Payson senior defensive end Tyler Batty had the opportunity to play collegiate football as far west as Hawaii and as far east as New Jersey.
Instead, he decided he'll play 20 minutes up the road at BYU.
Batty announced his commitment to the Cougars as part of their 2017 recruiting class via Twitter Thursday night.
Standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 235 pounds, Batty said his decision had much to do with the BYU coaching staff.
“It’s very apparent with this season, just where they took the program, to me, the future of the program is very clear,” he said when reached by phone.
BYU was the first program to offer Batty a scholarship back in April, but he also had offers from Utah and Utah State, and was strongly considering Hawaii and Princeton.
“That’s a hard decision there," he said of not going to an academic institution like Princeton, "but I just decided BYU. It’s family; it’s hometown; it’s good football, and like I said, the coaching staff had a huge role there just because I feel like they really are good guys, and BYU is a good program.”
Batty is planning on serving an LDS mission soon after he graduates from high school.
He becomes the 17th prospect to commit to the Cougars for 2017.
Ryan McDonald is a sports reporter at DeseretNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanwmcdonald.