Is this well-named freshman the answer to BYU’s uncertainty at wide receiver?

BYU receivers coach and passing game coordinator Fesi Sitake has a son whose middle name is Legend.

That son now wants to be called by his middle name.

Why?

Because there’s a newcomer to the football team, a freshman receiver, named Legend Glasker who just might be the next big thing in Provo. Glasker, a three-star recruit (247Sports) who graduated from nearby Lehi High last December so he could enroll early at BYU, was one of the breakout stars in spring camp and has picked up where he left off this month in preseason training camp.

Sitake said Monday that Glasker has “solidified his spot” with the first-team offense, along with Oregon transfer Kyler Kasper and Jojo Phillips, the redshirt junior who has shown flashes of brilliance but a lack of consistency, partly due to injury, in three seasons in the program.

“I didn’t anticipate that (sudden rise to potential starter), just because it doesn’t happen a lot,” Sitake said. “So it’s a credit to him how he’s picked up our playbook, and how smart he is. It’s a credit to his work ethic. I mean, he’s not just a talented kid. He’s so much more.”

Glasker’s grandfather, the late Julius Glasker, and BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker’s father, Stephen, are brothers. Sitake said athleticism and a strong work ethic runs throughout the family.

“Legend is gonna be the last one (to leave practice) a lot of times. During the summer, he was just constantly getting guys together to work,” Sitake said. “He’s got the full package. He’s a great kid, and he’s humble. So when you do all those things right, that’s one of those outlier situations where you see a kid that can come and play right away. So I’m fired up for him.”

After practices, BYU’s social media team produces a two-plus-minute highlights video, and Legend Glasker has already made it on there several times this month, including one catch where he beat All-America cornerback Evan Johnson for a ball.

After he caught a fairly deep ball from Bear Bachmeier on Monday, Glasker said months and months of work have got him to this point, but declined to acknowledge that he was the unquestioned star of the first week of training camp.

“I feel like my preparation and all the help from my coaches, and everybody around me, has gotten me ready for this,” he said. “They’ve helped me with the things I need to work on every day, and that and just being in the film room every day has helped. So to me, it’s not too crazy to believe that I could go out there and succeed on the field.”

How did he get his unique first name?

The first thing everybody wants to know when they meet Legend Glasker is how he got his unique and pressure-inducing first name. Turns out, when his mother, Justina, was pregnant, his father, Ervin, had already decided that the baby would be named Legend, regardless of whether it was a boy or a girl.

“Yeah, I love my name,” Glasker told the Deseret News on Monday. “Actually, when I was a kid I low-key didn’t like it because I didn’t really know the true meaning of it. But as I got older, it was good and yeah, shoutout to my dad. … I was gonna be Legend regardless.”

He’s got a good start to making his father’s premonition come true, Sitake said.

“Yeah, he’s got to be good,” Sitake said. “I (also) have a son named Legend, but it’s his middle name because I didn’t want to set the bar high like that for him. … Now that my son knows about (Glasker), he came to us and said, ‘Hey, Mom and Dad, can I make my middle name my first name?’”

What else can Legend Glasker do?

Glasker will wear No. 1 and hopes, he said, “to just contribute any way I can” to a much-questioned receivers room that also includes sophomore Tei Nacua, senior Tiger Bachmeier, sophomore Reggie Frischknecht and a redshirt freshman who is probably not getting enough media attention, American Fork’s Trey Roberts (brother of Chase Roberts).

“We have a lot of lengthy guys that can stretch the field at all angles. You got Kyler, JoJo, Reggie, Tei, Jaron Pula (another true freshman).

“All those guys are fast and can get behind the defense like same way I can. I feel like we all have like similar skill sets, just different body types,” he continued. “So I feel like I could be the deep threat and probably take a slant (pass) for 80. … I feel like we can all stretch the field pretty well.”

Glasker is also being looked at by special teams coordinator Justin Ena as a kickoff and punt returner, although right now Tiger Bachmeier is probably going to be the primary kick returner and cornerback Cannon DeVries the primary punt returner.

“I am second- or third-string on both, somewhere around there,” Glasker said.

Was the former Lehi star overlooked?

Glasker caught 37 passes for 781 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior before committing to BYU in the summer of 2025. As a senior, he caught 37 passes for 676 yards and nine touchdowns and had 11 carries for 206 yards.

At a skills camp during his junior year, he ran a 4.42-second time in the 40-yard dash and now believes he can run something in the 4.3 range, having worked with Dr. Skyler Mayne, director of high performance for BYU football.

Cal and Utah were his only other power conference offers.

He said the big reason why he committed to BYU early and stuck with that pledge was the desire to follow in Isaiah Glasker’s footsteps, and his love for BYU’s coaching staff.

“Coach Fesi is just so smart, and he knows how to use his receivers so well,” Glasker said. “I feel like me stepping into this role was a blessing, and I am so happy that (Fesi Sitake) has so much trust in me and lets me be good at what I do.”

For his part, Sitake remembers “scratching my head” in disbelief over the fact that more P4 schools weren’t recruiting Glasker.

“I’m like, gosh, is there something that I don’t know about him?” Sitake said. “… I had a great relationship with him. Once I realized there was nothing (to be worried about), that he was just kind of overlooked, I just wanted to keep him close.

“And we did a good job at just showing him love no matter what other people were thinking of him,” Sitake continued. “And then the day came where he just wanted to lock it up. He canceled all his visits, and said, ‘This is where I want to be.’ I was ecstatic. I really was, because I think he’s a special talent.”

First touchdown celebration in the works

Away from football, Legend Glasker is a huge fan of the music of Michael Jackson. Naturally, his first touchdown celebration, whenever that comes, will pay tribute to the legendary musician — perhaps a moonwalk or the like.

His hobbies include “pretty much everything” and he describes himself as “pretty outgoing” at times and then says, “I can be shy, too, sometimes.”

He said during spring ball he was “a little timid and didn’t really talk that much” because he was focused on learning the offense. Now that he’s earned the trust of coaches and teammates, he’s letting his personality show a bit more.

“I have so much confidence in the team, and all the coaches have built that into me, to just be great,” he said. “I feel like I have way more swagger to me in fall camp than in spring ball.”

Making the highlight reel every day probably contributes to that.