I’m so excited for him. Corb is going to do real well and will help out the defense and the team a lot. – Bronson Kaufusi
Cougars sign guard Steven Beo to National Letter of Intent
PROVO — Another Kaufusi is going to play two sports at BYU.
The school announced Friday that Corbin Kaufusi, who has played basketball the past two seasons for the Cougars, will also join the football team this fall.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to play football at BYU,” Kaufusi said in a statement. “I’m really excited about what is happening with football. I’m looking forward to being coached by my dad and learning from him and my teammates. I’m grateful for the support of the basketball coaches as I pursue this opportunity.”
Kaufusi plans to work out with both teams during the summer and switch full-time to football — he’ll play on the defensive line — for fall camp in August. Once the football season is over, Kaufusi will play basketball for the rest of the season.
The 6-foot-10, 255-pounder from Provo is following in the footsteps of his older brother Bronson, who played basketball at BYU as a freshman and starred on the football field for four years for the Cougars. Bronson is getting ready for the National Football League draft next week.
“I’m so excited for him. Corb is going to do real well and will help out the defense and the team a lot,” Bronson told the Deseret News Friday. “He was a great high school player. Being able to play defensive end in this scheme is perfect for him. He’s tall, he’s long and he’ll continue to put on some weight. I definitely think he’ll be a force that opposing teams will have to watch out for. He’s going to be looking down on everyone on the field. At 6-8, I looked tall on the field, but he’ll look even taller. But he has length that guys just don’t have. Everyone wants that. Using that length will be key for him. He’ll be able to get to the quarterback and make a lot of plays.”
Corbin Kaufusi originally signed a National Letter of Intent to play football at BYU. But during his two-year LDS mission to South Korea, he grew a couple of inches and decided to play basketball upon his return.
Over his two seasons with the BYU basketball team, Kaufusi has played in 70 games and started 36. He’s averaged 4.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks while shooting 59.6 percent from the floor. Last season, he scored 5.7 points and grabbed 4.5 rebounds per game and shot 61.2 percent — the fourth-best single-season field goal percentage in BYU history.
“We’re excited for Corbin to have this opportunity,” coach Dave Rose said in a statement. “We’re very supportive of this decision and will look forward to having him back with us full-time when the football season is over.”
While the Cougars will miss Kaufusi’s inside presence early in the season, they will be rejoined by center Eric Mika, who returns soon from his mission to Italy.
BYU football coach Kalani Sitake is happy to add another Kaufusi to the team.
“We’re excited to welcome Corbin to the football program,” he said. “He’s a versatile athlete with great size, and we’re looking forward to seeing him develop his abilities both on the football field and the basketball court here at BYU.”
EMAIL: jeffc@deseretnews.com