Football: Big recruiting weekend upon us, BYU's Mendenhall speaks philosophically
Manti Te'o, the linebacker from Punahou High in Hawaii who is rated as one of the top prospects in the country is visiting BYU this weekend.
Along with Te'o, more than 20 recruits will be in Provo until Sunday. That group includes the 15 players who have committed to BYU and about a half-dozen who have not.
The group of uncommitted visitors includes Te'o, Nevada's Kyle Van Noy, Timpview's Xavier Su'a-Filo, Bingham's L.T. Filiaga and Siosaia Tuipolutu, a defensive tackle from Trinity High in Euless, Texas, who has reportedly given Utah a "soft" commitment.
There have been reports that Bijon Samoodi, a cornerback from Anaheim, Calif., and Dominique Gaisie, a cornerback from Mount San Antonio College, will visit this weekend, but I have not been able to verify if they are in Provo yet or not.
In a one-on-one interview with The Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday, BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall talked about BYU's recruiting this year, while being careful not to talk about specific recruits, an NCAA violation.
"Recruiting for [the Feb. 4 signing day] iis going great," Mendenhall said. "Most of our recruits are committed already. We have a major recruiting weekend this weekend. We have a lot of momentum generated and we have an excellent class with a handful of recruits still undecided. And how long that will take, I am not certain."
While not bringing up Te'o's name, I asked Mendenhall if there happened to be a five-star recruit who happened to be LDS and who happened to have family members already at BYU if it would be a make-or-break kind of deal to get him.
"There is not a kid in the country that is make or break," Mendenhall said. "What I do think is at stake is a young man can have the very best experience to shape his life, be a part of a fantastic football program, get an education based on faith that is perfectly suited to him, and then be surrounded by young men that have similar ideas and beliefs.
But in terms of our program ever hinging on a given player, or coach, I hope that's not the case."
Since we were on the topic, I asked Mendenhall if BYU needs to get every LDS kid who is a Division I recruit in the country to be a top 25 program, or even a program that could possibly contend some day for a national championship.
Here is his (lengthy) reply:
"I don't think it will ever happen. If you just use the criteria that you said -- top 25 or BCS contender -- I think we have been that the last few years. So if that is the standard that we are being measured against, that is already happening.
"Maybe [you] are talking about national championship, because the [lower] standard is being met now.
"My hope is that every young man who wants this experience comes to BYU. The only time I am disappointed, or agonize over it, is if a young man sees this experience, knows it will be the best thing for him, and then chooses something else, possibly because of a name or a title or possibly even a reputation of, let's say, USC or something like that.
"To see them know that this where they are supposed to be -- because you can see it -- and then choose something else, that is probably the ony time that I become saddened by things like that.
"If, to measure our program as a top 25 program -- already happened -- as a top 15 program -- already happened. To measure it as a BCS contender, happening. A conference championship every year, a national championship -- maybe that tier is what you could apply that line of questioning to. Then there might be something to that. But I am not sure -- at least in talking to coach [LaVell] Edwards about that -- I am not sure there will ever be a point where every young man that is LDS comes to BYU.
Maybe that is the ideal. I would like everyone that wants to be here, to come."
-- Jay Drew
Along with Te'o, more than 20 recruits will be in Provo until Sunday. That group includes the 15 players who have committed to BYU and about a half-dozen who have not.
The group of uncommitted visitors includes Te'o, Nevada's Kyle Van Noy, Timpview's Xavier Su'a-Filo, Bingham's L.T. Filiaga and Siosaia Tuipolutu, a defensive tackle from Trinity High in Euless, Texas, who has reportedly given Utah a "soft" commitment.
There have been reports that Bijon Samoodi, a cornerback from Anaheim, Calif., and Dominique Gaisie, a cornerback from Mount San Antonio College, will visit this weekend, but I have not been able to verify if they are in Provo yet or not.
In a one-on-one interview with The Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday, BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall talked about BYU's recruiting this year, while being careful not to talk about specific recruits, an NCAA violation.
"Recruiting for [the Feb. 4 signing day] iis going great," Mendenhall said. "Most of our recruits are committed already. We have a major recruiting weekend this weekend. We have a lot of momentum generated and we have an excellent class with a handful of recruits still undecided. And how long that will take, I am not certain."
While not bringing up Te'o's name, I asked Mendenhall if there happened to be a five-star recruit who happened to be LDS and who happened to have family members already at BYU if it would be a make-or-break kind of deal to get him.
"There is not a kid in the country that is make or break," Mendenhall said. "What I do think is at stake is a young man can have the very best experience to shape his life, be a part of a fantastic football program, get an education based on faith that is perfectly suited to him, and then be surrounded by young men that have similar ideas and beliefs.
But in terms of our program ever hinging on a given player, or coach, I hope that's not the case."
Since we were on the topic, I asked Mendenhall if BYU needs to get every LDS kid who is a Division I recruit in the country to be a top 25 program, or even a program that could possibly contend some day for a national championship.
Here is his (lengthy) reply:
"I don't think it will ever happen. If you just use the criteria that you said -- top 25 or BCS contender -- I think we have been that the last few years. So if that is the standard that we are being measured against, that is already happening.
"Maybe [you] are talking about national championship, because the [lower] standard is being met now.
"My hope is that every young man who wants this experience comes to BYU. The only time I am disappointed, or agonize over it, is if a young man sees this experience, knows it will be the best thing for him, and then chooses something else, possibly because of a name or a title or possibly even a reputation of, let's say, USC or something like that.
"To see them know that this where they are supposed to be -- because you can see it -- and then choose something else, that is probably the ony time that I become saddened by things like that.
"If, to measure our program as a top 25 program -- already happened -- as a top 15 program -- already happened. To measure it as a BCS contender, happening. A conference championship every year, a national championship -- maybe that tier is what you could apply that line of questioning to. Then there might be something to that. But I am not sure -- at least in talking to coach [LaVell] Edwards about that -- I am not sure there will ever be a point where every young man that is LDS comes to BYU.
Maybe that is the ideal. I would like everyone that wants to be here, to come."
-- Jay Drew
2 Comments:
Bronko is in dreamland if he thinks the Y is already a BCS contender. They will be fortunate to ever see the northside of the top ten again.
BYU was one UCLA win over USC away from making the BCS last year, and one win over Utah from doing it this year. That's contending.
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