BYU Lands Commitment From Yoeli Childs

By Mark Kramer | Sep 14, 2015

Between injuries and players leaving for their LDS mission trips, the BYU Cougars have struggled with depth in their frontcourt in recent seasons. This has been especially frustrating for fans considering a good frontcourt would have gone a long way to supporting the spectacular play of guards Tyler Haws and Kyle Collinsworth. Last year a deep group of guards led BYU to one of the best offensive seasons in the nation, but weakness inside prevented them from taking advantage of it.

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That being said, the future is looking up for BYU in their frontcourt. Guys like Luke Worthington and Corbin Kafusi grew quickly after being forced into significant minutes, and some serious reinforcements are on the horizon. Next season, the talented Eric Mika and high-profile recruit Payton Dastrup will return from their mission trips, meaning the Cougars could have a deep group of big men just a couple years after the cupboard was mostly bare.

The players in development and the ones expected to return would be plenty for the Cougars, but they got even deeper on Saturday when Yoeli Childs decided to stay in home state of Utah when he gave his verbal commitment to the Cougars on Saturday.

"Blessed and excited to say I've committed to BYU! I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity"

Childs is a 6-foot-7 power forward out of South Jordan, Utah. He is considered one of the top players in the class of 2016 in the stat of Utah, and is ranked as a three or four star recruit by most major recruiting publications. The Cougars beat out a number of quality mid-level programs for his services including Auburn, Boise State, and Princeton.

It appears that Childs prefers to stay close to home, and he is making this decision well before the end of the early signing period in November. It will be interesting to see if Childs sticks to his commitment considering how many players the Cougars will be adding in the frontcourt. Don’t be surprised if some of the other schools that highly covet him keep calling.

Childs has been a dominant big man at the high school level being a consistent source of points and rebounds. A first team all-state selection as a junior, he averaged 16.1 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for Bingham High School. Against elite competition at the Adidas Uprising Summer Championships in July, Childs averaged 9.3 points and 9.3 rebounds.

For all the strong defensive and rebounding play coming out of the Cougars emerging frontcourt, they have lacked a strong offensive option in the post. With the crop of guards weakening due to graduations including the departure of star scorer Tyler Haws, the prospect of having an offensive threat like Childs down low who can still be a reliable defensive player and get rebounds is a very appealing prospect for the Cougars.

How he fits into the long-term plans in Provo remains to be seen. It’s a crowded frontcourt, but also one that lacks the offense Childs can bring to the table. He may need to battle to emerge from the group, but his talent gives him the potential to become an anchor who can focus on scoring while getting plenty of physical help on the glass from his fellow big men.

This is a great signing for a team on the rise that is loading up on talent to keep pace with Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference.

Next: Kentucky Wildcats Still National Title Contenders

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