BYU Basketball’s Trevin Knell Out For Months After Shoulder Surgery

PROVO, Utah – The 2022-23 BYU basketball season opened up with practice on Monday, and the Cougars are already down one key player.

Trevin Knell, the lone player remaining from Mark Pope’s first team in 2019-20, is sidelined with a rotator cuff injury.

The 6-foot-5, 185-pound guard did not participate in the opening night of practice. Instead, he was off to the sideline, cheering on his teammates.

Trevin Knell is out for three to four months

During the practice, Knell had an interview with BYUtv and was asked how long he would be out.

.@trevin_knell gives an update on his injury status ⬇️#BYUHOOPS | #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/mZXPbHwRxI

— BYU Sports Nation (@BYUSportsNation) September 27, 2022

“Well, it’s super unfortunate. I ended up hurting my shoulder last season in the very first game. I experienced a lot of shoulder pain. Rob (Ramos) did a great job. Me and Rob kind of just maintained the surgery, I guess. We played throughout the year and got a couple of cortisone shots,” said Trevin Knell to BYUtv. “But, it came down that I had to get surgery on my rotator cuff. It partially tore the tendon. The timetable on that is just, you know, Coach Pope says a couple of weeks. But it’s more like three to four months.”

Before last season, former BYU guard Alex Barcello, considered one of the top shooters in America last year, said Knell was an even better shooter than him.

While navigating shoulder pain, Knell shot 36.2% from three-point range, 40.6% from the field, and 69.6% at the free throw line.

He averaged a career-best 6.3 points per game in 35 appearances and 18 starts.

Mark Pope on what Knell’s absence means for BYU basketball moving forward

Knell’s injury is a big blow for BYU moving forward.

#BYU coach Mark Pope on absence of Trevin Knell: “It’s pretty devastating for us.”

➡️: https://t.co/1ENQq3RZvD#BYUHoops @kslsports pic.twitter.com/P3Wvo3aEnc

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 27, 2022

“He’s maybe a late season [return]; we’ll see. Maybe it’s a while, but it’s pretty devastating for us,” said BYU coach Mark Pope after Monday night’s practice. “He had some pain all year last year. We kind of sat him, tried to treat it, and did all alternative therapy, and nothing seemed to work. He just had to go have this surgery. He’ll be back 100%, full speed. But it was just, unfortunately, something we had to do.”

Trevin Knell being sidelined now elevates the status of heralded returned missionaries Dallin Hall and Richie Saunders in Mark Pope’s rotation.

“It’s putting a lot of pressure on those guys, but they’re ready,” said Pope. “Interestingly enough, Richie Saunders came off his mission and was within a standard deviation of the top Combine scores at the Combine this year, off of his mission. So he’s done an unbelievable job being really careful about ramping up.

“…And then Dallin got home [from his mission] a little later, so we’ve tried to take his progress a little bit slower. But he’s ultra-talented, and he’s got unbelievable leadership skills and vision. So we have a lot of freshmen that are going to have to help us this year. That’s exciting.”

Knell is taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 season in 2020-21. So Knell entered this season as a junior.

If he doesn’t play this year, he could redshirt and still have two years of eligibility remaining in his collegiate career.

On a lighter note, Knell celebrated his birthday on Monday. His freshman teammates did a performance for him and gave him a birthday cake.

Knell was a graduate of Woods Cross High in the class of 2017. Through his first three years at BYU, he has appeared in 81 games.

BYU opens the 2022-23 season against Idaho State on November 7 at the Marriott Center.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

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