...rumors that Crowton told Ben he would be starting/playing against USU as a freshman. He told his family, who traveled to the game. Crowton decided that if he played Ben, Ben might decide not to go on his mission - so he decided the day before the game to not play him. Ben and his family was frustrated that he didn't play, so he decided not to return to BYU.

I don't know if it's true - just that those rumors were out there.

It is true that BYU went from being great Crowton's first year to being not so great when Ben was returning from a mission. If he wanted to have family around to easily attend games, that could also be a great reason to transfer to UCLA.