Corbin Kaufusi will be a two-sport athlete for BYU and join the football team.
The BYU football team is adding another player to their roster for next year, and it will be the forward of the basketball team, Corbin Kaufusi. The school made the announcement on Friday that Kaufusi is going back to playing football.
“We’re excited for Corbin to have this opportunity,” BYU basketball coach Dave Rose said. “We’re very supportive of this decision and will look forward to having him back with us full-time when the football season is over.”
With the basketball team, Kaufusi started 36 games and appeared in 70 overall, and he has career averages of 4.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks while shooting 59.6 percent from the field in his two years on the basketball team.
Out of high school, Kaufusi originally signed to play football but after his mission he decided to play basketball instead. While at Timpview, He played offensive line and helped his school to a pair of state titles.
Kaufusi will transition to defensive line and work out with the football team this summer to get acclimated, and he will be one of the larger defensive lineman around measuring in at 6-foot-10, 255-pounds.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to play football at BYU,” Kaufusi said. “I’m really excited about what is happening with football. I’m looking forward to being coached by my dad and learning from him and my teammates. I’m grateful for the support of the basketball coaches as I pursue this opportunity.”
His older brother, Bronson, played both sports with one season of basketball to go along with four years of football, and he is now getting ready for the NFL Draft.
Getting Kaufusi to play football adds more depth across the defensive line and also a skilled and mobile athlete to the defensive front. This is something that new head coach Kalani Sitake can use to provide even more different looks to his defense.
“We’re excited to welcome Corbin to the football program,” Sitake said. “He’s a versatile athlete with great size, and we’re looking forward to seeing him develop his abilities both on the football field and the basketball court here at BYU.”
How much playing time he will get all depends on how quickly he picks up the defensive scheme, plus he has not played football since 2011 so there will be some rust to shake off before he can see significant playing time in the fall.
Kaufusi will be a sophomore in eligibility on the football team in 2016 and a junior with the basketball team.
With Kaufusi heading back to football we now have a reason to revisit this 2014 dunk at Boomshakalaka in helmet and pads.
