BYU basketball recruiting: Cougars land 2017 point guard Jahshire Hardnett

BYU added another piece to the 2017 team with the commitment of Florida JUCO point guard Jahshire Hardnett. Hardnett announced his commitment via his twitter account:

Hardnett committed to BYU after taking an official visit to Provo. Hardnett is from Chipola College in Florida. He played high school ball in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Hardnett has a unique recruiting story. An ESPN 3-star recruit out of high school, Hardnett had offers from UConn, Clemson, Ole Miss, Penn State, among many others. He ultimately committed to Fordham, a Division 1 school, after some of the recruiting buzz wore off his senior year with eligibility issues.

After redshirting his freshman year, Hardnett transferred to Chipola College. This past season at Chipola, Jahshire averaged 13 points and 4 assists while shooting 56% from the field and 43% from 3-point range.

The 5’11” lefty point guard is a quick, efficient point guard. He uses his quickness to get by opponents, while still having the elevation to get up and dunk the ball. As evidenced by his shooting percentages, he can also knock down the ball from deep. It’s not often BYU gets a point guard under 6 feet that can dunk the ball with ease.

How does Jahshire fit into this BYU team? It remains to be seen, but it looks like he will be playing point guard. Jahshire joins Nick Emery, TJ Haws, Elijah Bryant, and Rylan Bergersen as guards on next season’s BYU team. With Haws, Bryant, and Emery all shooting around 40%, Hardnett’s efficiency is much needed for this BYU team. Although he doesn’t possess great length, his quickness gives him the opportunity to be a quality defender. He averaged nearly 2 steals a game this past season.

Hardnett will be a redshirt sophomore and have 3 years to play at BYU.

Here are some highlights you can watch from Jahshire’s year at Chipola College.