Utes, Cougars Want Timp's Kruger
Utah and Brigham Young don't meet on the football field for 44 more days.
Behind the scenes, however, the Utes and Cougars have a nice little battle going on for one of the state's top high school football players: Timpanogos defensive end David Kruger.
Wednesday, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Kruger said the schools "are equal right now" in their quests to get him to sign on the dotted line next February.
"Everyone wants to know, 'BYU or Utah?' " Kruger said. "But I am trying not to think about it until after our season. Also, I can still see another school coming in and pulling me away from [BYU or Utah]. It's a long time until signing day."
Kruger said the Utes and Cougars are the only ones that have provided written offers so far, but California, Oklahoma, Colorado and Nebraska have stayed in contact with him and may be on the verge of offering.
He said he will probably play for one year and then go on an LDS Church mission.
That's the route taken by his older brother, Paul Kruger, who spent a year at the University of Utah before serving in Missouri. Paul, who was recruited by Urban Meyer to play quarterback for the Utes, switched to defensive end and is now starting at that position for the Utes.
David Kruger said the brothers don't talk much about which school the senior should attend.
"It will come down to how I see myself fitting in and how I can contribute," he said. "Which team can I help the most?"
With nine commitments, Utah presumably has a few more scholarships available right now than BYU, although coach Kyle Whittingham told us a few days ago that he has fewer scholarships to dole out this year than in most years.
As for BYU, the Cougars have 19 commitments (including three juco commitments) and only have a handful of scholarships left. A source told a former colleague of mine that the one area BYU is focusing on the most with its last few scholarships is defensive line.
The two D-linemen they have commitments from to date are Timpview's Kevan Bills and Tevita Hola from Snow College.
After Kruger, the only uncommitted Utah prep star that both Utah and BYU have offered a scholarship to is Alta running back Sausan Shakerin. However, Shakerin seems to be leaning toward taking an out-of-state offer at a school such as Boise State, Colorado or LSU.
Getting either Kruger or Shakerin would be considered huge for the Utes, because BYU probably has the edge locally right now, having received in-state commitments from Bingham tight end Austin Holt, West running back Garrett Nicholson, Bingham kicker Justin Sorensen and American Fork wideout Jake Murphy, among others.
Utah's top in-state recruits are Bingham offensive lineman Derek Tuimauga and Copper Hills defensive lineman Sealver Siliga.
Behind the scenes, however, the Utes and Cougars have a nice little battle going on for one of the state's top high school football players: Timpanogos defensive end David Kruger.
Wednesday, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound Kruger said the schools "are equal right now" in their quests to get him to sign on the dotted line next February.
"Everyone wants to know, 'BYU or Utah?' " Kruger said. "But I am trying not to think about it until after our season. Also, I can still see another school coming in and pulling me away from [BYU or Utah]. It's a long time until signing day."
Kruger said the Utes and Cougars are the only ones that have provided written offers so far, but California, Oklahoma, Colorado and Nebraska have stayed in contact with him and may be on the verge of offering.
He said he will probably play for one year and then go on an LDS Church mission.
That's the route taken by his older brother, Paul Kruger, who spent a year at the University of Utah before serving in Missouri. Paul, who was recruited by Urban Meyer to play quarterback for the Utes, switched to defensive end and is now starting at that position for the Utes.
David Kruger said the brothers don't talk much about which school the senior should attend.
"It will come down to how I see myself fitting in and how I can contribute," he said. "Which team can I help the most?"
With nine commitments, Utah presumably has a few more scholarships available right now than BYU, although coach Kyle Whittingham told us a few days ago that he has fewer scholarships to dole out this year than in most years.
As for BYU, the Cougars have 19 commitments (including three juco commitments) and only have a handful of scholarships left. A source told a former colleague of mine that the one area BYU is focusing on the most with its last few scholarships is defensive line.
The two D-linemen they have commitments from to date are Timpview's Kevan Bills and Tevita Hola from Snow College.
After Kruger, the only uncommitted Utah prep star that both Utah and BYU have offered a scholarship to is Alta running back Sausan Shakerin. However, Shakerin seems to be leaning toward taking an out-of-state offer at a school such as Boise State, Colorado or LSU.
Getting either Kruger or Shakerin would be considered huge for the Utes, because BYU probably has the edge locally right now, having received in-state commitments from Bingham tight end Austin Holt, West running back Garrett Nicholson, Bingham kicker Justin Sorensen and American Fork wideout Jake Murphy, among others.
Utah's top in-state recruits are Bingham offensive lineman Derek Tuimauga and Copper Hills defensive lineman Sealver Siliga.
1 Comments:
I understood when Eli Manning didn't want to play at Tennessee. There was too much to live up to.
But I don't understand this. Utah needs help on the DLine, so Kruger would surely play a lot. His bother is playing as a freshman! Plus, he would get to play with his brother. That would be like a dream to me. Nothing was better than having my little bro as a roomate when I was in college, and we only played pickup bball together. It's not like big brother would overshadow him. They could kick QB tail together. Remember the Dysons together? And the Lusks? That always sounded like so much fun.
Oh well, to each his own.
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