Coach Young must be confident that he can bring better big men to BYU. That is a good thing. I like Atiki. I like his size, his jumping ability, his hustle, his feistiness. I like that he seems to like BYU. I am sorry to see him leave - from a personal viewpoint. But from a basketball viewpoint, I reluctantly acknowledge that he was not likely to be a lot of help in 2024-25 or even in 2025-26 if he were to redshirt this year.
Though his basketball ability is limited, he was all we had behind Fouss on the front line. A good team needs at least 3-4 and probably more legitimate good big men. We don't have them. Letting Atiki go before any new big men are announced seems like a huge statement that Coach Young is confident that there will be more and better guys who can play center/power forward. Fouss does his best. But he is only 6'6" and as of right now he is all we have. Big men get hurt sometimes. In 2023-24 both Fouss and Aly missed multiple games because of injuries. We need a lot more than just Fouss for 2024-25. And Fouss will be gone after 2024-25, so we need more big guys even more after that. The decision to let Atiki leave (or more likely nudge him out the door) is I hope a statement of confidence.