On Monday night, consensus four-star recruit and Las Vegas native Xavion Staton committed to Kevin Young and the BYU basketball program. Staton picked up over 30 offers during his recruitment, but he picked the Cougars over finalists UNLV, Arizona, USC, Stanford, and Michigan. It was a three-team race between UNLV, Michigan, and BYU over the last several weeks. Staton also picked up offers from the likes of Creighton, Auburn, Illinois, Kansas, Ohio State, Texas, Texas A&M, Xavier, Washington, and Miami among others. New BYU head coach Kevin Young and his staff established enough of a reputation and relationship with Staton to emerge as the favorite above all of those notable programs.
Staton is ranked the 23rd best prospect nationally by 247Sports and the nation’s second best center. He is the top basketball recruit from the state of Nevada in the 2025 recruiting class. He is a high four-star recruit that is pushing towards five-star status.
Staton is listed at 6’11 by 247Sports, but he has been listed as tall as 7’1 and 210 pounds. In BYU’s projected lineup for the 2024-2025 season, the Cougars lack some size at the five spot. Staton will fill that void in spades come 2025-2026 – he has enough size to compete at the highest levels of college basketball.
It is Staton’s athleticism and rim protecting abilities that make him the coveted recruit he is today. Most players at his size are clunky and slow, espeically in high school. Staton has the ability to move his feet, catch lobs, and get vertical. He can shoot a jumper in a punch, but he will make his living around the rim.
Staton brings the kind of athleticism to the frontcourt that BYU has rarely had in its history. He has legitimate NBA potential. If he is able to develop as a scorer under Kevin Young, he has the makings of an NBA player.
Staton is part of a 2025 BYU basketball class that has the potential to be the best in school history and one of the best recruiting classes in the country. The Cougars are also recruiting coveted recruits AJ Dybansta and JJ Mandaquit. They already have commitments from Staton and four-star Chamberlain Burgess. Commitments from all four of those players would earn 67.5 points. Last year, that would have ranked second nationally behind only Duke.
Kevin Young has completely changed the recruiting ceiling of the BYU basketball program. Staton is just further evidence of that.
