Before breaking down how Dawson Baker will impact BYU this season, there are a couple of other basketball items to address.
247 Sports has a Crystal Ball prediction of AJ Dybantsa landing at BYU and ON3’s recruiting prediction machine has upped BYU’s percentage of landing the 5⭐️ to 68.9%
— AJ Dybantsa Muse (@Dybantsa_Muse) October 30, 2024
Only a matter of time Cougar nation🤩 pic.twitter.com/lsN6uJxGOC
It looks increasingly likely that AJ Dybantsa will be BYU Cougars next season. Which, without a doubt, would be the biggest recruit in BYU history in any sport. Dybantsa is the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft.
The other bit of recruiting news is that Chamberlain Burgess, the nephew of BYU assistant coach Chris Burgess, committed to BYU.
NEWS: 2025 Top-150 recruit Chamberlain Burgess has committed to BYU, he tells @On3Recruits.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) October 30, 2024
The 6-9 Power Forward, who chose the Cougars over Illinois, details his decision here: https://t.co/0o0XsbjGOA pic.twitter.com/03n6xapRtM
Burgess, a four-star recruit, plans to serve a mission before attending BYU.
Now back to 10 in 10
Baker, a redshirt junior from California, only played four games for BYU last season because of a foot injury. While at UC Irvine, Baker was an all-conference player who scored 15.3 points per game in his 2022-23 season before transferring to BYU. He comes in at No. 6 because of his scoring ability.
Right now, Baker projects to be coach Kevin Young's first guard off the bench. Baker is a shifty ball handler who can score at all three levels and play on or off the ball. On the ball, Baker has a flashy handle and can create in the pick-and-roll. He is comfortable in the mid-range, giving the Cougars a go-to scoring option in late-clock situations. Off the ball, Baker can shoot the ball from long distance. He is not quite the movement shooter Trevin Knell, but he is a good spot-up shooter. Around the basket, Baker has an array of floaters and short jump shots to complete his game.
One area of Baker's game that makes him valuable this year is his ability to get to the free throw line. In his last season at UC Irvine, Baker averaged 4.1 free throw attempts per game. Fousseyni Traore led BYU last season at 3.1 attempts per game. BYU was last in the conference and 346th in the nation in free throw attempt rate last season and Baker will help the Cougars in that area immensely this season.
The main reason Baker makes this list at sixth is that there will be games this season in which Baker’s scoring and playmaking will keep BYU in the game. Last season, BYU had one high-level ball handler and playmaker in Dallin Hall, which made the Cougars predictable on offense, especially at the end of games.
This year, the Cougars added Egor Demin, Baker, Kanon Catchings and Elijah Crawford so they could play more randomly on offense. With more ball handlers and playmakers on the roster this season, BYU should play a beautiful drive-and-kick where everyone on the team can shoot, pass and finish around the basket.
It won’t always look pretty at the beginning for the Cougars. Still, with the added playmaking this season, BYU can play an effective and entertaining style of basketball — one that Baker will be an integral part of this year.