BYU made one other main splash on the recruiting path Tuesday with the addition of five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons, who selected the Cougars over a litany of heavyweight provides from applications like Oregon, USC and Ole Miss. Lyons is the primary five-star to decide to BYU since 247Sports began score prospects in 2010 and he is the highest-rated recruit to make his pledge to the Cougars within the fashionable period. Taking in all of that context, Lyons’ dedication to BYU registers a ten out of 10 within the Dedication Impression Rating.
Lyons defined his resolution on the “Pat McAfee Present.”
“They have been the primary ones (to supply me a scholarship) in eighth grade,” Lyons mentioned. “They pulled the set off on me. They believed in me early and it is simply loopy the way it all comes full circle.”
A product of Folsom, California, Lyons took two unofficial visits to BYU in the course of the 2024 season and formally visited the Cougars the weekend of June 19. Lyons, the No. 13 prospect nationally and No. 4 quarterback, was the highest-rated uncommitted quarterback left within the 2026 class previous to his announcement.
The 6-foot-2.5 and 220-pound Lyons earned 2024 California Gatorade Participant of the 12 months honors after main Folsom to an 11-2 report as a starter whereas throwing for 3,011 yards and 46 touchdowns to simply six interceptions. He additionally rushed 118 instances for 585 yards and 14 touchdowns.
It could not take lengthy for Lyons to have an effect on BYU’s soccer workforce when he arrives on campus, in response to 247Sports’ analysis:
A pure thrower with a reside arm and understands tips on how to change speeds and throw with anticipation. Correct to all three ranges of the sector and throws the deep ball with contact and might rip fastballs in to tight home windows. Equally harmful when a play breaks down and has to improvise off-script. Elite in his potential to make a number of defenders miss and is inventive in how he should purchase time and make a throw down the sector or take off and run for plus yards. He is a troublesome child who would not shrink back from contact and can take a shot however hold within the pocket to ship the soccer. A extremely aggressive participant with a robust off the sector work ethic and attracts raves from his coaches and teammates for his management talent. Has one of many highest ceilings among the many quarterback group in his class and assuming he continues to develop, needs to be taking part in on Sunday’s for a really very long time.
BYU amassing spectacular 2026 haul
With Lyons within the fold, BYU’s 2026 recruiting class jumped from No. 46 to No. 38 within the 247Sports Group Composite Recruiting Rankings. With 14 commits already within the fold, the Cougars are on observe to have their greatest highschool signing haul since coach Kalani Sitake took over in 2016.
BYU now has three top-100 prospects dedicated, greater than every other 12 months in fashionable recruiting historical past. Lyons is joined by a pair of main in-state recruiting wins in tight finish Brock Harris (St. George, Utah) and offensive lineman Bott Mulitalo (American Fork), who each dedicated in April.
Harris, the No. 67 prospect nationally and No. 5 tight finish, selected BYU over the likes of Michigan, Georgia and Alabama whereas Mulitalo (No. 92 nationally) can be the primary top-100 offensive lineman to signal with BYU within the Sitake period. Harris and Mulitalo additionally rank because the No. 2 and No. 3 prospects within the state of Utah, respectively.
Cougars thriving in NIL period
Lyons is not the primary high-profile recruiting battle that BYU has gained in current months. The Cougars are firing on all cylinders in nearly each main sport.
In December, BYU’s males’s basketball workforce beat a litany of blue-chip applications to signal AJ Dybantsa, the No. 2 prospect nationally in 2025. Shortly after Dybantsa’s resolution, Royal Blue NIL — BYU’s NIL collective — launched a press release lauding the efforts of BYU’s alumni base.
Courtroom Report: The main points on why AJ Dybantsa selected BYU and the way a lot NIL cash the No. 1 recruit is about to make
Matt Norlander
“Because the official NIL collective of BYU Athletics, we’re glad to play a job in AJ’s NIL deal whereas he is with this system,” the assertion learn. “The collective’s efforts are certainly collective. We’re grateful for the 875 donors from greater than 30 totally different states who’ve offered assist to greater than 300 BYU student-athletes throughout 13 groups. The collective has obtained main presents from 32 alumni. We’re grateful for the unprecedented ecosystem of BYU. The entrepreneurial DNA of Cougar Nation is unmatched.”
Ryan Smith, a co-founder of Qualitrics and the proprietor of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, has been concerned together with his alma mater, although he said on social media that he had no direct hand in touchdown Dybantsa and as a substitute credited Cougars coach Kevin Younger and this system he is constructed. Younger’s 2024-25 BYU workforce later made a run to the Candy 16 spherical of the NCAA Event.
No matter who’s shopping for in, it is clear that BYU has tailored effectively to the always shifting faculty athletics panorama.