4-star point guard Elijah Crawford signs with BYU basketball

PROVO — Kevin Young's hire of Brandon Dunseth as BYU basketball coach paid off Tuesday with the signing of four-star point guard Elijah Crawford.

The former Stanford commit visited BYU on Monday, posting photos from his official visit that the 6-foot-1, 180-pound floor general holding a belt with the word "committed" on it.

A day later, Crawford made it official, signing with his former Stanford assistant and the head coach who hired him.

"We are so excited to welcome Elijah and his family to BYU," Young said in a news release. "He's an outstanding young man who's had a great career at Brewster Academy, one of the best high school programs in the country. As one of the best point guards in his class, his ball-handling and playmaking fit perfectly into our program. We look forward to helping him grow his game in Provo."

Crawford is the sixth highest-rated recruit in BYU men's basketball history, and the second ESPN Top 100 signee under Young alongside Corner Canyon product Brody Kozlowski.

Crawford initially signed with Stanford in October, but when the Cardinal fired head coach Jerod Haase, the No. 21-ranked point guard in the Class of 2024 by Rivals.com with a 247Sports four-star composite rating eventually requested a release from his National Letter of Intent and reopened his recruitment.

He quickly heard from a number of programs, including Kansas, BYU, Wake Forest, Davidson and Louisville, according to Yahoo Sports. But the MaxPreps New Hampshire Player of the Year who averaged 13.5 points, 5.1 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game on 52.7% shooting with 48.8% 3-point shooting visited BYU on Monday.

He had a previous relationship with Dunson, the former Stanford assistant who was Young's first hire shortly after the former highest-paid NBA assistant coach was named to the top position at BYU.

And coaching relationships matter to Crawford, he told Yahoo.

"I really want the coach to believe in me," Crawford said. "I want to go somewhere that is looking for straight work. That's just how I'm wired. I want to win my spot on the floor. I have never lost a battle like that, so I just want a fair chance to compete.

"My eyes are more open now. I know if a coach is being real with me or if he isn't. I feel like that will help me this time around."

In addition to retaining players on the roster like Dallin Hall, Richie Saunders, Trevin Knell and Fousseyni Traore, Young has added a pair of four-star high school recruits in Crawford and Corner Canyon four-star forward Kozlowski. He also added former Utah big Keba Keita, the 6-foot-8 center from Mali who followed former Utah assistant Chris Burgess to Provo.

Also since Young was named head coach at BYU, Atiki Ally Atiki transferred to New Mexico, Jaxson Robinson declared for the NBA draft, Noah Waterman joined former BYU big Aly Khalifa in committing to Louisville, and former BYU signee Isaac Davis signed with Utah State.

"Isaac comes from a great program and has had a high level of success, not only in high school, but also at the grass roots level," said first-year Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun of the 6-foot-8, 240-pound big man in announcing the signing Tuesday. "He will give us some real versatility on the front line with his size, skill and athleticism."

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