Now he can be called a Cougar.
Haws, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, orally committed to BYU on Wednesday, ending a heated and nationwide recruiting battle for a player that several recruiting services say is one of the top 100 prospects in the country.
A few weeks ago, Haws narrowed his choices to BYU and Stanford, and his father said it was "50-50" as to which direction his son would go. Marty Haws played point guard for BYU from 1986-1990 and earned all-conference honors several times.
Marty Haws said his son called Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins to inform him of the decision shortly after giving BYU coach Dave Rose the pledge.
Tyler Haws met with Rose in Rose's office at the Marriott Center on Wednesday afternoon and gave the commitment. He will sign a national letter of intent with BYU when the early signing period begins in November.
Before narrowing it to BYU and Stanford, Haws had scheduled visits to Utah, Davidson and Harvard. He carries a 3.99 grade point average.
"He's a once-every-20-years type kid," Lone Peak coach Quincy Lewis said recently. "He's a winner, first and foremost."
The Knights are 47-3 with Haws in the starting lineup, and one of those losses was by nine points to the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.
Haws led Lone Peak to the last two Class 5A state basketball championships, and was named 5A boys basketball MVP by The Salt Lake Tribune both times. He averaged 18.8 points per game as a sophomore, and 20.8 ppg as a junior. He also averaged 4.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game last season.
He was the 2008 Utah Gatorade Player of the Year, and in June was one of 100 rising seniors in the country to be invited to the prestigious NBA Players Association Camp in Virginia.
Landing Haws is huge for Rose and BYU's basketball program, which is also in the running for one of the state's other top players, Provo post Brandon Davies. Coincidentally, the 6-foot-9 Davies is visiting Gonzaga this weekend, and has offers from Utah State, Cal and Santa Clara, along with BYU and Utah.
