BYU wins out with local target Jake Wahlin
After finishing as one of the winners of the transfer portal this offseason, BYU won out within the Rivals150 on Tuesday. Newly minted ranked wing-forward Jake Wahlin gave his verbal commitment to the Cougars.
“Coach (Mark) Pope, as I went through the process, I had a lot of great options that I could have explored but I explored but I was always a BYU fan and saw myself playing in the Marriott Center,” Wahlin told Rivals.com. “Coach Pope brought the BYU blood back into me and really got me excited and said multiple things that convinced me. Along with Coach Burgess, he said a lot of BYU kids that grew up fans of the program, they always find success at BYU and I really say myself in that mold.”
A 6-foot-8 power forward that can play all over the floor, Wahlin is no stranger to the BYU program. Growing up in Provo, Utah, Wahlin’s father and brother in-law played football for the Cougars, while his older sister attended the institution, and grandfather was a professor there.
“I have been an uncle since I was 11 and a lot of my nieces and nephews are here in Provo and I have thought about them coming and watching me. That would be amazing for me and to be here to watch them grow up. My nieces and nephews was what really drew me to BYU. That was a really big deal,” Wahlin went on to say. “Coach Pope, he has three guys that are going to be pros and his development is really precise and his staff does a good job with motivating.”
The 149th ranked prospect in America, Wahlin will take an LDS-mission beginning next June and won’t enroll until the fall of 2023. What he Cougars are getting in him is a versatile, skilled and tough mismatch that can play a variety of roles and on both ends of the floor.