Meet the Freshmen: BYU’s Corbin Kaufusi

The BYU Cougars have gotten a little nastier in the paint with the addition of Corbin Kaufusi, a 6-foot-10 forward/center from

The last name should be familiar to fans of the WCC and BYU, as Corbin’s older brother Bronson – a defensive end for the BYU Football team – walked on to the basketball team in 2012-2013 and served as a duel sport athlete.

In his time on the hardwood, the older Kaufusi was known as an enforcer; a player that was not afraid to do the dirty work and mix it up in the paint.

In 2014, his younger brother, who initially was signed to play offensive tackle for the BYU football team, will join to the team as a walk-on. BYU fans will hope Corbin possesses the same grit and nastiness his older brother portrayed on the basketball court.

At Timpview High School

While football was always Kaufusi’s main sport – after all, it did earn him a basketball scholarship, Kaufusi was able to hold his own on the basketball court.

As a junior at Timpview High School in Provo, Utah, Kaufusi averaged 11.6 points. In his sophomore season, Timpview finished with a 19-6 record and won the 4A state title in Utah for basketball. Kaufusi also won state titles in Football with Timpview in 2008 and 2009.

Although Kaufusi was a decent player on the hardwood, the gridiron seemed like the most plausible destination for Kaufusi. Kaufusi committed to BYU to play football before serving a two year LDS-mission in South Korea.

According to this article from scout.com, Kaufusi had a change of heart when he returned from his mission. Kaufusi grew to 6-foot-10 while serving in Asia, and instead of adding a ton of weight to become an enormously tall offensively lineman, Kaufusi decided to try basketball, where he is already at a sufficient weight to play.

Impact at BYU

While Kaufusi’s skills as a basketball player are mostly unknown, he comes from an athletic family and should provide depth to a convoluted BYU frontcourt.

Kaufusi is a walk-on, and adding a player of that caliber without wasting a scholarship was a huge win. The Cougars could use another capable big man to spell Nate Austin at the center position, or Josh Sharp and Luke Worthington at the power forward position.

There will be some competition, but if Kaufusi show’s he is physically and mentally ready to endure the rigors of Division I basketball, he will see the court early and often for Dave Rose and the Cougars.