Speaker 1: You're listening to Cougar Sports with Ben Kretel, and it's
time for a crew the Cougar's and inside look at
the latest news on the recruiting trails surrounding Cougar athletics.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to your sports one of Green nine ninety
eight points ref.
Speaker 3: Ben the Man.
Speaker 4: I've been little broadcasting from our.
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Speaker 2: And we're going to get into a little alleged football
little recruiting segment here. Ryder lions is live right now
on his Instagram fet. He may be committing, maybe signing,
he's already committed. He may be signing with the BYU
Cougar's had to work a few things out earlier today.
We'll see how it plays out here momentarily on the
Instagram live. But let's get out to the hotline. Welcome
in Brandon Huffman of two four seven Sports to tell
us a little bit about what's cooking with the Cougars
in the recruiting order.
Speaker 4: Brent, And how the heck are you, buddy?
Speaker 5: Hey, I am doing great.
Speaker 3: It would be nice if we get this announcement from
jameson pal here because it's kind of a lot of
thing I'm waiting for on.
Speaker 5: This crazy day. Oh and there's also the Rider Liones
news chack.
Speaker 2: It yeah, I mean, any surprises, any flips, anything that
kind of has occurred today that you were taken back by.
Speaker 3: Well, the big one is Henry is the top receiver
in California. You know, his teammate Kid and Dixon, why
he was committed Ohio State flipped to USC this morning.
And then Chris Tendu was on his way to school
when he got the news about Brian Hartline. So he
is not yet signed anywhere. Oregon is making a push,
USC's making a push, Texas is getting involved Ohio States.
You know, he's been committed for two and a half years,
trying to get him back in the full So that's
been kind of the big one so far today.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he have a prognostication on where he could end up.
Is it going to go to the highest bidder type
of deal. It sounds like he was pretty connected to
heart Line there at Ohio State. Now with hardline head
the USF, he's got to find a new home.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think he's going to USF. Sorry, bullstand.
I know you're probably a little excited thinking that by
the possibility that ain't happening. From the sounds of it,
it's going to likely the Oregon us He is making
a push right now. I think that Oregon has in
the school that has been involved the most in trying
to flip him for the last couple of weeks and
nearly for the last couple of years, if we're really
being honest and so, I think that the dust could
end up being even with will Stein leave and I
think that could end up being the ultimate destination for him.
Speaker 4: Why isn't Byu in on the mix.
Speaker 2: Doesn't he have some connectivity here locally, somehow, some way.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's Paulynesian, have Polynesian. I think he's got family
ties into Utah. You know, it's funny this morning that
the school that I was hearing that was the wild
card was actually West Virginia. You know, his dad played
for rich Rodriguez at West Virginia. But you know in
West Virginia had a home of close today. But I
don't think that's going to happen. I think it's going
to eat to be Oregon or USC, which has been
you know, rumored for months that those are the two
schools that had the best chance of getting him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, let's hope he finds a home. I'm sure
he will. He's one of the highest prospects, highest rated
prospects in the country, so Rider Lyons. I don't know
if we've heard official news. I don't know if we
have any breaking news, Ronald. I'll try to keep an
eye on this stuff later. Signing. It looks like I
think we just had got off the phone with Will
Snowden looks like things.
Speaker 4: Have been worked out.
Speaker 2: I think he should be signing with the Cougars if
he does. How good of a get is it for BYU?
Speaker 3: Well, it'd be a significant because now you know, with
the emergence of Bear Bachmeyer, it gives them a quarterback
that can take over the reins in two thousand and whatever.
That would be twenty twenty eight. Rader would come in
twenty twenty seven. Now you've got a year to get
him back acclimated. It again, you got Bart going into
his junior year, and you've got that bridge before Bear
goes on to the NFL. If that's the calendar that
we're looking at. But obviously he would be a significant
get for BYU from a procession standpoint going into California,
you know, beating Oregon, beating USC, beating Lane Kiff in
an all myth, and then in the last couple of weeks,
you know the transpiring of Lan Kipp and going to LSU,
And I know that LSU has been trying in the
eleventh hour now that Miami has been in contact and
trying to get him, and I know Oregon never relented
even with will Stein Leavin. Now like with Chris Henry.
I don't think he's going to West Virginia. I don't
think there's any chance that Riderlands goes to Kentucky. So
it's a big one because it's not just the challenge
that you got, but it's the player, the teams you
beat to get him.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's a special class for by. Is this
the best class in recruited class in BA football history?
Speaker 3: You know, I was looking and trying this thing from
a rating standpoint. It's going to be one of their
higher rated classes ever. But I got to think back
to maybe the twenty ten class the Jake.
Speaker 5: Keeps Ross Apo.
Speaker 3: Was that Alani Fua zach Stout type of twenty ten
class where they were, you know, really doing well in
cooking under Bronco. To have a class that's got the
national caliber recruits that they beat so many elite schools
had to head.
Speaker 4: For, yeah, that was I'm looking.
Speaker 2: I'm looking at the composite ranking on the website and
that ended up being I think thirty third in the
country at least what I have in front of me.
I don't know if it's an accurate depiction, but I
mean it's right there.
Speaker 4: Man. This this this crew.
Speaker 2: If everyone's retained right, you never know what can happen.
You never know what can happen. But man, it feels
like this is a kind of a pivotal shift for
b What we thought this shift was happening in twenty ten,
but then BAA was essentially forced an independence and they
didn't get the call up to the P five ranks,
and it was just a different time, different places. They
had to go into independence and wander the wilderness for
you know, almost most thirteen years. But now it seems
like this is the time, this is the place, this
is the change, This is momentum that's really creating some
positive momentum in Cougar Country.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you know, if you look at the
timing of really you go back to last fall when
scenes really turned around on the field. There was that
obviously really tough twenty twenty three season as they're getting
adjusted to the Big twelve events, twenty fourth season happened,
and it seems like, you know, ever since then with it,
whether it was the ballgame in San Antonio, the you know,
obviously there was a dip with Jake Grisloff and then
you get a Bear Bockmeier out of it, and it's
like things have been just cooking for BYU for the
last play fifteen to sixteen months. And I think that,
you know, this is going to sound weird, because I
would imagine that the last seventy two hours ninety six
hours have been some nashing his teenth and some freaking out.
It's Kilana going to go to Penn State. And you
know how many times we heard Plani's name mentioned, and
you all know that the culture he's built there, we
always hear his name mentioned, but you never think he's
going to leave, and this maybe looked like it was
the closest he's ever to leave in that should tell
you what kind of demand that he has as a coach.
And I think the response from the fan base kind
of shows like, hey, you know what, Bilani has this
thing exactly where we want it to be, and he's
catapulting him to even be further than BYU probably thought
that they could be after that.
Speaker 5: Twenty three season.
Speaker 3: And so the momentum continues to build and it's trickling
down into the recruiting ranking, just thing down into the
recruiting class, and I think that that you know, you
can't have a better ninety six hours, even though it's
stressful at the beginning.
Speaker 5: Of the week.
Speaker 3: I think with him doubling down, sticking with BYU and
now writer with a talk that maybe he wasn't going
to sign to now signing today, you know there could
still be some late drama here with BYU with a
couple other players. You know, this is the kind of
stuff that if you're a BUYU fan, this week has
been a roller coaster, but you are exhilarated with the
results of it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I do.
Speaker 2: We do have some I guess breaking news. Rider lines
are signed. Who's l OI to b YU and so
he's a BYU Cougar. Big news for this BYU Cougar
football team. As far as quarterbacks are concerned, right, you
mentioned Jake Keeps, he was a big time recruit at
that time. You look at some of the other commits
that boy has received in the quarterback room since kind
of the inception of two four seven and and the
recruiting rankings. Where does Ryder rank out amongst the best
quarterbacks that have signed with BYU.
Speaker 3: Well, I mean from a ranking standpoint, obviously, Jay Keith
was the highest rated guy five star at the time.
I was at scott dot Com. We had him as
the number one quarterback in the country in that twenty
ten class. From a overall talent standpoint, I mean Rogers
got to be there in that top two or three
based on what they were in high school. I mean
I wasn't I was four whatever when Robbie Bosco and
Steve Young signed or Jim McMahon signed. So I'm not
even going to try to football is different back then anyway,
But I think, you know.
Speaker 5: This has got to be.
Speaker 3: In the social media era, this may be their most
significant signing period, no matter what position it is on
the football field. You know, Twitter wasn't as big in
twenty ten as it is now. But I mean, Rider
Lion is also a brand. Jake Keath is a quarterback,
very talented quarterback. Obviously things didn't work out like he
had hoped, but Ryder Lions is a brand. And I
think that from a perception standpoint too, You're getting a
guy who is being off the field, and that doesn't
even get into discussion of how good he is on
the field. Got a chance to win second state championship
as a starter at Fullsome. They got a regional championship
game this weekend and then if they win that they
played for the state title in two weeks. You know,
he's been selected to play in the Under Arming Game,
the Navy All American Ball, the Polynesian Boll. I mean,
he's has decorated a player period that BYU has been
able to get in recent years, and that you know
is pretty significant too in an era where it is
about branding just as much as it's about the ability
on the field.
Speaker 2: Ryder Lyons is an interesting study, you know.
Speaker 4: BYU fans.
Speaker 2: You know, we've talked many times with the years, we
have a bit of a persecution.
Speaker 4: Complex, right.
Speaker 2: We feel like the ratings go down for our prospects
once they commit to BYU. You've heard it, Tom and
Tom again, Brandon. They feel like Ryder Lions should be
a five star. Why isn't he a five star? Huffman?
Why is he only a four star? Are composite on
the brink of a five star rating?
Speaker 3: Let me ask you this, Ben, I haven't heard any
of the questions of like, oh, Adam Bywater moved up
to a four star. Oh no, Petty Mlwaala moved up
to a four star. We only people only complain about
the player who dropped. They never acknowledged that it's a
ranking sucked and they must suck that we rated a
bunch of guys hired than where they are to begin with.
Speaker 5: So there's my answer.
Speaker 3: We'll talk about that as soon as people give us
the flowers. On those players who saw their ratings bump.
Speaker 2: Up, It's very true. No, a number of players got
their ratings bump up. Look, your your your team, your crew,
you yourself. You got eyes on these guys, especially late
in the season. You did in person evals and you
elevated certain players you got eyes on.
Speaker 4: And look, you guys have shown you guys are the most.
Speaker 2: Credible uh credible in uh uh you know platform in
the industry as it pertains to this, and you're way
more right than you've ever been wrong.
Speaker 4: So I think you got to trust the process.
Speaker 2: If you're a BYU fan and say, hey, this is
the rating, this is what it is.
Speaker 4: Take it or leave it.
Speaker 2: Take it or leave it now it's up to ride
or to say, hey, I was a five star and
go out and get go go out and get his flowers.
Maybe put a little chip on his should because he
didn't get that five star.
Speaker 3: For sure, and I mean he's still considered one of
the top half dozen quarterbacks in the class. He's still
projected at worth a second round draft pick. Which when
was the last time b YU had a first round
draft pick quarterback not named Zach Wilson? And what was
he when he came out of high school? He outplayed
his ranking, So you know, you got to trust if
you're byu. Hey, our coaches turned a three star into
the number two or three taken the draft, and now
we've got an elite quarterback that if our coaches developed
like they did with previous quarterbacks, then we're gonna have
that first round quarterback again. So I think again, yes,
the quarterbacks are the ones that draw the attention, They
draw all the eyeballs. But I think that the bigger
story here is getting in on a ty Getchee when
he was starting to see his recruitment blow up, and
then washing him become a four star Jack Stanner, who's
a composite four star as Paul is ready alignment, and
now they got a wait two years. You know, I
talked to a coach that I know in the state
of Idaho who has been going up against him for
three years. He said, do one of the happiest days
my life was tight was Jack Stanners senior night because
I'm sick of having to try to defend him or
try to have to, you know, get my defensive players
to go against him, you know, and a little Petti Mawala.
I mean, I think it was on this show a
couple of weeks ago where I said that the best player,
best defensive player I've seen this season across six states
and that includes you know, going to California, going to Washington, Idaho, Utah, Colorado,
and Arizona. Lopetti Mawala is the best defensive player that
I saw and the jump that he made, So you know,
we could bemoan what Riders done. But I think get
the few i U stuff some credit for some really
good Ben Ben Bodywater. Sorry, Sorry Ben, Sorry Adam. You know,
the younger brothers never want to be called their big
brother's name. I mean, that's the thing that I'd be
really excited about. And then we haven't even talked about
the best player in this class, not name writer in Bob,
who was an elite defensive lineman. They flipped him from
Oregon and Oregon doesn't lose a lot of recruits that
they get early on and Bot, you know, wants to
be an offensive lineman. He goes out wins the MVP.
Speaker 5: At the under Hummer camp.
Speaker 3: I mean this class, if you're a DYU fan, you
could look at this twenty twenty sixth class as being
one of the most you know, satisfying classes because in
an era where some guys nail it in as a senior,
you saw three or four guys that they just raised
their game to another level this year, and you had
to be jack. If you're a YU.
Speaker 2: Fan, Yeah, this is a fantastic class. I always always
ask it, who's the most underrated in this class? Would
you say, Brandon Houffin, you got Bot, you got Brock, Harris,
Adam Bywater, Tigetchi Lapetti, Mawala, Jacks Tanner, Terrence Serian Brexton,
Lindsay Kaboacana Legend, Glasger, Matthew Mason, Graham, Livingston Parker, ord
Cepaniah A Latini, Antonio Johnson, Neamiah Cologne, Justice Braithwaite, and
Devon Ecka.
Speaker 4: Now writer lines.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna say Sef and I a Latini. I'm a
big stand of Seth and Iah. You know that league
that he plays in, the West Castle Athletic League, is
the best league in northern California. He's been a stalwart
for an outstanding Saint Francis team the last couple of years.
I think that, you know, he's a player that just
doesn't get a lot of attention.
Speaker 5: He's hurt a little bit in.
Speaker 3: The offseason, hasn't been able to do a lot of
the offseason camp. But I think he's going to end
up being a very valuable player, whether it's the safety,
whether he ends up moving up into the box.
Speaker 5: I love the way Seth and Ia plays.
Speaker 4: Love that breakdown.
Speaker 2: Brandon Huffman here on ESPN the Fan talking BYU's recruiting class,
their signing class for the twenty twenty six crew, the
Cougar Crew of twenty twenty six. Pretty pretty impressive work
that Kilane in his half of put Together. You look
at the momentum, You look at the recruiting rankings here
by US right now, eleven and one they have. They're
coming off an eleven and two season, their their third year.
Speaker 4: In the Big twelve.
Speaker 2: You know their average recruiting ranking under Kolone I wouldn't
say it's been overly impressive, right, but you're seeing would
you say that like b YU overachieves under Kilanne versus
their recruiting ranking year over year, and if so, like
by how much?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I mean it's funny because you look at the schools
that consistently are competing for national championship, they're using the
ones that are you know, kicking above their their weight class.
We're punching at their weight class from a recruiting standpoint.
And I think that you know, Kilani has done a
fantastic job of really in this. I don't want this
to sound as a flight because there's some very content
players that were highly talented coming out of high school
that had been really.
Speaker 5: Good at BYU.
Speaker 3: But he really did a good job of finding fits
for the programs, cultural fits, and then development. The player
development there is as good as you're going to see
in the Western United States. And I think that that's
what he's done is he may not in previous year
has not had the flashiest class, but those guys really
fit what BYU was looking for and what BYU was
really trying to do. And I think the coaching.
Speaker 5: And the development and the other.
Speaker 3: Big thing is the consistency in that staff. There's such
little turnover with that staff in comparison to so many
other schools that that there's something to be said about
that those guys know that that same voice they're going
to hear for three or four years on one side
of the ball or at one position group. That guy
that was there as a freshman, that was sitting in
their living room when they were in high school, he's
going to be there when they're senior. Maybe when they
come back to their mission, he's there still. And I
think that that's that goes back to culture, and that's
why Penn State, I think, was so interested in hiring
colonies because they have that culture. And then there is
the player development, whereas you know, maybe Penn State didn't
get that kind of development from their coach who did
have recruiting classes. Maybe they were looking for something a
little bit opposite that that kind of run the most
talent he could out of that rag. And I think
that's what Kolani does is he does such a good
job at evaluation and then developing that it looks like
consistently they're out playing what their ranking is.
Speaker 2: So my question is this, now that they're ranking, if
they get into this mode right where they're overachieving on
the football field and they're obtaining top twenty talent year
in year out, let's say top twenty, top thirty talent
year in the route. What's the potential for them as
a college football playoff contender? Do you think they can
obtain enough talent develop enough talent to compete and win.
Speaker 4: In the college football playoff?
Speaker 3: I mean, they were what a couple turnovers early on
a year ago from playing for the Big Twelve title
and potentially being in the playoffs, and we're seventy two
hours away from seeing if they're going to be, you know,
getting a playoff home game if they knock off Texas text.
So I think that, you know, the momentum has already
been building and now it's okay, you're getting the players.
You're doing this with good players. When people were questioning
is Kwani the right man for the job? Those guys
that maybe when they were scuffling in the first year
of the Big Twelve are now the reason that they
have a chance to play on Saturday for a chance
of going to the playoffs. And you know, what are
they going to do when they get better talent coming
out of high school with the ability to develop that
they've been showing. I don't think there's any any way
to think otherwise that DYU is going to be a
top three program in the Big twelve for the foreseeable future.
Speaker 2: Love the breakdown, Brandon, always love talking ball with you.
What a great recruiting class for Kilani and his crew.
Hopefully Klinie can keep all the coaching staff together for
another run next season and they can continue this momentum.
But pretty tremendous to see what they've accomplished over the
last few years. Best way to support you, huff and
what you do, how you do it For all of our.
Speaker 3: Listeners, Hey, twenty four to seven Sports is where to go.
You can find all my content there on twenty four
seven Sports, go to Cougar Sports Insider at on the
twenty four to seven network the YU side, but at
Twitter at Brandon Huffman or I guess x whatever we
call on in you know, there still might be some
more recruiting stuff going on these next couple of days
to keep an eye on.
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, I was wondering is it flip season possibly?
Speaker 5: Can we see some any guys?
Speaker 3: There is buzz that there might be some flipping in
the future.
Speaker 4: Here, flip season, let's go.
Speaker 2: You said forty eight hours, seventy two hours, what are
we looking at?
Speaker 3: So let's see, seventy two hours is when the big
twelve championship games be done. Forty eight hours in the
signing period, and so let's say the next seventy two hours.
Speaker 4: Let's go.
Speaker 2: All right, Huffman, we appreciate you. That's why you guys
got just gotta follow Huffman brand. Huffant is great work,
and you gotta subscribe to two four seven. I've been
a part of the two four seven subscribers for a
very long time. I say, take my money and give
me all the insight, and they do it, and it's
always worth it.
Speaker 4: Thanks so muchf Man. We appreciate you any time.
Speaker 5: I appreciate it.
Speaker 4: Much love to.
Speaker 2: You and your crew there at twenty four seven Sports. Guys,
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Speaker 4: So there you have a nation. What a great segment.
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