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How much has the BYU men’s basketball program grown since Kevin Young replaced Mark Pope in 2024? Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden gave us the answer. Under the bright lights of the Jimmy V Classic, the No. 10 Cougars faced Clemson — and Robert Wright III’s buzzer-beater felt like a moment that could redefine the entire program. The sophomore guard buried an off-balance three over two Clemson defenders at the horn, sealing No. 10 BYU’s come-from-behind 67–64 win. It wasn’t just a game-winner — it completed the largest second-half comeback in BYU history. With 6:59 left in the first half, BYU and Clemson were tied at 22. Then everything fell apart for coach Kevin Young and his team. The Tigers exploded on a 21–0 run, while the Cougars couldn’t buy a bucket. BYU went into halftime trailing 43–22, completely out of rhythm. And when Clemson pushed the lead to 22 in the opening minute of the second half, it looked like the game was slipping away for good. But that’s when the Cougars finally came to life. (This is a developing news…) 

Robert Wright III’s buzzer-beater helps Kevin Young and BYU make history as the Cougars set their sights on a deep March Madness run.

Akash Das is an NCAA and WNBA Writer at EssentiallySports, where his bylines dive deep into the structural side of basketball. With a postgraduate diploma in Mass Communication and a Master’s in Sports Business &amp; Management from the University of Liverpool, he grounds every feature in strong reporting fundamentals and academic rigor. His coverage tracks how coaching blueprints, roster construction, and roster moves, from the NCAA transfer portal to WNBA free agency, shape outcomes on the court.  

His sharp breakdowns at the WNBA desk earned him a spot in the outlet’s prestigious Journalistic Excellence Program, putting him among ES’ most trusted voices on basketball. Beyond box scores, Akash is driven by the bigger picture: how programs are built, maintained, and rebuilt in the NCAA pipeline, and how those systems intersect with the professional game.  

With experience across sports writing, research, and media strategy, he brings nuance to topics often overlooked in day-to-day highlights coverage. Whether examining the long-term vision behind a college program or the ripple effect of player mobility in the WNBA, Akash connects fans to the tactical and structural heart of the sport.

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Kevin Young’s BYU Makes History after Rob Wright Caps Record Comeback vs.
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Kevin Young's BYU Makes History after Rob Wright Caps Record Comeback vs. Clemson

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Kevin Young&#8217;s BYU Makes History after Rob Wright Caps Record Comeback vs. Clemson

Kevin Young's BYU Makes History after Rob Wright Caps Record Comeback vs. Clemson - EssentiallySports

EssentiallySports is the home for the underserved fan, delivering storytelling that goes beyond the headlines. As a media platform, we combine deep audience insights with cultural trends, to meet fandom where it lives and where it goes next. Founded in 2014, EssentiallySports now engages with an audience of over 30m+ American sports fan on its website and 1m+ readers on its newsletters daily.

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Akash Das is an NCAA and WNBA Writer at EssentiallySports, where his bylines dive deep into the structural side of basketball. With a postgraduate diploma in Mass Communication and a Master’s in Sports Business &amp; Management from the University of Liverpool, he grounds every feature in strong reporting fundamentals and academic rigor. His coverage tracks how coaching blueprints, roster construction, and roster moves, from the NCAA transfer portal to WNBA free agency, shape outcomes on the court. His sharp breakdowns at the WNBA desk earned him a spot in the outlet’s prestigious Journalistic Excellence Program, putting him among ES’ most trusted voices on basketball. Beyond box scores, Akash is driven by the bigger picture: how programs are built, maintained, and rebuilt in the NCAA pipeline, and how those systems intersect with the professional game. With experience across sports writing, research, and media strategy, he brings nuance to topics often overlooked in day-to-day highlights coverage. Whether examining the long-term vision behind a college program or the ripple effect of player mobility in the WNBA, Akash connects fans to the tactical and structural heart of the sport.