BYU Maintaining Regular Contact with Texas Athlete Jacobe Hayes

Casey Lundquist | Jun 30, 2024

Oct 21, 2023; Provo, Utah, USA; The Brigham Young Cougars students display TIFOs before kickoff against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Last week, Texas athlete Jacobe Hayes trimmed his list of top schools to six and BYU made the cut alongside TCU, Wyoming, San Diego State, North Texas, and Stephen F. Austin. Hayes, who plans to make his college decision either at the end of July or near the start of August, is still in touch with BYU after receiving an offer from the Cougars in December. We caught up with Hayes to get an update on his recruitment.

BYU was the first school to offer Hayes a scholarship back in December. "BYU was my first offer and getting that first one was everything," Hayes said.

After BYU offered, his recruitment remained relatively low-key throughout the Winter. In the month of June, his recruitment really started to accelerate. He picked up an offer from UTEP at the beginning of the month. Then UNLV and Wyoming followed suit. He picked up his second Big 12 offer a few weeks ago when TCU offered him a scholarship. During the recruiting process, Hayes also picked up competing offers from Arkansas State and Miami (OH).

BYU has stayed in touch while other schools are entering the picture. "I hear from BYU almost weekly," Hayes said. "I believe I should be coming on a visit soon."

The end of June and most of July is a dead period, meaning coaches can't visit recruits and recruits can't take campus visits. The dead period ends on July 25th, so the next chance for Hayes to take a visit would be at the end of July.

Hayes was offered by BYU's defensive staff back in December and he confirmed that he is being recruited as a defensive back. He's been a standout wide receiver during the course of his high school career in Mansfield, Texas. As a wide receiver, he is explosive with the ball in his hands and he is always a threat to take it the distance. He is only 5'10, but he is fast and fearless going over the middle and able to absorb contact. As a punt returner, he can shake arm tackles and make people miss in space.

@coachcilumba pic.twitter.com/3y4K1YAB80

— d1_c19 (@JacobeHayes) January 14, 2024

On what will be the most important factors in his college decision, Hayes identified three things:

1. Great coaching staff & great relationships with the staff
2. Great school for what he hopes to study - Kinesiology
3. Great atmosphere - a good place to be in and be around

BYU put themselves in a good position by identifying and offering Hayes first. They will have to continue to make him a priority and get him on campus to put themselves in the best position to land his commitment.