This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
BYU basketball coaches this November will sign a group of rising high school seniors that ESPN.com's experts say is the sixth-best signing class in the nation. Now they are seeing to it that the 2014 class (this year's juniors) isn't far behind. As The Tribune's Kyle Goon reported in this piece, BYU coaches on Friday night received a commitment from Orem High star Dalton Nixon, a 6-foot-7 forward who was the Class 4A MVP last spring after leading the Tigers to the state championship. Nixon averaged 12.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore, then exploded onto the AAU Summer Circuit while playing for Utah Pump-N-Run and Utah Hoops. Nixon is the second member of the Class of 2014 to pledge to BYU, joining Lone Peak's T.J. Haws — brother of current Cougar sophomore Tyler Haws. Nixon, of course, is the son of former BYU star Kevin Nixon. He had offers from Utah, Utah State, San Francisco, North Dakota. He visited Creighton, which was showing a lot of interest. Nixon will play for the Cougars in 2014-15 before leaving on a two-year church mission. BYU coaches have offered two other rising juniors: Payton Dastrup of Mesa, Ariz., and Brekkot Chapman of Roy High. Nixon and Chapman are very close friends. In November, BYU expects to sign Lone Peak's Nick Emery (Jackson's brother) and Eric Mika, Braiden Shaw of Eagle, Idaho, and Jakob Hartsock of Bartlesville, Okla. (Noah's brother). Of course, the Cougars have offers out to top national prospect Jabari Parker of Chicago and Luke Worthington of Mequon, Wisc.).