BYU Football Planning To Honor Another Large Senior Class
Nov 15, 2023, 12:48 PM
BYU football running back Aidan Robbins is one of 30 players that will be honored on Senior Day for the Oklahoma game. (Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)
(Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)
PROVO, Utah – Since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Senior Days have become larger than usual for BYU football.
That will be the case again on Saturday when BYU hosts No. 14 Oklahoma. Thirty players are expected to be honored after BYU hosts the Sooners in Provo.
The pandemic season in 2020 created a blanket waiver from the NCAA for all players to have a free year of eligibility that season. So even though 2023 might be the fourth season a player has been in the program, they could still run it back for one more year.
To avoid missing a situation where someone doesn’t get a Senior Day recognition, BYU plans to honor all the players who are either seniors or COVID juniors.
“There’s a bunch of guys that are in that area where they can play another year—obviously, the guys that their eligibility is up, definitely their senior night,” said BYU head coach Kalani Sitake. “It’s the ones that are graduating that still have a year left to play. I’d love for them all to come back. But it’s their decision on what they want to get done and what they want to pursue after they’re done with football.”
The entire list of players that will be honored is 30 players. That includes redshirt sophomore Kingsley Suamataia, who has been projected as a potential high NFL draft pick.
30 #BYU football players will be honored on Senior Day before the Oklahoma game.
BYU lists redshirt sophomore and potential high NFL draft pick Kingsley Suamataia.#BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/hPZcybhuJu
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 13, 2023
BYU Football Seniors with no more eligibility after 2023 season
- Chaz Ah You, LB
- Jacob Boren, CB
- Jackson Cravens, DT
- Ian Fitzgerald, OL
- Kamden Garrett, CB
- Eddie Heckard, CB
- Atunaisa Mahe, DT
- Paul Maile, OL
- Simi Moala, OL
- Malik Moore, S
- Kedon Slovis, QB
- Deion Smith, RB
- Max Tooley, LB
- AJ Vongphachanh, LB
Players with eligibility remaining who will be honored on Senior Day
- Isaiah Bagnah, DE
- Tyler Batty, DE
- Benjamin Bywater, LB
- Caleb Christensen, CB
- Caleb Etienne, OL
- Talmage Gunther, WR
- Ammon Hannemann, LB
- Caden Haws, DT
- Darius Lassiter, WR
- Brayden Keim, OL
- Connor Pay, OL
- Ryan Rehkow, P
- Isaac Rex, TE
- Austin Riggs, LS
- Aidan Robbins, RB
- Kingsley Suamataia, OL
On BYU’s official list, they have Eastern Michigan transfer Darius Lassiter listed as a senior with no eligibility remaining. Earlier this year, Lassiter told KSL Sports that he does have a year remaining. Then this week on the Coordinators’ Corner, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick was asked if Darius Lassiter and Keelan Marion would be back, and Roderick said that he expects both back next season.
So we will put Lassiter in the eligibility remaining category heading into Saturday.
What’s interesting when looking at the 30 seniors that will be honored, less than half (12) were players who signed scholarship agreements with BYU out of high school. The rest are either walk-ons or transfer portal additions.
Last year, BYU honored 24 players who had eligibility remaining at the end of the 2022 season. Out of those 24 players, 19 were not part of the roster for the 2023 season. What that means is that history has shown that Senior Day against Oklahoma could be the last home game for many of the 30 players who are honored this week.
BYU vs. No. 14 Oklahoma
Date: Saturday, November 18, 2023
Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium
Kickoff: 10 a.m.
TV: ESPN
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM)
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 in the Big 12 Conference on X and Threads: @Mitch_Harper.
