In recent years, the Brigham Young University Cougars' men's basketball team has become consistently competitive. In this century, it has reached the NCAA Tournament 15 times, including each of the last three seasons, and it has gotten to the Sweet Sixteen six times, with its most recent trip there coming in 2025.
AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NBA draft, is coming off a stellar year with the Cougars. In the past, Danny Ainge was a star for them and went on to excel in the pros, where he won two championships with the Boston Celtics.
The Los Angeles Lakers have drafted a total of six players from Brigham Young University throughout their history. Here is a look at each of them.
Harold Christensen -- guard
Christensen averaged 7.7 points and 4.4 rebounds
a game in his three seasons at the school before the Lakers took him in the 12th round of the 1953 draft. He never played in the NBA.
Joe Richey -- guard
That same year, the Lakers selected Richey in the eighth round of the draft, but he also never played in the NBA. He put up 13.2 points and 6.5 rebounds a game in three years with the Cougars and ended up playing in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).
John Fairchild -- forward
Fairchild, a San Diego County native, headed to Brigham Young University for two years, where he had averages of 20.9 points and 12.8 boards a game. He was taken by the Lakers in the second round of the 1965 draft, and he appeared in 30 games with them as a rookie, averaging two points and 1.5 rebounds in 5.7 minutes a game.
In 1967, he joined the Anaheim Amigos of the American Basketball Association (ABA) and remained in that league for three seasons. While there, he registered 7.6 points and 3.5 rebounds in 15.6 minutes per game.
Karl Liimo -- forward
In three seasons with the Cougars, Liimo averaged 15.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. The Lakers snagged him in the seventh round of the 1969 draft, and although he didn't play in the NBA, he had a very successful basketball career in Finland, his native country.
Kresimir Cosic -- center
Cosic came from Croatia to spend three seasons with the Cougars, where he registered 19.2 points and 11.6 rebounds a contest. The Portland Trail Blazers took him in the 10th round of the 1972 draft, and the following year, he was taken by the Lakers in the fifth round of the draft.
Instead of playing in the NBA or ABA, Cosic went back to Europe and became an all-time great there. He won multiple league championships, as well as an Olympic gold medal in 1980, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996.
Timo Saarelainen -- forward
Saarelainen was a fifth-round draft choice by the Lakers in 1985. He averaged 19.1 points and 9.3 rebounds during his four years with the Cougars, but instead of playing in the NBA, he played pro basketball in his native Finland.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Every Brigham Young University player drafted by the Lakers
