The BYU Cougars men's basketball team represents Brigham Young University in NCAA Division I basketball play. It currently competes in the Big 12 Conference. Established in 1902, the team has won 27 conference championships, 3 conference tournament championships and 2 NIT Tournaments (1951 and 1966), and competed in 32 NCAA tournaments. The Cougars most recently appeared at the NCAA tournament in 2026. BYU appeared in the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament in 1950, 1951, and 1981, its deepest runs at the tournament in program history. BYU's basketball program has won 1,939 games in its 108-year history, ranking 12th in all-time victories among all Division I programs.
From 1999 to 2011, the team competed in the Mountain West Conference, followed by 12 seasons in the West Coast Conference. On September 10, 2021, the Big 12 Conference unanimously accepted BYU's application for membership, and BYU officially joined the conference for the 2023–24 season. The team is coached by Kevin Young.
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History
BYU fielded its first basketball team in 1903. In 1906, the Cougars played their first game against Utah State University. In 1909, the team first played against the University of Utah. These two rivalries continue to this day. The Cougars won the first of their 27 conference championships in 1922 as a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference led by star point guard River Jeffcoat.
The Cougars made the first of their 29 NCAA tournament appearances in 1950 under head coach Stan Watts. That Cougars came within one point of reaching the national semifinals. BYU's 1951 team was even more successful, winning 28 games and once again qualifying for the NCAA tournament. In addition, the 1951 team won the first of two NIT championships for the school. The Cougars defeated AP No. 9 St. John's, AP #10 St. Louis and AP #13 Dayton to win the title. Notable players on that team include: Mel Hutchins, who was taken #2 in the 1951 NBA draft, was named the 1951–52 NBA co-rookie of the year and became a 5-time NBA All-Star with the Pistons and the Knicks; Roland Minson, who was drafted #16 overall in the 1951 NBA draft; and Loren C. Dunn, a future general authority in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Cougars would go on to make five more appearances in the NCAA tournament under Watts, and win their second NIT championship in 1966, although by that time the overall prestige of the NIT had fallen considerably. BYU has the most NCAA appearances of any men's team not to make the Final Four, having made 32 NCAA tournaments. BYU, alongside Xavier, Saint Joseph's, Boston College, Arizona State, and Davidson are each tied for second most in Elite Eight appearances without a Final Four with three (Missouri has the most with five).
Under Watts, BYU also became the first U.S. college basketball program to include an international player on its roster, as Finland native Timo Lampen debuted in the 1958–59 season. Later, BYU's Krešimir Ćosić, born in Yugoslavia (modern-day Croatia), became the first international player to be named an All-American. His jersey was retired in the Marriott Center in March 2006 in the last home game of the season against the New Mexico Lobos. Watts retired as the winningest coach in BYU history.
After Watts' retirement following the 1972 season, the program experienced five consecutive losing seasons from 1974 through 1978 before returning to the NCAA tournament in 1979 behind Danny Ainge and coach Frank Arnold. The Cougars reached the Elite Eight, one game short of the Final Four, in 1981, Ainge's senior season. That season, Ainge won the Wooden Award as the nation's most outstanding player.
Season-by-season results
Under Kevin Young:
Postseason
NCAA tournament
BYU has made the NCAA tournament 33 times, with the Cougars having a record of 17–36.
NIT
BYU has made the National Invitation Tournament fifteen times, going 19–13. The Cougars were champions in 1951 and 1966.
NAIA Tournament
BYU made two appearances in the NAIA Tournament, going 2–2.
Individual honors
Retired numbers
The Cougars have retired the numbers of five players in their history, with the most recent being the jersey of Jimmer Fredette on February 14, 2026.
National Players of the Year
Danny Ainge (1981)
Jimmer Fredette (2011)
Julius Erving Award
AJ Dybantsa (2026)
All-Americans
Elwood Romney (1931–32)
Mel Hutchins (1951)
Roland Minson (1951)
Joe Richey (1953)
John Fairchild (1965)
Dick Nemelka (1966)
Krešimir Ćosić (1972–73)
Danny Ainge (1980–81)
Devin Durrant (1984)
Michael Smith (1988)
Jimmer Fredette (2010–11)
AJ Dybantsa (2025-26)
Conference Players of the Year
John Fairchild (1965)
Danny Ainge (1981)
Devin Durrant (1983)
Timo Saarelainen (1985)
Michael Smith (1988)
Mekeli Wesley (2001)
Rafael Araújo (2004)
Keena Young (2007)
Lee Cummard (2008)
Jimmer Fredette (2011)
Tyler Haws (2014)
Kyle Collinsworth (2015)
Individual records
Points scored, single game: 52, Jimmer Fredette, March 11, 2011 vs. New Mexico
Points scored, season: 1,068, Jimmer Fredette, 2010–11
Points scored, career: 2,720, Tyler Haws, 2009–10, 2012–15
Field goals made, single game: 22, Jimmer Fredette, March 11, 2011, vs. New Mexico
Field goals made, season: 346, Jimmer Fredette, 2010–11
Field goals made, career: 987, Danny Ainge, 1978–81
Three-point field goals made, single game: 10, Chase Fischer, November 25, 2014, vs. Chaminade; and Nick Emery, February 11, 2016, vs. San Francisco
Three-point field goals made, season: 124, Jimmer Fredette, 2010–11
Three-point field goals made, career: 296, Jimmer Fredette, 2007–11
Consecutive games with a Three-point field goal made: 31, Nick Emery
Free throws made, single game: 23, Jimmer Fredette, March 11, 2010, vs. TCU
Free throws made, season: 252, Jimmer Fredette, 2010–11
Free throws made, career: 724, Tyler Haws, 2009–10, 2012–15
Rebounds, single game: 27, Scott Warner, December 18, 1969 vs. Texas Tech
Rebounds, season: 471, Mel Hutchins, 1950–51
Notable players
Danny Ainge
Shawn Bradley
Elijah Bryant
Krešimir Ćosić
Egor Dëmin
AJ Dybantsa
Jimmer Fredette
Travis Hansen
Greg Kite