Five-Star Transfer QB Jaxson Dart Visits BYU Football
Jan 19, 2022, 5:47 PM | Updated: 8:02 pm
USC quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) looks downfield before unleashing a pass during the game between the Washington State Cougars and the USC Trojans on September 18, 2021 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, WA. (Photo by Robert Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Robert Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PROVO, Utah – Five-star transfer portal QB Jaxson Dart visited BYU on Wednesday.
The news was first reported by Jeff Hansen of 247Sports.com and has since been confirmed by KSL Sports.
Jaxson Dart at BYU today is a big deal. The national expectation has been OU and Ole Miss for two weeks with little mention of BYU. And yet, he's still visiting BYU when nobody thought he would.
— Jeff Hansen (@rakoto10) January 19, 2022
Dart’s visit might come as a surprise nationally as most of the conversation has been centered around Ole Miss from the SEC and Oklahoma in the Big 12.
The homegrown talent here in Utah arrived on BYU’s campus around 11 a.m. (MT).
A former national Gatorade Player of the Year at Corner Canyon High School in 2020, Dart completed his first collegiate season at USC this past fall. He passed for 1,353 yards, completing 62% of his passes with a 9-5 TD-INT ratio.
247Sports ranks Dart as a five-star Transfer Portal QB.
Dart started in three games during his freshman season to replace an injured Kedon Slovis. One of those starts came against BYU in the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Since completing his freshman year with the Trojans, USC hired a new head coach in Lincoln Riley. Dart has never ruled out the possibility of going back to the Trojans, but in this era of undergrad transfers having a one-time waiver to go to a new spot, Dart has explored his options.
The backdrop of Dart’s move to the Transfer Portal has led to much speculation that former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams will reunite with his old coach in Riley in LA. However, Williams hasn’t officially announced his next move yet. Neither has Dart.
BYU has a history with Dart as they were the first school to extend him a scholarship offer when he was an under-the-radar recruit at Roy High School.
“He came to our camp, I think it was after our sophomore year, and he just threw the ball really well in our camp. Just an accurate guy that threw the ball well,” BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said about Dart on November 23 when asked what his memories of Dart were leading up to the USC game. “When you do this long enough, you can tell within a few minutes usually which ones are the guys that have a chance to play at this level. He stood out right away at our camp.”
A 6-foot-3, 215-pound signal-caller and native of Kaysville, Jaxson is son to former Utah Football player Brandon Dart.
Dart has not publicly announced a timetable for when he plans to decide which school he will attend next.
BYU has a quarterback room that includes returning starter Jaren Hall and Elite 11 QB from the 2018 recruiting cycle in Jacob Conover. Also in the room is former Polynesian Bowl Offensive MVP Sol-Jay Maiava Peters and Boise State transfer Cade Fennegan.
BYU is coming off back-to-back double-digit win seasons that were capped off by final AP Top 25 rankings. After the 2020 season, BYU produced No. 2 overall draft pick Zach Wilson, the starting QB for the New York Jets.
Like Wilson, Dart also trains in the off-season with former BYU great John Beck at 3DQB in California.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
