Provo • A seventh high school football prospect from the class of 2020 has committed to play for BYU coach Kalani Sitake.
Josh Larsen, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound defensive end and tight end from Woods Cross High, said via his Twitter account Monday that he has committed to the Cougars.
“So excited and grateful to receive a scholarship [offer] and commit to play football at BYU!,” he tweeted. “Thank you @coachtuiaki for this opportunity.”
BYU’s defensive coordinator is Ilaisa Tuiaki, so presumably the two-sport star will play defensive end. Larsen is also a starter on Woods Cross’ basketball team.
Larsen told 247sports.com that he immediately jumped on BYU’s offer.
He told the website that he was hearing from Utah, Utah State and Weber State, but BYU was the first school to come through with an offer.
As was reported in Saturday’s Salt Lake Tribune, BYU has also received commitments from American Fork offensive lineman Bodie Schoonover, Las Vegas linebacker Dehlin Messake, Timpview defensive back Logan Pili, Corner Canyon linebacker Josh Wilson, Tooele athlete Nukuluve Helu and Washington defensive end Isaiah Perez.
No NBA Combine invite for Yoeli Childs
BYU basketball star Yoeli Childs, who announced his intentions to enter the NBA draft on March 27, the day after coach Dave Rose retired, has signed with an agent. The 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward will be represented by Keith Kreiter of Edge Sports International.
However, Childs did not receive an invitation to the NBA Draft Combine, which is May 15-19 in Chicago, according to a source. A full list is expected to be announced around May 4, but some players have already announced they have received invitations.
Childs led the West Coast Conference in scoring with a 21.1 average last season. The source said not getting a combine invite does not change Childs’ plans to turn professional at all.
Bergersen bound for Central Arkansas
One of the two BYU basketball players who entered the transfer portal last month, rising junior Rylan Bergersen announced Monday on Twitter that he is transferring to Central Arkansas. Bergersen, a 6-foot-6 guard from Boise, Idaho, told the Idaho Statesman that he will apply for a hardship waiver after Rose retired on March 26 in hopes of being immediately eligible to play for the Bears.
Bergersen averaged 15.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game as a senior at Borah High, then spent a year at Link Year, a prep school in Missouri. However, he never received much playing time at BYU, and averaged just 1.9 points in 5.8 minutes per game for the Cougars.
Point guard Jahshire Hardnett graduated from BYU on Thursday — the first college graduate in his family — and has been in the portal for several months as a graduate-transfer. However, the native of Gulfport, Miss., has not announced his next destination.
