Shortly after 5-star quarterback Ryder Lyons made his commitment to the BYU football program he teased that more notable commitments to the Cougars were forthcoming. Lyons was joined by several recruiting pundits, fellow Cougar commits and even some BYU football staffers in purporting as much, lending a good degree of anticipation to the Cougar fanbase.

Turns out Lyons, and others were right, with BYU recently garnering commitments from Orem High School standouts Kaue Akana and Lopeti Moala.

Although neither of BYU’s latest commitments rival Lyons with regards to recruiting stars, they both moved the Cougars up to unprecedented status in overall recruiting rankings. According to the 247 Sports Network, BYU is now the No. 28-ranked program nationally with regards to incoming talent accumulated for the 2026 signing period.

It’s a ranking that is the highest the football program has ever achieved since recruiting rankings were assigned dating back to 2002 by the 247 Sports Network, surpassing the 2010 class ranking of No. 30. It was in 2010 when BYU signed top recruits such as 4-star talents like quarterback Jake Heaps, receiver Ross Apo and defensive lineman Bronson Kaufusi.

Since 2010 the Cougars have averaged a No. 64 ranking with 2023 (No. 39) and 2020 (81) representing the highest and lowest rankings during that span.

Tigers to Cougars

With regards to BYU’s two latest commitments, both are highly-regarded 3-star prospects with Kaue Akana holding a current 89 overall evaluation from 247, just one point short of the 4-star tier. Akana is a 6-foot-3, 200 pound athlete who will play either at receiver or defensive back at BYU.

“Super intriguing athlete who’s still new to the game but is rapidly developing,” assessed 247 National Recruiting Analyst Greg Biggins about Akana, “Was a talented soccer player growing up and never played football until his freshman year. Plays predominately receiver and shows good speed, ball skills and ball awareness. Can get deep and run away from a secondary.”

Akana claimed a multitude of top offers from programs including Utah, UCLA, Alabama, Oklahoma, Baylor and Auburn, among many others. The native Hawaiian is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints although there’s no reports regarding plans to serve a mission currently.

Lopeti Moala does have definite plans to serve a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints following his graduation from Orem. Moala is a 6-4, 250 lineman who has spent his entire prep career playing for Davis before transferring to Orem for his final senior season.

A true dual-sport athlete, who also stars on the hardwood playing basketball, Moala projects as either a defensive end or interior lineman when he returns from his planned two-year mission that he’ll serve immediately upon graduation.

“It was the overall feeling I had every time I visited the school,” Moala said as to why he chose BYU in an interview conducted by Cougar Sports with Ben Criddle on ESPN The Fan. “The spirit (BYU) has is very strong and on top of that it’s close to home. My family can come to all the games, so that’s definitely something that helped a little bit. But overall it was just the spirit I felt while being there.”

Moala was initially recruited by BYU linebackers Coach Justin Ena with both Defensive Coordinator Jay Hill and defensive line Coach Sione Pouha joining in the primary recruiting efforts. According to Moala, the Cougar coach staff currently projects him to play strong-side defensive end, but if he gains a good amount of weight he’ll be moved inside to tackle.

“When you talk to the players they talk about how strong the locker room feels and how (Coach Kalani) Sitake is so solid. He practices what he preaches,” Moala summed up as to why he ultimately chose BYU. “That’s why these guys believe in him as much as they do and I just love the feeling I have when hearing about it.”

Moala also claimed a multitude of top offers and stated his top four at the end of the process were BYU, Utah, Stanford and Arizona.

2026 BYU commitments

Kaue Akana, 6-3, 200 athlete, Orem High School

Sefanaia Alatini, 6-2, 185 athlete, Mountain View, Calif.

Justice Brathwaite,  6-0, 160 defensive back, Gilbert, Ariz.

Legend Glasker, 6-1, 165 athlete, Lehi High School

Ty Goettsche, 6-7, 225 tight end, Englewood, Colo.

Brock Harris, 6-6, 238 tight end, Pine View High School

Antonio Johnson, 6-4, 180 defensive back, Forth Worth, Tex.

Graham Livingston, 5-11, 185 wide receiver, Ridgeline High School

Ryder Lyons, 6-3, 215 quarterback, Folsom, Calif.

Matthew Mason, 6-3, 190 defensive back, Las Vegas, Nev.

Lopeti Moala, 6-4, 250 defensive lineman, Orem High School

Bott Mulitalo, 6-5, 290 offensive line, Lone Peak High School

Parker Ord, 6-4, 210 tight end, Frisco, Tex.

Terrance Saryon, 5-10, 160 receiver, Vancouver, Wash.

Kenael Sweetwyne, 6-3, 195 quarterback, Skyridge High School

PJ Takitaki, 6-4, 230 defensive end, Lehi High School