BYU’s Richie Saunders, Egor Demin Earn Big 12 Basketball Awards
Mar 10, 2025, 1:50 PM | Updated: 2:12 pm
BYU basketball players Richie Saunders and Egor Demin receive Big 12 Conference awards for the 2024-25 season. (Courtesy of Desert News)
(Courtesy of Desert News)
PROVO, Utah – BYU standouts Richie Saunders and Egor Demin receive awards from the Big 12 Conference on Monday.
Saunders was named the Big 12’s Most Improved Player for the 2024-25 season and was one of 10 players in the league named First Team All-Big 12.
Demin earned a spot on the Big 12’s All-Freshman Team and an Honorable Mention recognition from the power league.
Big 12 Basketball Awards for BYU players in the 2024-25 season. 🏀
Richie Saunders
– Most Improved
– All-Big 12 First TeamEgor Demin
– Honorable Mention All-Big 12
– All-Freshman Team pic.twitter.com/pRTakoXx9N— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 10, 2025
“I just want to congratulate Richie Saunders on being named First Team All-Big 12 as well as Most Improved Player, Egor (Demin) as Honorable Mention all-league and first-team freshmen in the Big 12,” said BYU head coach Kevin Young. “I thought we had some other guys that were deserving, but happy for those guys.”
Richie Saunders First Team All-Big 12, Most Improved Player
Saunders finished the 20-game Big 12 season fourth in scoring at 17.9 points per game, first in 3-point field goal percentage at 45.1%, and fifth in field goal percentage at 52.4%.
Last season, Saunders was viewed as a “glue guy” off the bench. Under first-year head coach Kevin Young, Saunders emerged as one of the top players in the Big 12 Conference this season.
Saunders had 10 games this season where he scored 20+ points. Notably, eight of those 10 games with 20+ points were against Big 12 Conference opponents.
The 6-foot-5 junior from Riverton, Utah, made a compelling case for Big 12 Player of the Year. However, that recognition was given to Texas Tech’s JT Toppin.
Toppin, a transfer from the University of New Mexico, was in the top three of the Big 12 in scoring, rebounds, and field goal percentage this season.
Egor Demin: Honorable Mention Big 12
Egor Demin, the heralded freshman from Moscow, Russia, was fourth in assists in the Big 12, averaging 5.5 dimes per game.
“Those are definitely team awards as well. There’s a lot that goes into having individual success, and our guys are well aware of that,” said Young. “Happy for those two young men to represent our university and those awards.”
BYU turns its attention to the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. They will leave for K.C. on Tuesday in preparation for a quarterfinal matchup against Iowa State, Cincinnati, or Oklahoma State on Thursday.
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Big 12 Basketball First Team: 2024-25 Season
- Caleb Love, Arizona
- Norchad Omier, Baylor
- Richie Saunders, BYU
- LJ Cryer, Houston
- J’Wan Roberts, Houston
- Curtis Jones, Iowa State
- Hunter Dickinson, Kansas
- JT Toppin, Texas Tech (Big 12 Player of the Year)
- Darrion Williams, Texas Tech
- Javon Small, West Virginia
All-Freshman Team
- Jayden Quaintance, Arizona State
- VJ Edgecombe, Baylor
- Robert Wright, Baylor
- Egor Demin, BYU
- Christian Anderson, Texas Tech
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
