Why BYU isn’t pursuing another WR in the transfer portal to replace Parker Kingston and Chase Roberts

PROVO — When spring ball opened last month, BYU’s receivers room looked stocked. The Cougars had already plucked Oregon’s Kyler Kasper and USC’s Walker Lyons from the transfer portal to offset the graduation losses of Chase Roberts and Carsen Ryan, and returning quarterback Bear Bachmeier appeared to have every weapon needed to duplicate his 2025 production.

Then the depth chart was upended. Parker Kingston—the team’s leading receiver and All-American punt returner—was charged with felony rape in late February, dismissed from the university and removed from the roster. The natural assumption was that BYU would scour the portal for an immediate replacement.

That assumption is incorrect.

“Nope, no plans to do that,” receivers coach and passing game coordinator Fesi Sitake told the Deseret News after the Cougars’ fourth spring practice. “Between the depth that we have from last year, Kyler Kasper, and the freshmen we brought in, we should be fine.”

The internal options begin with JoJo Phillips, a redshirt junior whose first three seasons have been interrupted by injury. Phillips finished 2025 with 14 receptions for 161 yards, but his four-catch, 53-yard outing in the Pop-Tarts Bowl victory over Georgia Tech offered a glimpse of the playmaking ability that made him a three-star recruit out of Sierra Canyon High.

“JoJo is kind of the leader of the group right now,” Sitake said. “When he came back he kind of had a two-game funk he had to get over. Then the bowl game came and he was great. As long as JoJo stays healthy, he is going to do what we thought he was on track to do last year.”

Phillips has embraced the mentoring role once filled by Roberts and Kingston, guiding a youthful supporting cast that includes Cody Hagen (12 catches, 97 yards in 2025), Tiger Bachmeier (seven catches, 69 yards), Reggie Frischknecht and Tei Nacua. All are vying for reps opposite Kasper, the 6-5 transfer whose blend of size and experience is expected to anchor the boundary.

Sitake’s confidence is also rooted in a three-man freshman class already enrolled and practicing this spring: returned missionary Jett Nelson, Lehi High product Legend Glasker and Portland speedster Terrance Saryon. All arrived in January and have shown flashes during the first two weeks of camp.

“I know they are freshmen, but there are some ready-made guys who I think, if they stay on their trajectory, can fill in any type of void we have,” Sitake said. “I am excited for the depth we have.”

Glasker, a 6-1, 175-pound three-star signee and cousin of BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker, has been the most consistent of the newcomers.

“Legend absolutely has a chance to play this fall,” Sitake said. “Up to this point he has had the best spring of anybody in my room.”

Nacua, a 6-2 redshirt sophomore and younger brother of Los Angeles Rams star Puka Nacua, is also trending upward after appearing in five games without a catch in 2025.

“He’s turning a really big corner right now, not just in football, but in every way,” Sitake said. “If he keeps doing what he’s doing, he will play a lot for us this fall.”

The coaching staff’s decision to stand pat underscores both faith in the current roster and the reality of roster management in the modern transfer era. Rather than chase a one-year stopgap, BYU will lean on internal development, the immediate impact of Kasper and Lyons, and a quarterback-receiver rapport that took root during Bachmeier’s breakout 2025 campaign.

For Phillips, the opportunity to lead has been years in the making.

“I am going into Year 4 now,” he said. “I learned a lot from Chase, learned a lot from Darius and Keelan, and I feel like I am ready to break out, for sure.”

Spring practices continue through mid-April, with the annual Blue-White scrimmage set to offer the first public look at how the retooled receiving corps is coming together. For now, the Cougars like what they see—and they like it enough to keep the portal closed.