Football: This and that from Nike camp at BYU
Many of the best high school football players in Utah and surrounding states took part in the Nike Football Training Camp at BYU earlier today. The one-day camp, sort of a follow up to Friday's Combine at Murray Park, was again presented in affiliation with Rivals.com.
Blue-chip recruits were everywhere, and I managed to visit with several and will give some updates in future posts.
First, though, an overall report:
Layton running back LaVaughn Jackson was named the camp MVP, mostly due to his performance in the timed events held Friday at Murray Park. He scored a 105.46 rating at four stations: 40-yard dash, shuttle run, vertical jump and powerball toss.
I chatted with Jackson on Friday and was surprised to learn he does not have college offers yet. I will say this -- the kid looks like a Division I running back and was as chiseled as any prospect there.
He said he will participate in the All-Poly Camp next week at Bountiful High, where dozens of college coaches will see him, and I suspect some offers will start to come in after that.
Four Utah kids earned MVP honors in their respective positions. Timpview's Travis Van Leeuwen was the wide receiver MVP, Timpview's Craig Bills was the defensive back MVP, Bingham's L.T. Filiaga was the linebacker MVP and Cottonwood's Percy Taumoelau was the offensive line MVP. Bills has already committed to BYU.
The MVP quarterback was Dakota Stonehouse from Glenwood Springs, Colo. The MVP running back and MVP defensive lineman were also out-of-staters, but I did not catch their names.
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I spent a lot of time watching the receivers run their drills. Van Leeuwen was impressive and deserved the MVP award, but the other prospect that stood out was Bingham High's 6-foot-5 Michael Edmunds. The big, red-headed receiver made some sensational grabs, and also showed some breakaway speed.
Van Leeuwen (6-foot-3) and Edmunds both run the 40 in the 4.5-second range, so it is somewhat surprising that neither athlete has an offer yet.
Seemingly, it came as bad news for both on Friday when BYU offered Mitch Mathews, the receiver from Beaverton, Ore., and not them.
"Yeah, but not really," said Edmunds, who has made it clear several times that he would give almost anything to play for the Cougars. "It's good for Mitch. I'm happy for him. As for me, I will keep working at it."
An excellent student, Edmunds said in two weeks he will participate in camps at Stanford and Washington and will also spend a couple of days at BYU's non-padded camp. He also said Utah has shown interest.
As for Van Leeuwen, he seemed less bummed out about BYU offering Mathews and not him because he said he is still hoping for an offer from Utah.
"Utah would be my first choice," he said, noting that it is his dream to become one of the first athletes from Timpview (in BYU's shadow) to head to the U. in quite a while.
Van Leeuwen said he will participate in the All-Poly Camp, Washington's camp, Utah's camp on June 23-24 and a camp at LSU in July with Spanish Fork's Richard Wilson, a tight end who is quickly becoming the state's second most sought-after recruit from the class of 2009, behind only Cottonwood's John Martinez.
Sky View's J.D. Falslev also looked good in the receiver/defensive back drills.
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Speaking of SF's Wilson, he didn't participate Saturday morning because he was taking the ACT college admission test. The big recruit with the 3.8 GPA dropped by afterwards, however, and said he felt like he "did OK" on the test.
Timpview's Xavier Su'a-Filo also took the ACT on Saturday.
Wilson confirmed what has been widely reported: he recently received offers from Miami and Tennessee and now has six. Utah, Arizona, BYU and LSU are the others.
"I have no favorite yet," he said. "I'm still trying to find the place where I feel really comfortable."
Cottonwood's Martinez was also at Saturday's get-together, although his teammate, Percy Taumoelau, was the most impressive offensive lineman, as chosen by the camp staff. Taumoelau (6-4, 295) said Friday that he doesn't have any offers yet, but that Washington, Washington State and Arkansas have talked to his prep coach, Cecil Thomas, about him.
He would really like to go to Michigan State, the school his linebacker cousin, David Rolf, recently signed with. Both are part of the football-playing Kaufusi clan.
Other prospects that I recognized at Saturday's session were Bingham's L.T. Filiaga, Timpview's Bronson Kaufusi (a BYU commit) and Chris Badger (who received a BYU offer Friday) and Spanish Fork quarterback Breck Lewis.
Among the impressive out-of-staters were Texas receiver Ross Apo (who will be a junior), Kahuku safety Jray Galea'i (a BYU commit) and Kyle Van Noy, a four-star linebacker from Reno, Nev.
I will have more on Van Noy (6-4, 202) later, but he told me he has 10 scholarship offers. However, the LDS athlete said BYU is in his top three, along with Arizona State and Oregon.
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Remember former Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin? He worked with the quarterbacks on Saturday, having been brought in by Nike. Prep coaches such as Bingham assistant John Lamborne and Cottonwood head coach Cecil Thomas were also helping.
But most of the staff volunteers were former BYU players: Matt Berry, Cameron Jensen, Ben Criddle, Reno Mahe, Nate Meikle, Curtis Brown, Kayle Buchanan and Dustin Gabriel.
BYU's coaches were not allowed to attend or observe, per NCAA rules.
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I did not see any of the quarterbacks that BYU and/or Utah have offered: Washington's Jake Heaps, Idaho's Taysom Hill and California's Jamie Jensen.
Logan High quarterback Jeff Manning was not there, either, as far as I could tell. The scuttlebutt among some sideline observers was that Manning might have got the word from BYU coaches after Friday's Junior Day that they will most likely not offer him a scholarship.
Also, word is that the Cougar coaches are not holding their breath for Josh Nunes, the four-star quarterback from Upland, Calif., who has BYU in his final eight with the likes of Tennessee, Florida and Oklahoma.
Blue-chip recruits were everywhere, and I managed to visit with several and will give some updates in future posts.
First, though, an overall report:
Layton running back LaVaughn Jackson was named the camp MVP, mostly due to his performance in the timed events held Friday at Murray Park. He scored a 105.46 rating at four stations: 40-yard dash, shuttle run, vertical jump and powerball toss.
I chatted with Jackson on Friday and was surprised to learn he does not have college offers yet. I will say this -- the kid looks like a Division I running back and was as chiseled as any prospect there.
He said he will participate in the All-Poly Camp next week at Bountiful High, where dozens of college coaches will see him, and I suspect some offers will start to come in after that.
Four Utah kids earned MVP honors in their respective positions. Timpview's Travis Van Leeuwen was the wide receiver MVP, Timpview's Craig Bills was the defensive back MVP, Bingham's L.T. Filiaga was the linebacker MVP and Cottonwood's Percy Taumoelau was the offensive line MVP. Bills has already committed to BYU.
The MVP quarterback was Dakota Stonehouse from Glenwood Springs, Colo. The MVP running back and MVP defensive lineman were also out-of-staters, but I did not catch their names.
--------------------------------------------------
I spent a lot of time watching the receivers run their drills. Van Leeuwen was impressive and deserved the MVP award, but the other prospect that stood out was Bingham High's 6-foot-5 Michael Edmunds. The big, red-headed receiver made some sensational grabs, and also showed some breakaway speed.
Van Leeuwen (6-foot-3) and Edmunds both run the 40 in the 4.5-second range, so it is somewhat surprising that neither athlete has an offer yet.
Seemingly, it came as bad news for both on Friday when BYU offered Mitch Mathews, the receiver from Beaverton, Ore., and not them.
"Yeah, but not really," said Edmunds, who has made it clear several times that he would give almost anything to play for the Cougars. "It's good for Mitch. I'm happy for him. As for me, I will keep working at it."
An excellent student, Edmunds said in two weeks he will participate in camps at Stanford and Washington and will also spend a couple of days at BYU's non-padded camp. He also said Utah has shown interest.
As for Van Leeuwen, he seemed less bummed out about BYU offering Mathews and not him because he said he is still hoping for an offer from Utah.
"Utah would be my first choice," he said, noting that it is his dream to become one of the first athletes from Timpview (in BYU's shadow) to head to the U. in quite a while.
Van Leeuwen said he will participate in the All-Poly Camp, Washington's camp, Utah's camp on June 23-24 and a camp at LSU in July with Spanish Fork's Richard Wilson, a tight end who is quickly becoming the state's second most sought-after recruit from the class of 2009, behind only Cottonwood's John Martinez.
Sky View's J.D. Falslev also looked good in the receiver/defensive back drills.
---------------------------------------------------
Speaking of SF's Wilson, he didn't participate Saturday morning because he was taking the ACT college admission test. The big recruit with the 3.8 GPA dropped by afterwards, however, and said he felt like he "did OK" on the test.
Timpview's Xavier Su'a-Filo also took the ACT on Saturday.
Wilson confirmed what has been widely reported: he recently received offers from Miami and Tennessee and now has six. Utah, Arizona, BYU and LSU are the others.
"I have no favorite yet," he said. "I'm still trying to find the place where I feel really comfortable."
Cottonwood's Martinez was also at Saturday's get-together, although his teammate, Percy Taumoelau, was the most impressive offensive lineman, as chosen by the camp staff. Taumoelau (6-4, 295) said Friday that he doesn't have any offers yet, but that Washington, Washington State and Arkansas have talked to his prep coach, Cecil Thomas, about him.
He would really like to go to Michigan State, the school his linebacker cousin, David Rolf, recently signed with. Both are part of the football-playing Kaufusi clan.
Other prospects that I recognized at Saturday's session were Bingham's L.T. Filiaga, Timpview's Bronson Kaufusi (a BYU commit) and Chris Badger (who received a BYU offer Friday) and Spanish Fork quarterback Breck Lewis.
Among the impressive out-of-staters were Texas receiver Ross Apo (who will be a junior), Kahuku safety Jray Galea'i (a BYU commit) and Kyle Van Noy, a four-star linebacker from Reno, Nev.
I will have more on Van Noy (6-4, 202) later, but he told me he has 10 scholarship offers. However, the LDS athlete said BYU is in his top three, along with Arizona State and Oregon.
----------------------------------------
Remember former Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin? He worked with the quarterbacks on Saturday, having been brought in by Nike. Prep coaches such as Bingham assistant John Lamborne and Cottonwood head coach Cecil Thomas were also helping.
But most of the staff volunteers were former BYU players: Matt Berry, Cameron Jensen, Ben Criddle, Reno Mahe, Nate Meikle, Curtis Brown, Kayle Buchanan and Dustin Gabriel.
BYU's coaches were not allowed to attend or observe, per NCAA rules.
---------------------------------------------------
I did not see any of the quarterbacks that BYU and/or Utah have offered: Washington's Jake Heaps, Idaho's Taysom Hill and California's Jamie Jensen.
Logan High quarterback Jeff Manning was not there, either, as far as I could tell. The scuttlebutt among some sideline observers was that Manning might have got the word from BYU coaches after Friday's Junior Day that they will most likely not offer him a scholarship.
Also, word is that the Cougar coaches are not holding their breath for Josh Nunes, the four-star quarterback from Upland, Calif., who has BYU in his final eight with the likes of Tennessee, Florida and Oklahoma.
6 Comments:
Man it sounds like there were a lot of talented kids out there.
I'm especially impressed with the wide receivers. It's a shame, though, when a kid like the one from Bingham who says he'd give anything to be a Cougar doesn't get a scholarship.
Hopefully he'll keep working hard and prove that he deserves one.
On the other hand, I have to trust that the coaches are doing a good job with their evaluations. If they say Mitch Mathews is a better prospect, then I have to trust they're right.
Now I'd like to see Hill, Filiaga, Sua'Filo, Wilson and Te'o join the Cougar fold. Nunes and Martinez seem like long-shots.
The 2008 class, by the way, is looking more and more like the most talented to ever come out of Utah. Definitely a good thing for the Cougs. And the Utes... I guess.
Although, why a talented kid with a bright future would want to run aboard a sinking ship like that is beyond me...
Re: adam
Sinking ships rise?
Utah's win totals the last three years: 7, 8, 9 . . . . I wonder what the total might be this year. Hmmmmm . . . . .
To think, Kyle had his best season in a year where so many of his starters were injured and had to be replaced with Freshman and Sophomores.
Imagine what Kyle will do with a team that stays healthy.
Bronco will have to be extremely lucky to see a double-digit win total in either of the next two seasons.
you're doing a helluva job jay
Remember Yewthunder- Kyle Whittingam's Utes lost to UNLV 0-27 in his best year ever as head coach!
What high schooler in his right mind would want to play for him? Besides kids with guns pulling fast food jockies out of restaurant windows, that is...
I can remember that, mars.
Just like I remember the Utes CRUSHING #11 UCLA 44-6 without their starting QB or their best OL or their best RB or their best WR.
Like I said, imagine what Whittingham will be able to do with a team that stays healthy.
In '05, the Utes had to play an 18 year old QB(thanks to Urban) and he was injured in the tenth game, yet Kyle leads the Utes to 7 wins, a win over byU, and wins a bowl against #24 Georgia Tech.
In '06, the Utes had virtually no running game and had to redshirt their best QB, yet Kyle led the Utes to 8 wins, was one play away from beating byU, and won another bowl game.
In '07, 51 starts were lost to injury and yet Kyle led the Utes to 9 wins, was again one play away from beating byU, and won another bowl game.
The kewgs have been very fortunate the last two years. In '06, Beck, Brown, Harline, and Jensen all stayed healthy and in '07, Hall, Unga, Pitta, Kehl, and Collie all managed to stay healthy enough to play all year. If byU had lost any combination of those players the way Utah did last year, the kewgs would have finished with a record worse than 9-4 both of the last two seasons, that's for sure.
Don't worry mars, fortunes change and soon enough the Utes will be the ones getting all the breaks and byU will be the ones that feel like everything is working against them.
Nice work Jay.Do you think the Utes will be offering the kid from Timpview a scholarship soon ? It sounds like he performed very well at the camp and he said he liked Utah.
Thanks again for the info.
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