Lone Peak's Talon Shumway picks BYU and football

Talon Shumway said Monday that he nearly committed to BYU for basketball last summer. Then he changed his mind — and his sport.

The two-sport Lone Peak High School star picked football Monday, but stuck with the Cougars, committing to BYU, despite not expecting to play for coach Bronco Mendenhall until 2015 or 2016.

A 6-foot-3 athlete who has played quarterback, receiver, running back, tight end and linebacker in his career with the Knights, Shumway said he expects to play receiver for the Cougars. He had offers from Utah and Utah State and recently received interest from Oregon and Boise State.

Shumway said he quickly developed a relationship with first-year receivers coach Ben Cahoon, as well as Mendenhall.

"Every aspect that I was looking for was the right fit," Shumway said.

Lone Peak has a well-established pipeline to BYU — but mostly in basketball. Shumway's hoops teammates Nick Emery, T.J. Haws and Eric Mika have all committed to coach Dave Rose's team.

Asked if he might consider wandering over to the Marriott Center after football season and joining the basketball team, Shumway demurred.

"I don't think that's my plan," he said. "I don't think they want a football player coming in and wasting their time."

Mika said he wil serve an LDS mission beginning after he graduates.

— Bill Oram