Kevin Young is bringing in another high-level signee for his first season as BYU basketball's head coach.
This time, it's four-star small forward recruit Kanon Catchings, who previously signed with Purdue but reopened his recruitment two weeks ago. BYU officially announced his signing on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-8 Catchings, who recently took a visit to Provo, was coached at Overtime Elite by one of BYU's assistant coaches, Tim Fanning.
"We are so excited to welcome Kanon to BYU. He's a great young man," Young said in a press release announcing Catchings' signing.
"Kanon's a big-time talent who brings great size, shooting, and athleticism to Provo. He has basketball in his blood, and we are equally as excited to welcome his family. His defensive ability is as impressive as his offensive talent. We can't wait to get Kanon on campus and get to work with our players and staff. We look forward to helping him develop and thrive in our program."
Catchings is rated the No. 40 overall prospect nationally in the 2024 recruiting class in 247 Sports' composite rankings .
He comes from a strong basketball family: Catchings is the nephew of Naismith Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings, a former WNBA MVP and 10-time All-Star. His mother, Tauja, played collegiately at Illinois and was a WNBA draft pick, while grandfather Harvey Catchings played 11 seasons in the NBA.
Last season while playing at Overtime Elite, Kanon Catchings averaged 15.3 points and 6.2 rebounds, according to ESPN . He also shot 37% from 3-point range for the Cold Hearts team coached by Fanning.
ESPN's Jonathan Givony caught up with Catchings to talk about why he is taking his talents to Provo.
"My family and I met with coach Young and the coaching staff last week and we immediately clicked," Catchings told Givony . "I knew right away this was the best fit for me."
Catchings signed with BYU one day after the school officially announced it had signed Egor Demin, an international prospect who is a projected 2025 draft pick. Catchings also visited Florida State and NC State before committing to BYU, Givony reported.
"Coach Young emphasizes building relationships and I have complete trust in him," Catchings said. "I'm excited to learn from him and improve as a player. We have a great group of guys on the roster and we all share the same goal. I can't wait to get started."
Catchings has a 0.9849 recruiting ranking in the 247 Sports' composite metric, making him the highest signee in program history since that metric was used.
In their 2024 class, the Cougars also have the No. 5 and No. 8 highest recruiting rated players in school history, per the 247 Sports' metric — power forward Brody Kozlowski (No. 5) has a 0.9593 rating, while point guard Elijah Crawford (No. 8) has a 0.9458 rating.
Like Catchings, both Kozlowski (USC) and Crawford (Stanford) — also four-star recruits — previously signed with other colleges before reopening their recruitment.
That doesn't include Demin, who isn't rated as a recruit by 247 Sports as an international prospect.
With Catchings' addition, BYU jumped to No. 12 nationally in 247 Sports' team recruiting rankings for the 2024 freshman class and third among Big 12 teams, behind only Arizona State (No. 4) and Baylor (No. 7).
BYU has also added two transfers this offseason in former Utah center Keba Keita and former Rutgers power forward Mawot Mag.
With Catchings' signing, BYU still has one scholarship remaining to fill.
