What Jake Retzlaff said on ESPN about Egor Demin and BYU basketball

Add Jake Retzlaff to the ever-growing list of Egor Demin fans.
BYU’s star quarterback couldn’t stop complimenting the Cougars’ freshman basketball phenom during an interview on ESPN’s SportsCenter Wednesday night.
“Good luck to everybody else, that guy is awesome to watch, so fun,” Retzlaff said of Demin, before raving over Kanon Catchings, Dallin Hall and Richie Saunders.
Retzlaff added, “I was at the game last week when Egor was tearing it up in his debut, and to believe that he’s 18 or 19 years old is unreal, because he’s just so good at basketball.”
“He’s so fun to watch, he’s going to have more than a few triple-doubles this year in college ball, and as anybody knows, that’s pretty insane.”
Retzlaff was indeed one of the nearly 17,000 fans in attendance at the Marriott Center to witness Demin’s electric 18-point, 11-assist debut on Nov. 5.
The BYU quarterback was shown on the video board late in the second half, garnering a rousing ovation.
As much he enjoys watching hoops himself, Retzlaff has loved seeing Cougar basketball players at LaVell Edwards Stadium this season to catch a glimpse of BYU’s undefeated football action.
“It’s super fun to get to interact with those guys and watch them do their thing, and then seeing them at our games in the front row, it’s so fun,” Retzlaff told ESPN. “The basketball team is going to be so good this year, it’s so fun to watch them.”
While the gridiron Cougars are 9-0 and ranked No. 6 in the College Football Playoff poll — with Retzlaff’s 22 total touchdowns a major reason why — the gutsy QB still plans to maintain the same focus down the stretch and into the postseason that has brought BYU so much success thus far in 2024.
“I hope (this season) ends on top of the world of course, but that’s not the mindset that gets you there,” Retzlaff said. “That’s the cool part about this team, we’ve got the mindset of just getting the grind in day in and day out, embracing the grind. We’ve got Super Bowl 10 coming up, because every week is the biggest week of the season. You can’t look ahead, you can’t look behind, it’s about what’s in front of you. That’s the mindset that’s gotten this team where we’re at, so we’re super excited to continue this stretch.”