The team has increased in size. TCU transfer Adam Stewart made his commitment to BYU on Saturday. As an emergency facility for the Horned Frogs, Stewart worked in Fort Worth for the first two years of his career.
Out of high school, Stewart first pledged to BYU as a PWO. Mark Pope, the head coach of BYU at the time, received Stewart’s commitment. Pope was in Kentucky when Stewart came back from his mission, and Stewart switched his allegiance to TCU.
From 2022 until 2024, Stewart served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg after completing high school.
During his two years at TCU, Stewart participated in only six games. During those six games, he only tried two field goals, and he made both of them. At BYU, he will be expected to play a similar role. The Cougars will continue to seek a starting center and a backup center via the transfer portal. Stewart will be listed as the third-string emergency center on the roster.
In terms of size, Stewart has an advantage over BYU. If the season began today, his 6’11 stature and 7’2 wingspan would have been the highest on the squad. At the very least, he will add some depth to a BYU period that is currently lacking in size. One of Kevin Young and his team’s objectives will be to significantly increase the size of the existing roster.
Stewart is a standout student. His TCU biography stated that he was the class of 2022’s high school valedictorian and a National Merit Scholar. At TCU, he was also pursuing a major in French pre-health occupations.
The center spot is the one that needs the most help. The Cougars still need to find a starting big man from the transfer portal or the international scene. If BYU can locate a center who is among the top players in the Big 12, the team may immediately be in a position to compete once more in the NCAA Tournament.
Additionally, BYU will have to recruit a backup center via the transfer site. After last season, all three of BYU’s bigs—Keba Keita, Xavion Staton, and Abdullah Ahmed—left for graduation or the transfer portal. Because neither Staton nor Ahmed was prepared to play the position of starting center in the Big 12, BYU was forced to look for a starting center somewhere else. After joining the portal, Staton chose Oregon State, while Ahmed is still seeking for a new place to live.
