Ryder Lyons’ commitment to BYU triggered a new era for Kalani Sitake and his staff as the five-star quarterback’s decision ushered in many opportunities for the Cougars, now entering their third season in the Big 12.
“Being in the Big 12 has made all the difference in the world,” said assistant head coach Jay Hill, who expressed his excitement over a big recruiting weekend in Provo that included Lyons.
Lyons made his decision after a late rush by Oregon to secure his commitment. The senior-to-be at Folsom High in El Dorado Hills, California, will begin serving a church mission in January as an early graduate from high school.
Here is Jay Drew’s analysis of the Ryder Lyons news and my inside look at how his decision went down in the early morning hours of announcement day. Jackson Payne reports on the announcement on ESPN with Pat McAfee here.
Question of the week
With the commitment of five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons to BYU, what do you believe this means for Kalani Sitake’s staff and the state of recruiting in the program?
Jay Drew: It is really hard to overstate the impact that landing five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons will have on the BYU football program, and on head coach Kalani Sitake’s growing reputation as an outstanding recruiter.
I will go ahead and say it — Lyons is the most significant recruit in BYU football history. Sure, his commitment that came Tuesday is not as big as the signing of No. 1 prep basketball recruit AJ Dybantsa. But it is bigger, in my opinion, than getting the likes of Jake Heaps, Ben Olson and Ofa Mohetau — other four- or five-star guys that didn’t pan out.
Even if Lyons doesn’t pan out, his signing with BYU in December will make a big statement for Sitake and his staff. BYU is far from being a blue blood in the college football world, but the landing of Lyons means it is certainly on the right track.
For all the talk of culture and momentum and everything else Sitake and the Cougars have going for them the past year, there’s no replacement for talent. And Lyons certainly has the talent to take BYU to even greater heights once his church mission is completed.
Dick Harmon: The Ryder Lyons commitment signaled a significant change in how young Latter-day Saint athletes view BYU, the school of their faith. This news screams: “It is cool to go to BYU again.” It hasn’t always been that way the past quarter century. This 2026 class will go down as a turning point for BYU football, taking advantage of its Power Four membership and the Big 12 badge.
To get Lyons, BYU had to be in the NIL game. It had to sell his future supporting cast. It had to significantly get better at how it handles high four- and five-star prospects. BYU was not the highest offer for Lyons. Other things mattered more. It’s important to know that Oregon offered more, but BYU still won out. Oregon has resources to outbid everyone, yet with the Lyons commitment, the Cougars still managed to net McKay Madsen and Alai Kalaniuvalu in the class of 2025, and 2026 graduates Bott Mulitalo and Brock Harris, as well as Lyons.
BYU had to up its game to get Lyons. From the time BYU went after his brother Walker (a tight end at USC) three years ago, until today, the program’s pitch is night-and-day different from how Kalani Sitake’s staff used to recruit. It helped that Tom Holmoe and Brian Santiago led an upgrade with training and nutrition programs and revealed the family love culture of Sitake. Much of that is because of what they learned they had lacked in recruiting the older sibling. His commitment ended a 22-year drought of not getting a five-star recruit.
The Ryder Lyons commitment should lead to at least two to four other huge announcements by recruits in coming days. They are ready to commit, but are waiting because they knew the Lyons news would block out the media sun.
Cougar tales
In case you missed it, NBA draft analyst Krysten Peek detailed her observations on AJ Dybantsa on ESPN 960 radio this week with Ben Criddle. Here are some of the hightlights:
Criddle: What were your overall takeaways and impressions of AJ Dybantsa?
Peek: The player BYU is getting next year is someone who, especially during the high school season, we saw get a little bored because the game wasn’t matching his talent on the court. Now at the U19 trials — where he just made the team, by the way — his game took another jump. He’ll be going straight from NBA draft coverage to Switzerland for the U19 FIBA World Cup. Even in a simple scrimmage with no NBA scouts there (just college coaches), we saw him dominate. His team went down, and he scored 11 points in two minutes, including the final six points and the game-winning bucket. It started with a four-point play — fouled on a 3, hit the free throw, they go up one. Then the other team scores, and with 1.4 seconds left, he drives left and hits the game winner.
If there’s any doubt about who will have the ball in their hands to make plays for BYU next season — it’s going to be AJ Dybantsa. He’s listed at 6-9, but when he was standing next to Mark Pope — Kentucky’s head coach and 6-10 himself—they were eye-to-eye. What people don’t talk about enough is that at 6-9, during the closed scrimmage, AJ was guarding and locking down point guards — guys who were 5-9, 5-10, college-level low-major/D-II guards. He kept them in front of him. The USA U19 team eventually ran away with it, but AJ’s defense is for real. Everyone in Provo should be excited to watch a full season of what he can do.
C: You mentioned his defense — what makes him special there? Because NBA players often don’t play D, right?
P: It’s the foot speed, the anticipation, and how well he reads body language. He’s a sniper — if he sees an opening, he’ll poke the ball away and dive on the floor. What coach doesn’t love that? Tommy Lloyd, head coach at Arizona and the coach for Team USA U19, was shaking his head all week watching AJ do things like take one dribble from half-court in transition and dunk. Just jaw-dropping stuff. Defensively, he can guard positions one through four. He’s getting stronger, so even in mismatches in the post.
C: What are expectations for this team? Obviously, they want to win gold — but where do you see them finishing? It’s going to be tough. Only two or three players have college experience, the rest are high schoolers.
P: They’re going to learn a lot very quickly. Guard play is their strength and can match up with anyone, but size and physicality will be their biggest challenge.
C: How does that experience help AJ in Big 12 play — much more physical basketball, more contact, especially with FIBA rules being more rugged?
P: AJ is so good with the ball. His heavy step is elite — probably the best I’ve seen from a young prospect. He almost put Christian Collins on skates during a scrimmage — top-3 recruit in his class. He can manipulate defenders, get bigs to step out, then blow by them. That’s a big difference from someone like Cooper Flagg, who struggled at times late in games getting shots off even off a ghost screen. AJ is more on-ball dominant, and that will help him deal with the strength and physicality of Big 12 play.
C: Let’s play a little hypothetical — if Cooper Flagg and AJ were in the same draft, who are you picking?
P: Oh, it’s tough! Cooper should actually be in AJ’s class, but he reclassified. If we had Cooper, AJ, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, Nate Ament, Mikel … that draft would be insane. If I’m the Dallas Mavericks and I’m on the clock — I’d still probably take Cooper Flagg, just based on the body of work. Ask me a year from now, after seeing AJ at BYU. I might change my answer. But Cooper was AP Player of the Year, and that matters.
C: Let’s switch gears to another BYU name: Egor Demin. The NBA draft is a few days away. What do you know about Egor, and where do you think he’s going?
P: First of all — it was so cute that BYU fans thought he might come back. That wasn’t happening! The amount of radio hits I did where fans asked if he’d stay to play with AJ … no chance. But Egor’s pro day was incredible. He looks stronger, shot the ball OK — still developing that 3-point jumper. That’s the main area NBA teams want to see growth. He tested fine at the combine— better lateral quickness than people give him credit for. He’s going to surprise people on draft night. I’ve seen him projected mid-to-late lottery all year, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see him go top-10. Look at Brooklyn at No. 8 — I could see him there. Utah Jazz could make a move, too. No team has had more scouting access than them, being just 45 minutes away.
From the archives
From X-verse
- Ryder Lyons chased by BYU since eighth grade (@jlinehan9)
- McAfee handled Lyons announcement better (@jackson5payne)
- Remarkable in-state recruit ranking (@joewheat27)
Extra points
- Local sprint champ Livingston, WR commits (Deseret News)
- What motivates Sitake’s team? (Deseret News)
- BYU commit sets another national track record (Deseret News)
Fanalysts
Comments from Deseret News readers:
Talk about putting lipstick on a pig. I can think of one or two Utah players in the NFL. I know there are many more but you just don’t hear about any of them.
Meanwhile BYU has Puka Nacua, Taysom Hill, Fred Warner, Kyle Van Noy, etc. Guys that either are at the top of the league or once were.
So I guess the article is about quantity over quality. Will be interesting to see an article like this 10 years from now.
— Orem Parent
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- Aug. 9 | 7 p.m. | women’s soccer | Utah Tech