BYU recruiting roundup
Perhaps because the BYU Cougars haven't played a football game against a Division I opponent in more than a month, there have been more opportunities than normal to talk to coach Bronco Mendenhall and others about the program's recruiting efforts.
Seven Cougar coaches hit the recruiting trail last weekend after BYU's game against San Diego State was postponed, but Mendenhall said it was during a "no-contact" period as prescribed by the NCAA so not much came out of the trips.
"Other than verifying evaluations and making sure that players that we have offered are performing well and finding new players that we might not have known about, very little came out of it," Mendenhall said.
The coach said BYU has just three scholarships available, assuming all 19 of the commitments it currently has remain intact. Other BYU coaches have told The Recruiting Trail that defensive linemen are the priority right now, but Mendenhall said he is seeking "the best available players remaining," regardless of position.
"We have already over-offered the number of slots we have left, which is kind of common practice for many programs," he said. "All the young men that we have offered are being recruited elsewhere" so BYU is fairly certain it won't get them all and be put in a scholarship crunch.
BYU's 19 known commitments are listed below.
Several recruiting Web sites list 12 additional players who have offers from BYU on the table. However, Mendenhall said Monday "we have six or seven offers out there still."
A source familiar with all aspects of BYU's recruiting said he is certain of only four players who have offers right now.
Those four are Hamani Stevens, a center from Hemet, Calif.; Sausan Shakerin, a running back from Alta High in Sandy, Utah; David Kruger, a defensive end from Timpanogos High in Orem, Utah, and O'Neill Chambers, a wide receiver from Harmony High in Florida.
The Cougars think they have a 50-50 chance to get Kruger, whose brother, Paul, is starting as a freshman on Utah's defensive line. They like their chances less of getting Stevens, who is listed as a four-star recruit (of a possible five) by scout.com.
Ranked as the No. 5 center in the country, Stevens has visited Colorado and Arizona State and is scheduled to visit Michigan State this weekend. He has trips scheduled to Oregon on Dec. 1 and BYU on Jan. 9.
Chambers, who also has offers from Maryland, Florida, Purdue, South Carolina and others, continues to list BYU as one of his favorites because his high school coach, Tyler Anderson, played for the Cougars. However, he has said he wants to go to college as a package deal with his teammate, Kedron Paul, and BYU is not offering Paul a scholarship.
The Cougars acknowledge that their hope of landing Shakerin is a long shot because he is not LDS and his cousin, Bo Nagahi, played for Utah. Their ace in the hole with Shakerin, they hope, is that they have promised him he can play running back. Several schools are recruiting him to play defense.
"We have three remaining spots. Any of those that [commit], we would certainly take them. If none do, then we would continue to look," Mendenhall said. "So, the next little while is not only a reassessing and reaffirming our evaluations to this point, but if we happen to see others we will [make offers] to them, too."
The source said BYU did offer Greg Castillo, a cornerback from Philadelphia whose father is on coach Andy Reid's staff with the Eagles, at one time. However, that offer came with a deadline to commit, which Castillo didn't do, so now it is off the table.
Others who aren't on BYU's recruiting board, but who have told Web sites and the like that they have been offered, include Oxnard, Calif., fullback Ina Liaina; Crespi, Calif., quarterback Kevin Prince; Kahuku, Haw., slotback Paipai Falemalu; Union City, Calif., cornerback Rashad Evans' Moreno Valley, Calif., wide receiver William Jenkins and Snow Junior College defensive tackle David Tufuga.
Mendenhall said it is still possible that a player could catch their eye between now and the end of the high school season. The source said some of the players "on the bubble" who may get scholarships offers late include Jordan receiver Cody Raymond, Bingham linebacker Iona Pritchard, Alta linebacker Jefferson Court and Alta lineman Derek Keller.
"The spots we have [remaining] are available to those who are ready to commit to take them," Mendenhall said. "So if we happen to find another player out there, that we feel like we've missed, and if that player is ready, we would certainly honor his commitment if he chose to come. We think we have given the other players plenty of time."
BYU Football Commitments -- Class of 2008
Player High School/Hometown Position
Austin Holt Bingham/South Jordan Tight end
Justin Sorensen Bingham/South Jordan Kicker
Garrett Nicholson West/Salt Lake City Running back/Defensive back
Kevan Bills Timpview/Provo Defensive end
Michael Alisa Timpview/Provo Linebacker
Jake Murphy American Fork Wide Receiver
Cameron Comer Springville Defensive back
Daniel Sorensen Colton, Calif. Defensive back
Shiloah Te'o Kahuku/Laie, Haw. Defensive back
Brock Stringham Highlands Ranch, Colo. Offensive lineman
Seta Pohahau Aragon, Calif. Running back
Masi Tuitama Pacifica, Calif. Linebacker
Atem Bol Bell H.S., Texas Wide receiver
Michael Yeck Keller H.S., Texas Offensive lineman
Jerry Bruner Evergreen, Wash. Running back
Spencer Hadley Connell, Wash. Linebacker
Player Junior College Position
Jessie Taufi Long Beach CC Offensive line
Tolu Moala El Camino CC Linebacker
Tevita Hola Snow Junior College Defensive line
Seven Cougar coaches hit the recruiting trail last weekend after BYU's game against San Diego State was postponed, but Mendenhall said it was during a "no-contact" period as prescribed by the NCAA so not much came out of the trips.
"Other than verifying evaluations and making sure that players that we have offered are performing well and finding new players that we might not have known about, very little came out of it," Mendenhall said.
The coach said BYU has just three scholarships available, assuming all 19 of the commitments it currently has remain intact. Other BYU coaches have told The Recruiting Trail that defensive linemen are the priority right now, but Mendenhall said he is seeking "the best available players remaining," regardless of position.
"We have already over-offered the number of slots we have left, which is kind of common practice for many programs," he said. "All the young men that we have offered are being recruited elsewhere" so BYU is fairly certain it won't get them all and be put in a scholarship crunch.
BYU's 19 known commitments are listed below.
Several recruiting Web sites list 12 additional players who have offers from BYU on the table. However, Mendenhall said Monday "we have six or seven offers out there still."
A source familiar with all aspects of BYU's recruiting said he is certain of only four players who have offers right now.
Those four are Hamani Stevens, a center from Hemet, Calif.; Sausan Shakerin, a running back from Alta High in Sandy, Utah; David Kruger, a defensive end from Timpanogos High in Orem, Utah, and O'Neill Chambers, a wide receiver from Harmony High in Florida.
The Cougars think they have a 50-50 chance to get Kruger, whose brother, Paul, is starting as a freshman on Utah's defensive line. They like their chances less of getting Stevens, who is listed as a four-star recruit (of a possible five) by scout.com.
Ranked as the No. 5 center in the country, Stevens has visited Colorado and Arizona State and is scheduled to visit Michigan State this weekend. He has trips scheduled to Oregon on Dec. 1 and BYU on Jan. 9.
Chambers, who also has offers from Maryland, Florida, Purdue, South Carolina and others, continues to list BYU as one of his favorites because his high school coach, Tyler Anderson, played for the Cougars. However, he has said he wants to go to college as a package deal with his teammate, Kedron Paul, and BYU is not offering Paul a scholarship.
The Cougars acknowledge that their hope of landing Shakerin is a long shot because he is not LDS and his cousin, Bo Nagahi, played for Utah. Their ace in the hole with Shakerin, they hope, is that they have promised him he can play running back. Several schools are recruiting him to play defense.
"We have three remaining spots. Any of those that [commit], we would certainly take them. If none do, then we would continue to look," Mendenhall said. "So, the next little while is not only a reassessing and reaffirming our evaluations to this point, but if we happen to see others we will [make offers] to them, too."
The source said BYU did offer Greg Castillo, a cornerback from Philadelphia whose father is on coach Andy Reid's staff with the Eagles, at one time. However, that offer came with a deadline to commit, which Castillo didn't do, so now it is off the table.
Others who aren't on BYU's recruiting board, but who have told Web sites and the like that they have been offered, include Oxnard, Calif., fullback Ina Liaina; Crespi, Calif., quarterback Kevin Prince; Kahuku, Haw., slotback Paipai Falemalu; Union City, Calif., cornerback Rashad Evans' Moreno Valley, Calif., wide receiver William Jenkins and Snow Junior College defensive tackle David Tufuga.
Mendenhall said it is still possible that a player could catch their eye between now and the end of the high school season. The source said some of the players "on the bubble" who may get scholarships offers late include Jordan receiver Cody Raymond, Bingham linebacker Iona Pritchard, Alta linebacker Jefferson Court and Alta lineman Derek Keller.
"The spots we have [remaining] are available to those who are ready to commit to take them," Mendenhall said. "So if we happen to find another player out there, that we feel like we've missed, and if that player is ready, we would certainly honor his commitment if he chose to come. We think we have given the other players plenty of time."
BYU Football Commitments -- Class of 2008
Player High School/Hometown Position
Austin Holt Bingham/South Jordan Tight end
Justin Sorensen Bingham/South Jordan Kicker
Garrett Nicholson West/Salt Lake City Running back/Defensive back
Kevan Bills Timpview/Provo Defensive end
Michael Alisa Timpview/Provo Linebacker
Jake Murphy American Fork Wide Receiver
Cameron Comer Springville Defensive back
Daniel Sorensen Colton, Calif. Defensive back
Shiloah Te'o Kahuku/Laie, Haw. Defensive back
Brock Stringham Highlands Ranch, Colo. Offensive lineman
Seta Pohahau Aragon, Calif. Running back
Masi Tuitama Pacifica, Calif. Linebacker
Atem Bol Bell H.S., Texas Wide receiver
Michael Yeck Keller H.S., Texas Offensive lineman
Jerry Bruner Evergreen, Wash. Running back
Spencer Hadley Connell, Wash. Linebacker
Player Junior College Position
Jessie Taufi Long Beach CC Offensive line
Tolu Moala El Camino CC Linebacker
Tevita Hola Snow Junior College Defensive line
1 Comments:
Thanks for the excellent report. I note that BYU received two additional commitments yesterday (Pritchard, Kaufusi). It is interesting to watch local teams try to fill their future needs.
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