Egor Demin suffers knee injury and is out – Deseret News

Egor Demin has been very valuable to BYU this season, but now the Cougars will have to make do without him for a while.

The freshman phenom suffered a knee bruise and will be “out for about a week and a half” before being re-evaluated, head coach Kevin Young told BYU radio broadcaster Greg Wrubell on Wednesday night.

“(It) could have been a lot worse,” Young told Wrubell, “…but (we’re) lucky it wasn’t worse than it is.”

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Demin sustained the injury early in last Tuesday’s game against Providence, finishing the night with a discouraging 0-of-10 scoring average and playing just six minutes in the second half.

Given BYU’s schedule, Demin likely won’t return to the court until the start of Big 12 play at the earliest. The Cougars play Fresno State, Wyoming and Florida A&M over the next nine days before heading into an extended holiday break that will last through Dec. 31 against Arizona State.

Although Demin’s absence is temporary, it will be a major test for BYU. He currently leads the team in scoring (13.3 points) and assists (5.8), grabs 4.6 rebounds per game and shoots 38.5% from distance. Dallin Hall will take over Demin’s role as the primary ballplayer in Young’s offense, with Richie Saunders, Kanon Catchings and Dawson Baker also expected to carry some of the scoring load.

Before his injury, Demin had become a household name among college basketball fans and was reportedly shooting up NBA draft boards. The Athletic’s draft expert Sam Vecenie published a top 100 big board that had Demin ranked No. 2, and fellow analyst Krysten Peek suggested Demin could even be taken with the No. 1 overall pick next summer could become.

“His passing and processing skills are not only at a high level; It’s elite,” Vecenie wrote of Demin. “It’s different. He sees the game with the incredibly clear understanding that the league’s elite passers have.”