BYU Basketball Recruiting: 2017 target Kolby Lee commits to Cougars

BYU basketball landed another solid addition to the program’s 2017 recruiting class on Monday evening when Kolby Lee announced his commitment to the Cougars via his Twitter account. He’ll join the previously committed Las Vegas product Christian Popoola Jr. as the first two members of the upcoming class to pick Provo for their college ball.

Hailing from Meridian, Idaho where he plays his high school ball at Rocky Mountain, Lee is a rock-solid, 6-foot-9 center prospect. ESPN has rated him as a four-star prospect, while Scout considers him to be a three-star recruit. BYU was definitely Lee’s most high-profile offer, but he also held several other offers from a variety of mid-major programs — including Utah State, Boise State, Richmond, Portland, Kent State, DePaul, UC Davis and others.

While Lee might not necessarily be flashy, he does all the things you want out of a blue-collar big down low. He’s got long arms, soft hands and good feet, which is a golden combination for just about any post player. He uses these gifts to rebound well in his area, catch passes in traffic and execute a variety of post-up moves — while also showing the capability to step out and hit the occasional jump shot, even out to 3-point range.

While I doubt Dave Rose would ever ask him to bomb away from deep, Lee could provide excellent depth on the block for a BYU team that will undoubtedly need some, particularly following the expected departure of Eric Mika at the end of the 2019 season. Lee is currently planning to serve an LDS mission, which means he likely wouldn’t step on campus until the 2019-20 season anyway, so the Idaho big man could be perfectly situated to step into that vacuum, learn from seniors Yoeli Childs and Payton Dastrup for a year, and then take on a larger role of his own.

Regardless, this is another strong pickup by Rose and company, adding to what’s already shaping up to be a solid 2017 class. After pulling in several incredibly talented classes in recent years, some have wondered if the Cougars could continue to consistently add high-level talent moving forward. With prospects like Popoola and Lee opting for BYU blue, it certainly indicates that the well hasn’t run dry just yet.