BYU basketball has added a local recruit. Hunter Erickson comes from Timpview High School in Provo, Utah and will help the Cougars make a run in the WCC.
Brigham Young has had some recent success recruiting in-state players. Sophomore Yoeli Childs comes from South Jordan, Utah. The three top-100 prospects that many fans felt was the best collection of talent in recent memory (Nick Emery, TJ Haws and Eric Mika) went to Lone Peak High School together in Utah.
Because of the high academic standards and affiliation with religion, many recruits are hard to add to the roster for BYU. Getting the top local talent for them and away from rival Utah is incredibly important for the team’s success.
As for their newest commit, Hunter Erickson is considered a top-five prospect in the state of Utah by 247sports, and a top-100 shooting guard nationally for the class of 2018.
The 6’3″ guard chose BYU over Utah and had other offers from western schools like UC-Santa Barbara, California, and WCC foe, Santa Clara. He’s a prototypical BYU guard who can shoot the ball and has the athleticism needed to go up against the top schools.
His commitment, while welcoming for the program, does create some logistical issues in the future for head coach Dave Rose. There currently are no seniors on this roster and four-star player Gavin Baxter will be joining the team after the conclusion of his mission next year. With so much talent returning, where is Erickson going to fit in the rotation and where will Coach Rose find minutes to play everyone?
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With almost ten players leaving BYU basketball in the past few years, expect some more changes to come in the off-season. It shows the urgency the coaching staff has for the team to have enough talent to win the WCC, having won it since arriving in 2011. Erickson will be part of those continuing changes.