BYU Basketball Player Preview: Hunter Erickson

Hunter Erickson

Height: 6-3

Weight: 191

Hometown: Provo, Utah

High School: Timpview High School

Class: Sophomore

Hunter Erickson Player Preview

Erickson returned home from his mission before last season and was at the end of the bench as he acclimated back into basketball shape and sat behind other guards. Erickson played in 8 games and made one basket, a three pointer in the season opener versus Westminster.

Erickson was a great scorer in high school, averaging over 22 points as a junior and senior. His hops get the most publicity — and he can really jump (see below) — but he is scorer and not just an athlete.

Hunter is more of a combo guard and I like him as a guy that can provide a scoring spark off the bench. He can finish above the rim, but he is also a good three-point shooter. BYU has a lot of guards, but Hunter has the ability to break into BYU’s rotation.

Player Comp: Mac McClung

McClung was a social media sensation and considered transferring to BYU last year from Georgetown before ultimately signing with Texas Tech. McClung was known for his dunks, but he really was a scorer as a combo guard with the occasional big dunk. Erickson has similar size and some of the same traits as McClung and could become a lesser version of McClung, which would mean a very successful college career.

2021-2022 Expectations: Occasional Rotation Player

Hunter has the talent to make a jump and be one of the team’s most talented players. The issue is that he is probably the 11th guy in the playing time pecking order. BYU has the talent to go 11-12 deep, but how deep does Mark Pope realistically want to go in his bench night to night? Coaches usually go deeper into the bench at the beginning of the season when they figure out rotations and tighten things up later when the stakes are higher.

I think Hunter will see the floor this season because he is talented enough to help the team, I just think there will be games where he gets a DNP due to game flow.