BYU coach Kevin Young credits ‘classy’ ASU fans coming off Arizona game
Four days after a group of Arizona Wildcats fans used expletives while referencing the BYU Cougars’ faith in a chant, BYU head coach Kevin Young gave credit to the Arizona State Sun Devil fans who took in a 91-81 ASU loss in Tempe.
“I’ve spent a lot of time down here, I know there’s a lot of BYU blue in the Valley,” said Young, who the past four years was an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns. “I always expected to see some (BYU fans in Tempe) but it surpassed my expectations.
“I had a moment when I was walking off the court just looking up there seeing — call it half of the arena was blue — to be honest with you. Credit to ASU in terms of being classy. We have had some other stuff along the road that is not classy, and so appreciate the fans here.”
Video of the chant in Tucson showed Wildcat fans using expletives while calling BYU players “Mormons.” Brigham Young University is affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It came as players walked off the court, which followed a testy final few minutes of the 96-95 BYU win. Fans were also incited by a questionable foul call that went against Arizona.
Arizona’s Caleb Love also exchanged words with BYU’s Mawot Mag and other Cougars in the handshake line before the chant.
“Following tonight’s men’s basketball game, it was brought to our attention that an unacceptable chant occurred,” Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois said in a statement early the next day.
“On behalf of the University of Arizona Athletic Department, we apologize to BYU, their student-athletes, coaches and fans. The chant is not reflective of who we are and should not have happened.”
Arizona’s student section, the Zona Zoo, also released a statement to address the chant.
The actions by students after Arizona v. BYU were unacceptable & are not reflective of the 14,000 ZonaZoo members or our ZonaZoo Crew. We have taken steps on our end to address the situation internally to prevent future incidents like this from ever happing again.
We want to apologize to BYU Men’s Basketball, members of the LDS faith, @byuROC, & all fans for the words & actions after the game. As a student section, while our job is to make McKale a tough place to play, our mission is to Bear Down with Pride & provide a welcoming environment to all.
As a university organization, we are committed to the University’s core values, including integrity, compassion, inclusion, and adaptation. We recognize and acknowledge that members of our Wildcat family, including some our student-athletes, are members of the LDS faith.Fostering a positive environment where all students feel accepted and welcome is a top goal of the University and the ZonaZoo Leadership. In the future we encourage all students to think about their intent and impact with all words and actions and to Bear Down with Pride.”
Kevin Young makes his Arizona return with BYU
Young represents a growing trend of NBA-to-college coaches, drawn to NCAA ball by growing NIL collectives. The Cougars’ own has been impactful the past two years, with several high-profile NBA prospects landing at the still-new-to-the-Big 12 school.
For Young, the past week signified a return to the state of Arizona and the Valley, where he spent the past four seasons under two Suns head coaches, Monty Williams and Frank Vogel.
“This is a special place for me. Felt like I had some good years here. Had some friends and family at this game in particular,” Young said.
Young accepted the BYU opening — former coach Mark Pope left the job in April to take John Calipari’s place at Kentucky — in the middle of the Suns’ season.
Young stayed on the job through Phoenix’s brief playoff appearance that ended in a first-round sweep and even brought a group of his soon-to-be Cougars players to Phoenix for one of the playoff games against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
ASU’s players got a hat-tip from Young, too
On Wednesday at Desert Financial Arena, Young not only came away impressed with Arizona State’s fanbase but also the opposition on the court.
Down four starters from the group ASU had in the rotation around the start of the season, the Sun Devils made several counterpunches to stay competitive with a hot-shooting team that has now hit the 90-point mark in the past three games, including a 91-57 blowout of then-No. 23 Kansas last Tuesday.
“Hard-fought game. It’s a team that’s super undermanned,” Young said. “Seen a lot in my minor-league coaching career, is what it reminded me of. Guys lose their best players day of the game or shortly before it, you got guys who come in and have been sitting there all season and they’re excited to play.
“We knew that’s what it was going to be like.”
Young’s minor-league resume before joining the Philadelphia 76ers’ staff in 2016 included stops with the Utah Flash and Iowa Energy of the D League and Delaware 87ers, which was the same franchise as the Flash.
