In one of the more intriguing football recruiting battles of the 2027 cycle, BYU and head coach Kalani Sitake beat out Michigan and head coach Kyle Whittingham and Utah State and head coach Bronco Mendenhall.
Peyton Higginson of Salem Hills High in the Spanish Fork area of Utah picked the Cougars over the Wolverines and Aggies — and their coaches with strong ties to the Beehive State — on Monday as BYU stayed hot on the recruiting trail.
“Just a place that I’m going to develop on the field and off the field at a high level,” Higginson told the Deseret News last week when asked what would be the deciding factor in his recruitment. “I want to be in a program that’s going to teach me how to be a dad, how to be a father, a husband. So that’s something that I’ve been looking for, and I feel like all these final schools are really good at that, and a place that’s going to set me up financially outside of football.”
Higginson said he will serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints beginning next February and will be available to play for the Cougars in 2029.
“I am planning on getting my (missionary assignment) sometime in the next couple of months,” he said.
A three-star recruit who had more than 20 scholarship offers before narrowing his choices to BYU, USU and Michigan, Higginson plays receiver and safety for the Eagles and will be a senior on his uncle Jeff Higginson’s squad this fall. He has an 88 rating and is listed as the No. 22 athlete in the country by Rivals.com.
“I am very excited about my decision and excited to be a Coug,” Higginson told Greg Biggins of Rivals.com. “The feeling I had the first time I was around the team was special, and it was like no other place that I visited.”
Peyton Higginson made 81 tackles and intercepted three passes last season as a safety. He also caught 40 passes for 574 yards and nine touchdowns.
He is the second cousin of former BYU defensive tackle John Nelson and former USC linebacker Porter Gustin.
“I think my versatility sets me apart,” he said. “That’s something that has enabled me to be recruited as an athlete, and not just a receiver or a safety.”
For the Cougars, Higginson’s commitment continues a nice run of momentum that began on June 27 when four-star receiver Blake Wong picked BYU over Ohio State, UCLA, Oregon and dozens of other potential suitors.
Wong committed a day after Davis High safety Bode Sparrow, another four-star prospect, chose Oklahoma over BYU. Since then, the Cougars have also gained Maple Mountain four-star edge rusher Uhila Wolfgramm and Tennessee offensive lineman Kyle Nabrotzky.
“BYU has landed some studs and I am just really grateful and honored to be a part of this recruiting class,” Higginson told Rivals.com.
Higginson is listed at 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, with a 77-inch wingspan. He’s the 13th player from the class of 2027 to commit to BYU and the third listed by most recruiting services as an “athlete,” joining Mountain Ridge’s Tytan DeJong and Jaxson Rex of San Clemente, California, the cousin of former BYU tight end Isaac Rex and current BYU running back Preston Rex.