My co-worker, Lya Wodraska, has covered the recent Utah football commitments in her blog at http://blogs.sltrib.com/utes/index.htm but I thought it would be good to mention them here in case recruiting trail readers are unaware of the developments.

The Utes received a commitment Tuesday from Jamal Smith, a 6-2, 185-pound receiver from Oxnard High in California. The three-sport star (football, basketball, track) caught 31 passes last year for 594 yards and three touchdowns.

Last weekend, the Utes got a pledge from C.J. Porter, a 6-1, 185-pound receiver from Concord, Calif., although Wodraska called Porter's commitment "soft" after speaking to him on Monday.

Utah now has five commitments from the class of 2009: Jordan lineman Vyncent Jones, Texas safety Jarrad Stewart, California running back Chris Brown and the two aforementioned receivers.

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Utah has offered a scholarship to Cottonwood running back Isi Sofele, according to Chris Fetters of Scout.com.

I covered several Cottonwood games last year and Sofele is definitely a strong college prospect. He's just 5-foot-7 and 165 pounds, but he is so shifty and quick that defenders rarely get a good shot at him.

Against Cyprus, Highland and East, Sofele never came out, so he's obviously very durable, despite his stature.

Sofele now has offers from Air Force, UConn, UNLV and Utah, according to the Web site.

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ESPN.com has an interesting article written by Heather Dinich on its Web site about a trio of brothers who play football for Georgia Tech despite having heart conditions and/or a history of heart problems. One of the brothers, Lance Walls, is a senior walk-on fullback who transferred from BYU, according to the article.

Here's the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3437063