After Watts's retirement following the 1972 season, the program experienced five consecutive losing seasons from 1974 through 1978 before returning to the NCAA Tournament in 1979 behind Danny Ainge and coach Frank Arnold.
BYU made it to the NCAA Final 8 with a team starring future NBA players Danny Ainge, Greg Kite and Fred Roberts.
Danny Glover | Danny DeVito | Danny Kaye | Danny Boyle | Danny Thompson | Danny Boy | Danny Elfman | Danny Dyer | Danny Bonaduce | Danny Phantom | Danny Way | Danny John-Jules | Danny Aiello | Danny Trejo | Danny MacAskill | Danny Tenaglia | Danny Rivera | Danny O'Donoghue | Danny Mills | Danny Welbeck | Danny Sheridan | Danny Howells | Danny Brocklehurst | Danny Wuerffel | Danny Tidwell | Danny Thomas | Danny Szetela | Danny Sullivan | Danny Sugerman | Danny Seward |
Following the 1981 season, the Celtics drafted Danny Ainge of BYU, who became the team's starting shooting guard after a brief career in baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays.