Freewheeling, friendly and affable: Meet Xavion Staton, BYU’s next ‘big’ thing.
Xavion Staton is the Kevin Young recruit who occasionally peeks out from the shadow of projected No. 1 draft pick AJ Dybantsa.
Both played for Utah Prep in Southern Utah’s St. George area.
Both players are on BYU’s campus right now getting acclimated, working out, meeting with strength and conditioning coaches and nutritionists, signing up for classes, and preparing for summer workouts.Staton is 7-foot-1, athletic and mobile. He’s a swatting-machine rim protector, like current BYU starter Keba Keita. He can alter shots if he doesn’t get his paws on the orb.
Those around Utah Prep say Staton’s year was kind of the opposite of Dybantsa’s, who found himself a huge target of national media wherever the team traveled. Dybantsa had handlers who managed his time, his interviews and his appearances. He was very protected.
Staton is a freewheeling, friendly, very open, affable player whose unrestricted freedom off the court was used to engage with anyone who wanted a part of his time.
“BYU fans are going to love him,” said Utah Prep’s Justin Mabey.
When told about what Mabey said about his personality, Staton said, “That’s spot on.”
“I didn’t think that any of this would have happened already. I went into basketball just trying to get college paid for at the most,” Staton told the Deseret News. “Once I found out I was actually somewhat good at it, I feel like everyone deserves some kind of shot or chance
