BYU Football Lands Utah State Transfer AJ Vongphachanh
Apr 14, 2023, 12:29 PM | Updated: Apr 15, 2023, 2:11 pm
PROVO, Utah – BYU football landed one of the top transfer portal linebackers in Utah State’s AJ Vongphachanh.
Vongphachanh announced on social media his commitment to BYU. He picks the Cougars over Washington State, South Carolina, and Minnesota.
Go COUGS pic.twitter.com/TtWa2JmHgC
— AJ Vongphachanh (@aj_v25) April 14, 2023
Last season, Vongphachanh led Utah State in tackles with 101 and had 10.5 tackles for loss to go along with two sacks. He has started in games for the Aggies over the past four seasons. A 6-foot-2, 230-pound prospect, Vongphachanh has one year of eligibility remaining in his collegiate career, thanks to 2020 being a free year of eligibility.
AJ Vongphachanh is an immediate impact transfer
Landing Vongphachanh gives BYU an immediate impact player at a position of need at linebacker. During spring practices, BYU was without two star linebackers Ben Bywater and Max Tooley, as they recovered from shoulder surgery. The backups were primarily freshmen who had not played any snaps in a college game.
BYU needed a proven player in the portal to enhance the linebacker unit, and they got one of the best transfer portal players in Vongphachanh. Upon arrival, Vongphachanh can be tabbed as a starter for BYU as they head into their first season as a Big 12 team.
Vongphachanh comes to BYU with 33 career starts during his time with the Aggies.
AJ Vongphachanh has a relationship with new BYU linebacker coach Justin Ena. Ena told KSL Sports he wanted to add a player or two from the portal at the linebacker spot after spring.
Key transfers will help lead BYU in 2023
He joins a BYU transfer portal class that includes quarterback Kedon Slovis, running back Aidan Robbins, former Aggie teammate Weylin Lapuaho, and Weber State cornerback Eddie Heckard.
BYU wraps up spring practice tonight, and then eyes fall camp practices in August before kicking off the 2023 season against Sam Houston on September 2 in Provo.
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 Mitch’s coverage of BYU moving to the Big 12 Conference on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
