Tanner Toolson signs with BYU men’s basketball

PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s basketball coach Mark Pope announced today that Tanner Toolson has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Cougars.

“We are so excited to have Tanner join our BYU program,” Pope said. “His trajectory over the last two years has been incredible. He’s got a silky-smooth jumper and has a fire, competitiveness and physicality that will endear him to Cougar fans. Tanner comes from a great basketball family. His father Andy was a BYU legend and played for the Jazz, and his brother Conner was a junior college national champ and a star at UVU. They both had great moments in the Marriott Center – Andy wowed Cougar faithful for four years and Conner was part of a record-setting performance – and knowing Tanner as we do, he’s going to come in and be the best of the three.”

Toolson, a 6-foot-5 guard, had a breakout senior season in which he led Union High School to a school record 27 wins and a third-place finish in the 4A Washington state tournament. He averaged 23 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3 assists and was named the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Association’s Mr. Basketball, which honors the state’s top player across all classifications. Toolson was also named the Columbian’s All-Region Player of the Year and the 4A Greater St. Helens League MVP.

As a junior, Toolson averaged 13.5 points and shot 49 percent from the field while earning second-team all-region honors from the Columbian. His father, Andy Toolson, played at BYU (1984-85, 87-90) and was inducted into the Cougar Club Hall of Fame in 2001. An Academic All-American, he scored 1,388 points at BYU and went on to play professionally for the Utah Jazz and overseas in Italy, Greece and Spain. Tanner’s brother Conner played for Pope for three seasons at Utah Valley where he scored 1,220 points and made 196 3-pointers.

Toolson is the latest addition to BYU’s 2020 recruiting class that also includes Purdue transfer Matt Haarms, junior college transfers Gideon George (New Mexico Junior College) and Spencer Johnson (Salt Lake Community College) and high school seniors Dallin Hall (Fremont High School) and Richie Saunders (Wasatch Academy). Toolson, Hall and Saunders all plan to serve missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before enrolling at BYU.