Probably already posted but if you havent seen it, its a good read.

"Demin is not a member of the Church of Latter-day Saints, so landing at BYU might not seem like the most natural fit. There is a long history of BYU recruiting prominent athletes who don't belong to the church — star quarterback Jake Retzlaff is Jewish — but rarely are they also from overseas. It was a nonissue for Demin, who saw the appeal in a place where there would be few distractions outside of basketball and school.

"What we tell our guys that we're recruiting is that you're walking into a locker room of a bunch of serious-minded guys that you don't have to worry about what they're doing the night before the game," Young said. "And if you really are serious about basketball, this is a great place to just come in and lock in and make that the main thing."

That resonated with Demin.

Then there was the Travis Hansen factor. Hansen had a standout career at BYU that ended in 2003, and he was part of the same NBA draft class as LeBron James (Hansen was selected No. 37 by the Atlanta Hawks). After one year in the NBA, he continued his career abroad, including three years in Russia with Dynamo Moscow before time at Real Madrid.

Demin's father retired just before Hansen arrived in Russia, but they crossed paths enough in those years to familiarize themselves with each other. So, when Demin had a Zoom call with the BYU coaching staff, Hansen joined.

"The first time I came here, I went to his house, he invited me for dinner," Demin said. "They have an awesome family, big family, really kind people.

"Travis Hansen was a really big reason for me coming here. Having Travis on my side is special."

Link: https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/page/mcbbtournamentpreviews0327/mens-march-madness-2025-sweet-16-egor-demin-byu-college-basketball