Richie Saunders isn’t going anywhere.
The BYU fan favorite will be staying with the Cougars to play for new head coach Kevin Young, he announced on Instagram Thursday. He had initially entered the portal on April 14 amid the coaching uncertainty in Provo.
Saunders has endeared himself to fans across his two seasons with the Cougars thanks to his tenacious hustle and overall scrappiness coming off the bench as one of the nation’s premier “glue” guys.
The Wasatch Academy product averaged 9.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest on 52.3% shooting this past campaign, scoring in double figures on 15 occasions.
In 68 total games at BYU, Saunders has posted averages of 7.6 points and 3.3 rebounds.
Saunders was courted heavily by Mark Pope out of the portal — even receiving a “crystal ball” from 247 Sports in favor of Kentucky — but now becomes one of the first major wins of Young’s tenure with the Cougars.
With Saunders’ return, BYU point guard Dallin Hall remains in the portal and has received considerable interest from a number of prominent programs including Creighton, Duke and UVA. However, the Cougars are still very much in the mix for Hall, according to Robby McCombs of Vanquish the Foe.