BYU football: Kalani Sitake and the Transfer Effect
By Shaun Gordon
2015
Class of 2015 transfers:
- Tristen Hoge (4 stars/#2 C/ #48 OA on Scout, 4 stars/5.9 RR/#150 OA on Rivals)
- Christian Folau (4 stars/#8 MLB/#228 OA on Scout, 3 stars/5.7 RR on Rivals)
- Austin Kafentzis (3 stars/#53 QB on Scout, 3 stars/5.6 RR on Rivals)
- James Empey (3 stars/#44 OG on Scout, 3 stars/5.5 RR on Rivals)
- Joe Critchlow (2 stars on Scout, 2 stars/5.4 RR on Rivals)
Another large group of the transfers fall in the 2015 class. For the Cougars, that class ranked 61st on Scout and 66th on Rivals.
All but Critchlow add points for the Cougars on Scout. Hoge adds 218, Folau 212, Kafentzis 87, and Empey 96. Scout only counts the 25 highest-scoring recruits, so Eric Takenaka’s 20 points would fall off.
In total, the transfers would have added a whopping 593 points, and the Cougars would have jumped 26 spots, all the way up to 35th.
On Rivals, Critchlow is once again the only transfer not to add any points. However, with 2015’s full recruiting class, four players fall out as they’re replaced by the transfers (JJ Nwigwe -45, Zayne Anderson -30, Brady Christensen -30, and Jacob Jimenez -30).
The four transfers replacing them add much more though. Hodge adds 143, Folau 90, Kafentzis 75, and Empey adds 60.
When all is said and done BYU would have added 278 points, and leaped 21 spots, from 66th to 45th.
As with the Class of 2014 transfers, none of these transfers has suited up for BYU football yet, so the next few years will tell whether their on-field contributions will match their recruiting value.