California Athlete McKay Madsen Recaps His BYU Official Visit

Casey Lundquist | Jun 25, 2024

Last weekend, BYU hosted a large group of official visitors on campus. One of the recruits on campus was California athlete McKay Madsen. Madsen, a three-star prospect in the 2025 class, plays both linebacker and running back for his high school. He also excels in track and field where he throws the discus and the shotput. We caught up with Madsen to discuss his BYU official visit.

Madsen was offered both by BYU linebackers coach Justin Ena and BYU running backs coach Harvey Unga. Originally, Madsen was told that he could decide which position he wants to play. That hasn't changed even after the official visit. "They are still recruiting me as both RB and LB and leaving the choice up to me," Madsen said. "Both position coaches Justin Ena and Harvey Unga are awesome and I have great relationships with both."

On what was his favorite part about the BYU visit, Madsen said, "My favorite part about the visit was probably hanging out with the players there, them showing me around town, and talking about their experience there."

Madsen is coming off a highly productive junior season after which he was named to the First Team All-State. He finished with over 1,000 rushing yards, averagin 8.3 yards per carry, and 18 touchdowns. On defense, he tallied 75 tackles, 4 interceptions, and 3 forced fumbles. His upside is obvious. He moves extremely well 6'2 and 220 pounds, he is physical, and he is built like a Mack truck.

Junior Season highlights! So proud to finish 13-1 Valley Champs with my @CNBroncoFB family. I finished with 1035 rushing yards - 8.3 per carry, 18 touchdowns, 75 tackles, 4 ints, and 3 caused fumbles. @CoachPehrson @unga45 @Greg_Panelli @paulmeadors https://t.co/VvUclbHDHT

— McKay Madsen (@McKayMadsen) December 30, 2023

On what made the BYU visit unique, Madsen mentioned BYU's affiliation with the church. "The visit was unique obviously because of the school being directly associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints," Madsen said. "My faith is shared there amongst majority of the students, team and staff as well as my older brother and sister already attending there."

The Madsen's are a BYU family. McKay has two older siblings attending BYU and his Mom attended BYU as well.

In terms of a decision timeline, Madsen hasn't set anything in stone. "I don’t have a decision timeline yet," Madsen said. "[I] am kind of just playing it by ear and still evaluating all that I can in this process."

Madsen holds competing offers from a long list of schools, including UCLA, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State, Boston College, and Washington State among others. Madsen took an official visit to UCLA back in May.

Madsen will continue to be a top priority for BYU in the 2025 recruiting class. He has the potential to make an impact on either side of the ball at BYU.