 minutes, and near the end of his interview, he was asked for an update on Saunders.
“Richie, he’s doing really well,” Kevin Young said on ESPN of Richie Saunders. “One, the injury wasn’t as bad as it could have been, right? It was fairly clean. You look at his body, he’s got like 3% body fat. He’s a crazy worker. So he’s a guy that’s going to get back to his form in no time.”
The best part of Richie Saunders
Saunders was a leader of the BYU basketball program. During the regular season, Young referred to Saunders as the “heart and soul” of the BYU locker room. Young highlighted the intangibles off the court as an area where Saunders will thrive at the combine.
“But the best part of Richie is actually going to be showcased here, and that’s behind closed doors when you’re interviewing him,” Young said. “He’s going to knock that out of the park. He’s just a great person, and I think he did enough this season on the court for everybody to clearly realize that. I laugh, because I think every team acts like it’s a secret they love Richie, so I can’t wait to see exactly where he ends up going.”
The top performance in Saunders’ career at BYU was a career-high 33 points on the road at Kansas in January. That was a game headlined by the potential No. 1 and No. 2 picks in this year’s draft, in AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson. But, Kevin Young said, following the game that Saunders was the “best player on the floor.”
ESPN and Yahoo! are two outlets that currently forecast Saunders to go in the late second round of the draft.
The 2026 NBA draft takes place in Brooklyn from June 23-24.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSL and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
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