Football: Reports from combines at Murray Park, BYU
Just got back from this afternoon's Nike Football Combine at Murray Park, where a couple hundred or so high school-age football players worked out and had their times and measurements recorded.
I believe Rivals.com uses the information for their profiles on the top players in the state and country. More on the Murray deal in a minute.
Unfortunately, I had a prior commitment that kept me from attending Junior Day at BYU today, but several blog readers have told me that almost all the rising seniors who have offers from BYU were there, including Taysom Hill, the quarterback from Highland High in Pocatello, Idaho, and Jamie Jensen, the quarterback from Gilroy, Calif.
Jake Heaps, the quarterback from Issaquah, Wash., who will be a junior this fall, was also there, I've been told. Linebacker Manti Te'o of Hawaii was not there.
Troy Badger, the brother of Chris Badger, a safety/receiver at Timpview High who will also be a junior this fall, said that Chris received an oral scholarship offer from coach Bronco Mendenahall after the camp.
"BYU was one of his favorites, so he's extremely excited about the offer," Troy said.
Chris has also attended camps at Arizona State, UCLA and LSU this summer and he plans on going to USC and Stanford in a few weeks.
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The father of a recuit that BYU is interested in (but has not offered) told me that the talent level at the two-hour affair was incredible. He said Timpview safety Craig Bills, who has already committed to BYU, was extremely impressive and that "Heaps is for real."
He also said Bingham defensive end Remington Peck (who has offers from Weber State and strong interest from Washington, according to his father, Kenny) showed well as a defensive player. Peck is also a tight end, but might be BYU's second choice at that position behind Spanish Fork's Richard Wilson.
My source said the scuttlebutt on the sidelines was that the Cougars were going to try to get a commitment from Taysom Hill this weekend, for what that's worth. Logan quarterback Jeff Manning was also there.
Scout.com's Chris Fetters is reporting that Mitch Mathews, a 6-5, 195-pound receiver from Southridge High in Beaverton, Ore., received an offer from the Cougars at the conclusion of the get-together. Mathews also has an offer from UNLV.
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At the Nike Combine in Murray, I was able to talk to Cottonwood's John Martinez, Isi Sofele, Assi Hosea and Percy Taumoelau and Layton's LaVaughn Jackson and hope to have some specific posts on those prospects in the coming days.
It was my first chance to see Martinez without pads and a jersey on, and, well, it is easy to see why he's ranked as one of the top offensive line recruits in the country.
He said he wasn't invited to BYU's Junior Day on Friday, but plans on being there Saturday for the Nike Combine in Provo.
Of course, Martinez has offers from the likes of USC, LSU and Florida, but I asked him if BYU or Utah had any kind of shot at landing him.
"Probably not," he said, "But if I wanted to stay home I would definitely go to BYU."
He said that's because his uncle, Steve Kaufusi, is BYU's defensive line coach.
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I know the whole BYU-and-missionary-recruits thing has been beaten to death, and I'm sorry to those of you who are as sick of it as I am. But I got an e-mail this morning from a BYU fan asking me to track down the validity of a claim that Jordan High coach Alex Jacobson has a form letter that BYU football coaches allegedly send to football-minded missionaries at their 18-month mark asking them to think about BYU when they return home.
Well, Jacobson said he has never heard of such a thing and has no such letter in his possession.
But I am glad I called him, because he had a some news: Jordan will travel to Canton, Ohio, to play national power Massillon of Ohio in the Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Classic on Aug. 30.
You can read more about that at http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_9579502
I believe Rivals.com uses the information for their profiles on the top players in the state and country. More on the Murray deal in a minute.
Unfortunately, I had a prior commitment that kept me from attending Junior Day at BYU today, but several blog readers have told me that almost all the rising seniors who have offers from BYU were there, including Taysom Hill, the quarterback from Highland High in Pocatello, Idaho, and Jamie Jensen, the quarterback from Gilroy, Calif.
Jake Heaps, the quarterback from Issaquah, Wash., who will be a junior this fall, was also there, I've been told. Linebacker Manti Te'o of Hawaii was not there.
Troy Badger, the brother of Chris Badger, a safety/receiver at Timpview High who will also be a junior this fall, said that Chris received an oral scholarship offer from coach Bronco Mendenahall after the camp.
"BYU was one of his favorites, so he's extremely excited about the offer," Troy said.
Chris has also attended camps at Arizona State, UCLA and LSU this summer and he plans on going to USC and Stanford in a few weeks.
--------------------
The father of a recuit that BYU is interested in (but has not offered) told me that the talent level at the two-hour affair was incredible. He said Timpview safety Craig Bills, who has already committed to BYU, was extremely impressive and that "Heaps is for real."
He also said Bingham defensive end Remington Peck (who has offers from Weber State and strong interest from Washington, according to his father, Kenny) showed well as a defensive player. Peck is also a tight end, but might be BYU's second choice at that position behind Spanish Fork's Richard Wilson.
My source said the scuttlebutt on the sidelines was that the Cougars were going to try to get a commitment from Taysom Hill this weekend, for what that's worth. Logan quarterback Jeff Manning was also there.
Scout.com's Chris Fetters is reporting that Mitch Mathews, a 6-5, 195-pound receiver from Southridge High in Beaverton, Ore., received an offer from the Cougars at the conclusion of the get-together. Mathews also has an offer from UNLV.
------------------------------
At the Nike Combine in Murray, I was able to talk to Cottonwood's John Martinez, Isi Sofele, Assi Hosea and Percy Taumoelau and Layton's LaVaughn Jackson and hope to have some specific posts on those prospects in the coming days.
It was my first chance to see Martinez without pads and a jersey on, and, well, it is easy to see why he's ranked as one of the top offensive line recruits in the country.
He said he wasn't invited to BYU's Junior Day on Friday, but plans on being there Saturday for the Nike Combine in Provo.
Of course, Martinez has offers from the likes of USC, LSU and Florida, but I asked him if BYU or Utah had any kind of shot at landing him.
"Probably not," he said, "But if I wanted to stay home I would definitely go to BYU."
He said that's because his uncle, Steve Kaufusi, is BYU's defensive line coach.
-----------------------------
I know the whole BYU-and-missionary-recruits thing has been beaten to death, and I'm sorry to those of you who are as sick of it as I am. But I got an e-mail this morning from a BYU fan asking me to track down the validity of a claim that Jordan High coach Alex Jacobson has a form letter that BYU football coaches allegedly send to football-minded missionaries at their 18-month mark asking them to think about BYU when they return home.
Well, Jacobson said he has never heard of such a thing and has no such letter in his possession.
But I am glad I called him, because he had a some news: Jordan will travel to Canton, Ohio, to play national power Massillon of Ohio in the Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Classic on Aug. 30.
You can read more about that at http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_9579502
6 Comments:
A lot of good info here. Thanks, Jay.
a prior engagement? Probably for a yewt thing, why is a yewt homer in charge of BYU insider? I thought deseretnews owned sltrib again...that's too bad if sltrib can't find a Y fan to blog
I just corrected this post to show that it was Rivals.com (not Scout.com) that was affiliated with the Nike Combine at Murray Park today.
-- Jay
Even his photo appears to be that of a Yewt homer.
Holy cow! You're right mars! I never noticed it before, but he has the Ute media guide in front!! That must mean he is a Ute homer! Jay even likes Wyoming more than byU, since he has their media guide on top of byU's!!! Oh, the controversy!!
If you want to read what a byU homer has to say about your team, then go read the D-News. Harmon and Call do a Hell of a job spinning everything so that byU looks like they do nothing wrong.
Great coverage Jay. Thanks for the details. You can't be two places at once.
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