BYU Basketball’s Kanon Catchings Enters NCAA Transfer Portal
Mar 29, 2025, 9:36 PM | Updated: Mar 30, 2025, 12:04 am
BYU basketball forward Kanon Catchings is in the transfer portal after one season with the Cougars. (Isaac Hale, Deseret News)
(Isaac Hale, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball freshman Kanon Catchings is entering the Transfer Portal.
The 6-foot-9 forward is on the move and according to Rivals.com is in the portal with a “no-contact tag.” That means he doesn’t want schools to reach out to him.
According to a source BYU's Kanon Catchings has entered the portal with a no-contact tag.
He averaged 7.2ppg and was a four-star Rivals recruit. pic.twitter.com/2B1WvrQNQ8
— NCAA Transfer Portal (@RivalsPortal) March 30, 2025
Kanon Catchings played one season in the BYU basketball program
Catchings is the first BYU player in the 2025 cycle to enter the Transfer Portal.
BYU added Catchings last summer after he was released from his agreement to play at Purdue. The BYU coaching staff had a connection to Catchings through assistant coach Tim Fanning, who knew Catchings during his time at Overtime Elite.
Catchings started the first 15 games of BYU’s season as a stretch four. Then, on January 14 against Oklahoma State, BYU head coach Kevin Young brought Catchings off the bench in a reserve role. He had only one game after January 4 where he appeared in more than 20 minutes in a game. That was on January 28, when he had a perfect 8-of-8 shooting from the field for 23 points in an overtime win against Baylor.
Catchings also had a big performance off the bench in a win at Arizona on February 22, scoring 14 points in 15 minutes.
BYU was 10-5 in games with Catchings in the starting lineup. They closed out the year 16-5 with him coming off the bench, including a pair of NCAA Tournament victories.
The defensive end of the floor was an area where BYU head coach Kevin Young challenged Kanon Catchings.
When BYU made the lineup change, they turned to former Rutgers transfer and strong defender Mawot Mag to take Catchings’ spot.
A former four-star recruit from Overtime Elite, Catchings averaged 7.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, and shot 41% from the field this past year at BYU.
He is one of the highest-rated signees BYU has signed out of high school in the internet era of recruiting rankings.
On March 1, Catchings suffered a knee injury that limited his availability in the season’s final month. He was cleared on the Monday before BYU’s NCAA Tournament opener against VCU.
After BYU’s loss to Alabama in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on March 27, KSL Sports asked Catchings for his thoughts on his first year with the program. He said, “I mean, I’m not sure. I don’t know what to say.”
When asked if he wanted to return to BYU next year, he added, “I don’t know. I’m not sure.”
Catchings added when asked what BYU accomplished in the 2025 season, he said on Thursday night in Newark, “We accomplished a lot, you know. Just being a team that nobody really believed in and did better than expected and better than everyone expected us to do.”
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
