The BYU men’s basketball team has landed a former four-star recruit through the transfer portal.

Jaxson Robinson, a 6-foot-6 guard from Ada, Okla., has committed to play for Mark Pope and the Cougars, according to reports.

Robinson played last year in the SEC with Arkansas, participating in 16 games with four starts on a squad the reached the Elite 8. In his limited play, Robinson scored 3.4 points per game and shot 33 percent from the 3-point line. He played his freshman season at Texas A&M, appearing in 14 of 18 games with four starts. Robinson averaged 2.1 points per game.

At Ada High School, Robinson averaged 15.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists his junior year and left school early to reclassify in the Class of 2020. He was a Top 100 and four-star recruit who entertained offers from Texas A&M, Auburn, Houston, Arkansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Texas Tech, among others.

Robinson will need a waiver to play immediately since he transferred after the May 1 deadline but should have three years of eligibility remaining.

Robinson joins former Coastal Carolina guard Rudi Williams as a transfer portal pickup for BYU, which also adds returned missionary freshmen Dallin Hall, Tanner Toolson, Richie Saunders and Tanner Hayhurst as well as true freshman Braeden Moore to the roster.

Wayment, Riner earn USTFCCCA awards

NEW ORLEANS — BYU women’s track and field athletes Courtney Wayment and Ashton Riner were named the Mountain Region Track and Field Athletes of the Year, the USTFCCCA announced Thursday.

Wayment took home the 3000-meter steeplechase title at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships last week, closing out her BYU career with a third individual national title, and fourth national title overall.

Also named the Mountain Region Track Athlete of the Year at the end of this year’s indoor season, where she won the 5000-meters in Birmingham, Ala., Wayment ran away with the steeplechase title, clocking a personal best 9:16.00, surpassing her previous school record by 7.09 seconds.

Her time also broke the collegiate and meet record, previously set by New Mexico’s Courtney Frerichs in 2016, by 8.41 seconds. The senior from Layton came into the meet with the No. 1 time in the nation, and left no doubt at Hayward on Saturday with her dominating performance in the event.

Since the USTFCCCA began its regional awards in 2006-07, no BYU athlete has been named Mountain Region Athlete of the Year more than once. Wayment was also awarded the honor after the 2021 indoor season, where she won an individual title in the 3000-meters, making her a three-time Mountain Region Track Athlete of the Year with a clean sweep this season.

Also heading into Eugene as the No. 1 seed after breaking her own school record earlier in the season, Riner won the javelin title at the Outdoor Championships by just under two feet, becoming the first Cougar to win a women’s field title since Anna Mosdell’s discus championship in 1992.

The junior from Connell, Wash. took an early lead in the event, launching a 58.24m/191-1 opening mark, one that no other thrower would be able to touch last Thursday night.

With the win, Riner became the first BYU field athlete, men’s or women’s, to win an individual national title since her coach, Niklas Arrehnius did so in 2007. Arrhenius was also the last BYU field athlete to win an outdoor Mountain Region Athlete of the Year award.

Bowen joins Cougar women’s soccer staff

PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s soccer head coach Jennifer Rockwood has announced that former Cougar Elisabeth (Bizzy) Bowen has joined the staff as a volunteer assistant coach.

“We are really looking forward to Bizzy joining our staff,” said Rockwood. “She brings with her a wealth of experience both as a player and coach. Bizzy had a remarkable career for the Cougs. She was a four-year starter and leader who propelled the 2016 team to one of the best seasons. She also comes with four WCC championships and multiple NCAA appearances. Bizzy will bring an abundance of positive energy.”

Bowen joins the coaching staff after almost five years as a coach for multiple teams at Utah Celtic FC. Bowen was also a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Utah from December 2021 to May 2022 and was a Wasatch High School assistant coach in 2021.

“I would like to thank Jen for giving me this opportunity to join her staff and for trusting me,” said Bowen. “At BYU I will be surrounded by amazing mentors in Jen, Brent, and Steve, who have so much knowledge and experience to share with me. I feel so lucky to be a part of a program that changed my life.”

“Steve Magleby gave me my first real coaching job back in 2016 before he became a coach at BYU, so it feels full circle. I look forward to helping the players reach their potential, gain confidence in themselves, and learn to trust the team unit. I have walked the road each player is walking, and I feel that I’ll be able to help each of them understand the game more in depth on and off the field.”

Bowen played under Coach Rockwood at BYU from 2014-2017. She totaled seven assists, 10 goals and 125 shots and started in 85 games out of a possible 86, where she was injured for one of them. Bowen was also a part of the 2016 team that made it to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament, where the Cougars lost to a No. 1 seeded South Carolina 1-0.

A native of Sandy, Utah, Bowen attended Alta High School and graduated from BYU with a degree in marketing in 2017. In her senior year of high school, she was named the 2013 Gatorade Utah Girls Soccer Player of the Year.

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