Reserve forward Mihailo Boskovic brings joy, high basketball IQ to No. 9 Cougars

It is somehow fitting that the biggest play senior forward Mihailo Boskovic has made for the No. 9 BYU Cougars this season came when the 6-foot-10 reserve was standing out of bounds.

Boskovic is part of second-year coach Kevin Young’s “stay ready group” — guys that never really know how much they will play from game to game — and on the night of Dec. 9 at Madison Square Garden in New York City he was just that.

Boskovic made the in-bounds pass to Rob Wright III that enabled the Baylor transfer to hit the buzzer-beating 3-pointer that beat Clemson 67-64 in the Jimmy V Classic and completed a massive 22-point comeback win for the Cougars.

“The reason I went with him is he’s a guy I can trust,” Young said.

“I am trying to be the best version of myself, and BYU is helping me get there. That was the biggest thing for me. I saw the work that they put in here every day, individually, and in the weight room and stuff like that.”

BYU forward Mihailo Boskovic

That was also true of Boskovic’s 17 minutes in arguably his best game to date of the season, the 83-73 win at Kansas State last Saturday. With center Keba Keita and forward AJ Dybantsa in a touch of foul trouble, Boskovic came off the bench to score 9 points and grab three rebounds before fouling out.

He also appeared to have blocked a dunk attempt just before halftime, but wasn’t given credit for the basket-saving effort because KSU’s Nate Johnson lost control of the ball going up for the slam.

“That game felt very good, because I was out there and able to contribute, make some nice plays, and we ultimately won the game,” Boskovic said. “It felt great to do that, especially on the road.”

Boskovic had another nice game Wednesday as Keita was sidelined with an ankle injury, although G Leaguer Abdullah “Bido” Ahmed got the start at center. Boskovic played 15 minutes and had 3 points, two assists, two blocks and eight rebounds.

“Mihailo has been playing better for us,” Young said. “He’s got great length.”

Young said on BYUtv’s “BYU Sports Nation” program Friday that Keita will be back in action Saturday when BYU (2-0, 14-1) plays at rival Utah (0-2, 8-7) looking to keep its 11-game winning streak alive and hoping to exact revenge for a 1-point overtime loss at the Huntsman Center last January.

With the spotlight clearly on BYU’s “Big 3” of AJ Dybantsa, Richie Saunders and the aforementioned Wright, and the midseason addition of Ahmed, minutes have been tough to come by for role players such as Boskovic, but he’s determined to make the most of them when he gets them.

“Every game has its own life. There are different lineups and there are going to be different roles,” Boskovic said. “I am just trying to stay ready and do the things that I am good at, the things that the coaches want me to do.”

Boskovic said his role is to be “energetic” on the defensive end, rebound, and take open shots within the offense, including 3-pointers. He was 2 of 3 from beyond the arc at K-State.

“I’ve worked really hard to be a more consistent 3-point shooter,” he said.

Young has noticed.

“I thought what Mihailo did was extremely impressive, because his role has been a little spotty,” Young said Tuesday. “We have what we call kind of a ‘stay-ready group’ and I often reference Trey (Stewart) from last year. He was completely out of the rotation, and he earned his way onto the floor.”

Young said rotations are always a “fluid situation,” but that this year more than last year they are going to ride their main guys — the Big 3 and starters Keita and Kennard “Moo” Davis Jr.

Boskovic is averaging 11.3 minutes per game this season, after averaging 11.06 minutes last year. His scoring totals are almost identical, although this year he is shooting 48.6% from the field as opposed to 38% in 2024-25.

“I think he mistakenly defines his success on shot-making. I define his success as ball-moving and good defense,” Young said. “He’s one of our smartest defensive players. He’s big. He makes us bigger, because when he’s playing the (power forward) position, AJ is kind of the three, and we’re just big, and we can rebound. I think our length causes problems, and I think you saw that when he was out there (against K-State).

“Then in terms of his shot-making, when his feet are set and he takes open 3s, he’s a really good shooter,” Young continued. “That’s an area we trust him on. So it’s just been sort of a battle with him playing within himself, within that kind of world I just laid out. When he does that, he’s been really good for us.”

Teammates say Boskovic is one of the funniest and good-natured players on the team. He’s known for his celebrations and facial expressions — such as the open-mouthed look of awe when Dybantsa dunked in a rebound against Abilene Christian — and his practical jokes and pranks.

“Mihailo is great because he never has a bad day,” Young said.

Why Mihailo Boskovic is back at BYU

After BYU’s Sweet 16 run last year, Boskovic acknowledged that he briefly thought about going into the transfer portal in an effort to land at a place where he would get more minutes and have a bigger role in what is probably his final season of college basketball eligibility.

Why did he return?

He said there were “multiple factors,” most notably the desire to maintain some continuity and take advantage of the coaching staff that Young has assembled in Provo.

“I am trying to be the best version of myself, and BYU is helping me get there,” he said. “That was the biggest thing for me. I saw the work that they put in here every day, individually, and in the weight room and stuff like that.”

He was also dealing with an ankle injury that few people knew about last year, and needed surgery.

“It was swelling up after every game. I needed to get surgery,” he said. “I didn’t really want to have surgery here and then leave and go somewhere else.

“I feel like BYU has given a lot to me, and I wanted to (repay the loyalty),” he continued. “I did the recovery process here and a little bit back home (for a month last summer). So yeah, those were the biggest three things that ultimately factored into me staying here.”