Newport Harbor’s Day to play for BYU Cougars

Hamilton Day, a 6-foot-2 senior outside hitter for Newport Harbor High, has verbally committed to play volleyball at Brigham Young University.

“BYU has been one of my top choices for a while now,” said Day, who was part of the Sailors’ run to the CIF Southern Section Division I title match. “They were No. 1 in the nation for some of last year. I’m excited to be playing for one of the best.”

BYU finished 25-5 and missed the four-team NCAA Tournament with a second-place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament. This year, BYU will play host to the NCAA Tournament.

Cougars Coach Shawn Patchell visited Day’s home last week and invited him to play at BYU, Day’s father, Rowland, said.

Pepperdine, which lost to Penn State in the NCAA championship match, and UC Berkeley also showed interest, Hamilton Day said.

Before Day plays for the Cougars, he’ll be one of a few top returners for Newport Harbor, which was senior-dominated last year. Still, the Sailors can be contenders, Day said.

“I think this year, a lot of the schools lost a lot of talent, but I still think we’ll be up there,” Day said. “I think we’ll do well this year.”

— Steve Virgen