New BYU basketball coach Kevin Young has made headlines around the nation…

BYU coach Kalani Sitake is in the middle of a huge football recruiting weekend, with more than a dozen top prospects in Provo to check out the program

Kevin Young, the new basketball coach at BYU, has garnered national headlines in the last two months for his recruiting success, landing three four-star prospects as well as Russian Egor Demin, a projected first-round choice in the NBA draft next summer.

Meanwhile, BYU’s football coaches have been hard at work as well, albeit in less visible ways. June has been a busy month for the Cougars — and all collegiate football schools — as they focus on members of the 2025 signing class.

That’s correct. BYU coaches have moved their focus away from building the final few pieces of the 2024 roster through the transfer portal, instead spending the last three weeks holding camps and hosting official and unofficial campus visits from some of the country’s top prospects.

Head coach Kalani Sitake told the Deseret News about three weeks ago that BYU is “casting a wider net” for recruits as it prepares for its second season in the Big 12. He stated that the gateway may only allow for one or two additional additions to the 2024 team.

The Cougars would prefer to add another top-tier defender, such as a cornerback to replace Eddie Heckard or a nose tackle to compensate for the late departure of junior college transfer Danny Saili, who is now at Arkansas.

“The amount of interest and the doors we are getting in is a lot different than it was a few years ago,” Sitake informed me. “As I have said before, being in the Big 12 has (heightened) our profile, especially among kids who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” the organization that finances and oversees BYU.

As of midday Friday, BYU had seven pledges from members of the 2025 recruiting class, but it should be noted that the Cougars have had a busy recruiting weekend, with more than a dozen prospects with BYU offers on campus for a few days since last Monday.

In general, Sitake had a group of prospects in town from Tuesday to Thursday, followed by another group that arrived Thursday and is set to leave on Sunday. Obviously, BYU hopes to secure as many commitments as possible before the calendar turns to July, but Sitake stated that it is not necessary.

“Getting the right fits — guys who really want to be at BYU and can thrive there — is the priority,” he told reporters.