The BYU Cougars kick off the 2025 season in 33 days against Portland State. As we continue counting down the days until kickoff, today we will profile the player who wears No. 33 - redshirt senior linebacker Choe Bryant-Strother - by providing three interesting, fun facts:
Fun fact No. 1 - He's entering his sixth season of college football
While it's fairly common for BYU football players to still be playing college football six years after graduating from high school, there's usually a two-year LDS mission somewhere in the equation. That's not the case, though, with redshirt senior linebacker Choe Bryant-Strother as he prepares for his sixth - and final - season of college football.
The 6-foot-3, 238-pound linebacker began his college career during the COVID-impacted 2020 season with UCLA, appearing in seven games with nine tackles as a true freshman. He redshirted in 2021 but still appeared in one game that year. Over the next two seasons with the Bruins he appeared in 24 games with 29 tackles, three tackles for loss, and a sack before hitting the transfer portal in 2024.
Fun fact No. 2 - He contributed double-digit tackles in BYU's 11-2 season last year
After hitting the transfer portal last year, Bryant-Strother decided to call Provo home and joined a loaded linebacker room in Jay Hill's defense. Last year he played behind an absolute stud in Jack Kelly as an outside linebacker, but Bryant-Strother did see the field. In his first season with the Cougars he appeared in nine games with 11 tackles, including a tackle for loss. While he's not a headline player, he's an important role player on BYU's defense.
Fun fact No. 3 - He's basketball star Elijah Bryant's brother
According to his player profile on BYU's website, Choe is the brother of former BYU basketball star Elijah Bryant, so he has ties to Provo. For those who don't know, after starring at BYU, Elijah went on to have a very brief NBA career, but also a very memorable one. Elijah appeared in one game for the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2020-21 season -- the year the Bucks won the NBA title -- so Elijah will forever be known as an NBA champion.