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PROVO — Recruiting never stops, but with BYU and its much-anticipated move to the Big 12, it's just getting started.
The Cougars had a busy week on the recruiting trail after formally joining the conference in all sports but men's volleyball July 1 — and not just in football.
In a span of five days, BYU picked up top recruits in cross country and track and field, men's golf, women's golf, and added another quarterback from the Class of 2024. But first, the transfer, and for BYU men's golf coach Bruce Brockbank, the one that (initially) got away.
The Cougars announced the addition of former Skyline High star, Cal transfer and 2023 Utah state amateur champion Simon Kwon Friday morning, who joins a program that was already loaded with the return of Zac Jones, Tyson Shelley, Cole Ponich, Keanu Akina and others after a 23rd-place finish at the NCAA championships.
"Simon is a great player and an equally good young man," Brockbank said in a statement. "He has proven that he can shoot good scores and win at the highest levels of golf and he will make an immediate impact for our team as soon as he steps on campus this fall."
The rising junior who will be immediately eligible averaged a 72.71 scoring average in nine events as a sophomore for the Golden Bears and gave his commitment to the Cougars shortly after shooting 77-68-145 and surviving match play in the 125th Utah state amateur, where Brockbank and BYU director of golf Todd Miller were in attendance.
Kwon, who grew up a pitching wedge from the tee box on the No. 8 hole at the Salt Lake Country Club where he won his amateur title but rarely played the course, is the grandson of Hall-of-Fame golfer Johnny Miller. His uncles, Andy and Scott Miller, also played for BYU, and Todd Miller has helped lead the Cougars to as high as a 15th-place finish at nationals while coaching the Cougars.
But after winning three Utah 6A state championships and medalist honors at the High School Golf National Invitational in 2021, Kwon signed with Cal over interest from BYU, Utah, Pepperdine, USC and Notre Dame, among others.
He was the Golden Bears' newcomer of the year in 2022, but entered the transfer portal shortly after concluding his sophomore season with eyes on a new destination.
"It's nice to get a kid you already wanted through the transfer portal," said Miller. "His performance at the Utah state amateur championship each of the last two years has been extremely impressive and it's always good to have someone on your team that feels comfortable in match play."
Kwon isn't the only high-profile recruit selecting BYU since joining its Power Five conference home, though. The BYU women's tennis program added West Virginia transfer Kendall Kovick earlier this week.
The 5-foot-1 right-hander from Las Vegas ranked as high as No. 2 nationally in the USTA Girls U18 division while prepping at Odyssey Charter High, and went on to represent the Mountaineers at first singles as a freshman in 2021-22.
Aadyn Long, golf, Lone Peak
Less than 48 hours after the formal introduction into the Big 12, women's golf head coach Carrie Roberts picked up a crucial commitment from defending 6A girls golf champion Aadyn Long, the rising junior golfer announced on Instagram.
The younger sister of BYU rising sophomore Berlin Long — who burst on the scene at 9 years old when she qualified for the national drive, chip and putt competition at Augusta National — won 6A medalist honors after shooting 4-under-par 68 at Riverbend to close out Lone Peak's repeat state championship.
Long has starred on the Utah junior golf circuit since 2019, when she won her first of back-to-back Utah Junior PGA Championship titles during summer play.
She'll also be joined at BYU by her Utah teammate at Augusta all those years ago, another Lone Peak golfer in Cooper Jones. The younger brother of BYU rising junior and 2022 state amateur champion Zac Jones has signed with the Cougars and will enroll for his freshman year before leaving to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
But the golf prodigies aren't the only new commitments to BYU.
Daniel Simmons, cross country/track and field, American Fork
American Fork cross country and track standout Daniel Simmons announced his commitment to BYU a few days after Long. The reigning New Balance Nationals outdoor two-mile champion ran a top-five all-time mark in the United States by finishing the Arcadian Invitational 3,200-meter run in 8 minutes, 34.14 seconds last June, headlining the MileSplit Class of 2024 rankings at No. 3 in the nation.
Simmons, who will be a senior this fall, is the reigning Gatorade national boys cross country runner of the year with multiple state championships in Utah since moving to American Fork after two years at Salmon High School in Idaho.
His commitment only adds to a BYU program that finished third at the NCAA Division I cross country national championships last fall and 12th and 10th at the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships, respectively, en route to Division I program of the year honors by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
American Fork's well-established pipeline to BYU track and cross country isn't a surprise; the Cavemen harriers already dotted the Cougars' lineup, including senior star Casey Clinger this past season.
But maintaining the pipeline while recruiting against the top programs in the country will only bolster a BYU program that would've been the second-highest performing program from the Big 12 at the NCAA outdoor national championships this past year, including fellow newcomers Cincinnati, Houston and UCF from the 14-team league.
Carson Su'esu'e, football, Granger
And then, of course, there's Granger quarterback Carson Su'esu'e, who became BYU's second quarterback commit (joining Arizona's Enoch Watson) on Wednesday when he announced his pledge to Kalani Sitake's program.
The 6-foot-5, 205-pound three-star athlete who moved to Salt Lake City after two years playing for De La Salle in Concord, California, chose BYU over Tennessee, Pitt, Utah and Utah State, among others.
Like Watson, Su'esu'e is also expected to serve a two-year church mission prior to enrolling in Provo — which could leave the Cougars open to taking yet another quarterback in the Class of 2024.
