BYU’s Kevin Young Speaks Out After Loss to Oklahoma State: “There’s Just Too Much Hate in the World”
BYU head coach Kevin Young looked more than just frustrated after Wednesday night’s 99-92 loss to Oklahoma State. Yes, the Cougars dropped their third straight game.
Yes, they were outscored in the paint 52-26 and gave up a season-high 30 points to Oklahoma State’s Anthony Roy, who torched BYU from deep with five 3-pointers. But what clearly weighed most on Young wasn’t just the scoreboard-it was what he heard from the stands.
Late in the game, as BYU tried to claw back from a double-digit deficit, Young said he heard a chant that’s become all too familiar in Big 12 arenas: “F--- the Mormons.” The slur, reportedly loud enough to be picked up on the FS1 broadcast, was directed at BYU players and fans-many of whom are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the university’s sponsoring faith.
And for Young, who is Mormon himself and a father of four, enough was enough.
“It's a great win for Oklahoma State University; their fans should be proud,” Young said postgame. “But it would be great if some class was in there, as well.
I've got four small kids at home - I'm a Mormon. And when I go home, they're going to ask me about it the same way they asked me about it last year at Arizona.”
That moment of raw honesty came after Young had already addressed his team’s on-court struggles-slow starts, defensive lapses, and a lack of physicality inside that have plagued the Cougars all season. But this time, the conversation turned from basketball to something much bigger.
“There’s just too much hate in the world to be saying stuff like that,” Young continued. “We’ve got enough problems in our world without going at people’s religion and beliefs, whether it’s in vogue or not.”
This wasn’t an isolated incident. According to BYU officials, it’s at least the fourth time in the past year that a BYU team has been targeted with the same derogatory chant at an opposing venue. And it’s not just football or basketball-it’s become a recurring issue across multiple sports.
The Big 12 is now taking a closer look. Commissioner Brett Yormark released a statement Thursday confirming that the conference is “investigating reports of inappropriate chants” from the game in Stillwater.
“All parties have been notified,” Yormark said. “The conference has zero tolerance for behavior of this nature and will address the matter in accordance with Big 12 sportsmanship policies.”
BYU athletic director Brian Santiago echoed Young’s frustration, calling the chant “super hurtful and unacceptable.”
“There’s a human element of it that we want people to understand-how hurtful it is and how unsafe it feels for members of our faith,” Santiago said.
Santiago wasn’t in Stillwater for the game, but he acknowledged that many Big 12 schools have made efforts to curb abusive fan behavior. He pointed to Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland, who once addressed the crowd mid-game to discourage negative chants toward BYU, and Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois, who issued a public apology after a similar incident in Tucson last season.
Oklahoma State president Jim Hess also weighed in, releasing a statement that emphasized the university’s commitment to respect and inclusion.
“Any behavior that targets or demeans others has no place at our university,” Hess said. “Our Cowboy Code calls us to treat others with respect and dignity, and we are reviewing what occurred and will address any violations of our standards of conduct appropriately.”
For Young, the chant hits especially hard because of what he’s trying to build-not just as a basketball coach, but as a mentor to young men from all walks of life. His team is far from homogenous.
In fact, only one regular starter-Richie Saunders-is a member of the Latter-day Saint faith. His star wing, AJ Dybantsa, who poured in 36 points in the loss, is not.
“We only have probably four or five guys who are Mormon on the team,” Young said. “I understand what we represent; but even for a guy like AJ, that stuff is unwarranted. I try to talk to our guys about being examples in the world-we can use basketball to bring people together and not tear people apart.”
That message-of unity through sport-is one Young has preached since his first day in Provo. And while he’s not naïve to the reality of hostile road environments, he’s hoping this moment becomes a catalyst for change.
“It’s something we talk about a lot,” he said. “It’s just disappointing.
I hope someone prints that. I hope it’s in bold on someone’s publication.
And maybe as a society, we can help the world move forward and not divide each other with hate and things that are really nonsensical.”
Unfortunately, this isn’t a new problem for BYU. In just the past few years, similar chants have been heard at games against Stanford, Oregon, USC, Providence, and most recently Colorado-where the university was fined $50,000 by the Big 12 after the chant was heard during a football game in Boulder.
The irony? In that game, BYU’s starting quarterback, Bear Bachmeier, was raised Catholic.
For BYU, the issue isn’t just about religion-it’s about respect. And while rivalries and trash talk are part of college sports, there’s a line. When that line is crossed repeatedly, it’s not just a BYU problem-it’s a Big 12 problem.
Commissioner Yormark said as much during the Big 12 football championship in December, promising that the league’s sportsmanship policy would be revisited in the offseason.
“We’re going to make it crystal clear,” Yormark said. “We do have a sportsmanship policy, and our schools must abide by it.
Having said all that, we are going to come together as 16 institutions following this football season and figure out how we can get better. It’s about changing behavior, and we will do that.”
For now, Young and the Cougars will turn their attention back to the court, where they’ll try to snap a three-game skid and regain their early-season form. But the off-court conversation isn’t going away.
And maybe that’s the point.