Rocking Royal

BYU men's basketball is headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011 with NCAA Tournament wins over VCU and Wisconsin at Ball Arena — or is that, Marriott East? — in Denver, Colorado.

Can first-year coach Kevin Young and the Cougar Cagers do it again in a place where they likely won't have quite as many fans, taking on No. 2-seeded Alabama in Newark, New Jersey?

Sean Walker was in Denver following the team, and he caught up with former BYU standout and current graduate assistant Charles Abouo to talk about the current squad, winning tournament games with Jimmer Fredette and Brandon Davies, and some similarities between this year's team and those ones.

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The BYU basketball programs (yes, plural!) had a really good weekend shortly after Valentine's Day.

First, the men's team beat Kansas State 80-65 at the Marriott Center in a game that honored the life of former Cougar cager Jake Shoff. BYU head coach Kevin Young said he wanted to win for Shoff and his family, including wife Emily and four sons who were in attendance Saturday night and in the postgame locker room — and BYU did so in a way that Shoff would've been proud to watch.

Earlier Saturday, the BYU women's basketball team earned its first AP Top 25 win since last February, 68-64 over then-No. 20 Oklahoma State in the biggest win of the year for head coach Amber Whiting.

But a day after the game, the Cougars celebrated an even bigger milestone: the baptism of junior guard Marya Hudgins, who joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after several months of learning, studying and example of her teammates and coaches — particularly, associate head coach Lee Cummard, his wife Sarah and the couple's children.

Hudgins, who is the biggest Taylor Swift fan on the team, joined the Rocking Royal podcast to talk about her season, deciding to medically redshirt and return to BYU for two more years, and her decision to be baptized. 

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BYU men's basketball collected back-to-back wins in Big 12 play for the first time under first-year head coach Kevin Young, and BYU football nabbed a pair of defensive back commitments in Lone Peak's Landan Goff and Jordyn Criss out of Arlington, Texas.

Elsewhere in the show, BYU women's basketball coach Amber Whiting talks about Delaney Gibb's improvement during her sensational freshman year and what the Cougars need to do to stop a four-game losing skid Wednesday against Colorado.

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BYU basketball bounced back in Big 12 play with an 85-69 win over Oklahoma State, and now heads to Salt Lake City for the first in-conference rivalry game with Utah since 2011.

Pleasant Grove High boys' basketball coach Carsen Williams — the former BYU graduate assistant — joined the program to talk about the Cougars' start to the 2024-25 season, his own start to his first season as a head coach, and what BYU can do to walk out of the Huntsman Center with a win.

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BYU basketball is in trouble, with a men's team that lost its third in a row 71-67 at TCU and a women's team that started just 1-4 in Big 12 play following Saturday's 92-65 loss to No. 12 Kansas State.

BYU head coach Kevin Young spoke with the media Monday about addressing several of his concerns, and BYU freshman Delaney Gibb was named Big 12 freshman of the year for the fourth time this season to set a new program record.

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The Rocking Royal podcast recaps BYU's 36-14 win over Colorado in the Valero Alamo Bowl, putting a bow on the 11-2 season of 2024, and then looks ahead to BYU men's basketball and its Big 12 home opener on New Year's Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 31 in the Marriott Center with head coach Kevin Young.

BYU beat writer Sean Walker sits down with senior cornerback Jakob Robinson to discuss the No. 17 Cougars' upcoming Alamo Bowl game against No. 23 Colorado, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024 before the senior's final game in a BYU uniform.

BYU men's basketball coach Kevin Young speaks with the media via conference call about landing No. 1 overall recruit AJ Dybantsa, who committed to the Cougars on ESPN's First Take, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, after signing during the NCAA's early signing period in November.

Young spoke about the first meeting with AJ and his parents Ace and Chelsea, how he fits into BYU and the modern NBA, and how his staff — including but not limited to assistant coaches — helped lure the biggest recruit in program history to Provo.