BYU men’s basketball fans could soon see a familiar face at Salt Lake City Stars games.
The Stars, the G League affiliate for the Utah Jazz, have acquired the rights to former BYU center Yoeli Childs. He was acquired in a trade with Washington Wizards affiliate Capital City Go-Go in exchange for guard Yogi Ferrell and a 2022 first-round draft pick, the Stars announced Thursday.
The trade means Childs would suit up for the Stars if he returns to the G League.
Childs played four seasons with the Cougars after playing his high school ball at Bingham High. In his senior year at BYU — some of which he spent injured — he averaged 22.2 points and 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Childs’s development was this 3-point shooting. He shot 48.9% from that distance his senior year — a massive improvement on the 32.3% clip he shot the year before.
Childs went undrafted in 2020 but signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Washington Wizards. He was waived less than a month later. He played 12 games and started five with the Erie Skyhawks — now the Birmingham Squadron — of the G League in the 2020-21 season. He averaged 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game there.
A team in Germany, MHP RIESEN Ludwigsbur, announced last September that it had signed Childs.
Alex is an expat from Los Angeles who started his journalism career in 2013 after attempting, and failing, to become the next great rock star. He most recently covered local sports in Chico.