On Saturday morning, former BYU basketball starter Noah Waterman committed to Louisville. Waterman entered the transfer portal last week after two years at BYU. Waterman considered returning to BYU, but decided to commit to the Cardinals after the visit. For new BYU coach Kevin Young, losing Waterman is a tough pill to swallow. Waterman started 33 games for BYU last season and took a big step forward in his second year in Provo. Last year, he averaged 9.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, shooting 37 percent from 3-point range. Waterman also played a key role in BYU's offensive rebounding efforts, averaging 1.3 offensive rebounds per game.
Waterman's ability to stretch the floor in 6:11 would fit into the five-out offense that Kevin Young wants to run at BYU. His size was also valuable considering BYU's other bigs, Husseini Traore and Keba Keita, are under 6'8. If he had remained at BYU, he likely would have been a starter next season as well.
Instead, he will take his talents to Louisville and join fellow BYU starter Ali Khalifa.
Waterman was one of BYU's most improved players last year. In his first year in Provo after transferring from Detroit Mercy, Waterman averaged just 4.6 points per game on 32 percent from 3-point range. Waterman struggled at first. It took him a full season to adjust to the high level of competition at BYU, but once he did, he grew in all areas under Mark Pope.
BYU will look to the transfer portal to backfill Waterman with another big man who can stretch the floor. Baake Buyuktuncel, who transferred from UCLA, is a player to watch. Buyuktuncel was on BYU's campus for a visit earlier this week, as first reported by Robbie McCombs.