Saunders was the second Cougar selected in the draft, joining teammate AJ Dybantsa, who was selected with the first overall pick by the Washington Wizards on Tuesday evening at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The 2026 NBA Draft marks the first time since 1984 that multiple Cougars have been selected in the same draft; in 1988, Devin Durrant was selected by the Indiana Pacers (25th) and Brett Applegate was picked in the fourth round by the Portland Trail Blazers (88th).

The Riverton native went from glue guy to Big 12’s Most Improved Player under head coach Kevin Young, where he finished his four-year career in Provo with the 17th most points in program history. He scored 1,544 points in 128 appearances, and he attempted and made the eighth-most 3-pointers in program history.

Saunders averaged 18.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 48.9% from the field, 37.6% from 3 and 81.7% from the free-throw line during his senior season before tearing his ACL on Feb. 14.

He scored in double figures 21 times, highlighted by a career-high 33-point performance at Kansas. In the setback to Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse, Saunders tied a career-high with six 3-pointers to go along with 10 rebounds for his fourth career double-double.

He was named the Big 12’s Most Improved Player of the Year in 2024-25 after averaging a team-high 16.5 points per game. He became the fifth player in program history to shoot 50/40/80 in a single season.

He averaged 22.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in BYU’s run to its first Sweet 16 appearance, shooting 59.5% from the field, 41.7% from 3 and 100% from the free throw line in those games.

The Cougars now have players drafted in back-to-back drafts for the first time since 2003-04 when Travis Hansen was selected 37th by the Atlanta Hawks (2003) and Rafael Araujo was selected eighth by the Toronto Raptors (2004).

BYU has produced a total of 48 NBA Draft picks all-time.