It appears that Hamani Stevens, the four-star recruit from Hemet High in Southern California will not be attending BYU.

Rivals.com reported Thursday night that Stevens has delayed his college decision -- which he said he would make Friday -- until signing day. The killer for BYU fans, however, is a Stevens comment that "It's between Oregon and UCLA and I'm going to take an unofficial visit to UCLA this Saturday."

When I read the news, I tried to call Stevens, but he didn't answer.

So I texted him with this question: "I heard you eliminated BYU tonight. Is that true?"

His reply: Yes!

And yes, he used the exclamation point.

I replied, "Any particular reason why?"

A half hour later, he has not replied to that, and I'm ready to post and go to bed.

One last curious thing, though.

In the rivals.com article, written by recruiting analyst Greg Biggins, Stevens says:

"BYU offered my brother Tevita, who's on his mission right now, but I like the Pac-10 schools and I want to stay closer to home so it's Oregon or UCLA and right now, it's too close to call."

Tevita Stevens signed with UTEP out of high school and was not recruited by BYU. If Tevita Stevens accepts, are the Cougars now stuck with a player they didn't want?

Oh, the recruiting game. Isn't it fun?

Benji Kemoeatu, the four-star football recruit from Hawaii, boarded an airplane on Thursday afternoon and flew to.................Corvallis, Oregon.

"I am going to Oregon State tomorrow. My flight leaves at 2 p..m.," Kemoeatu said Wednesday night. "[Teammate] Anthony Siilata is going, too."

The question for University of Utah football fans: Will they commit to the Beavers this weekend?

Kemoeatu, whose three older brothers played for Utah, said he probably won't decide until the night before signing day, which is Feb. 6.

"It is pretty hard to decide, because my brothers went out to Utah," he said. "I wouldn't mind going there, but Oregon State has a good program, too. I am just trying to keep my options open until signing day."

There was a question earlier this week whether Kemoeatu would be going to Oregon State or West Virginia this weekend.

He said he has been talking to West Virginia coaches a lot about making a trip to Huntington, "but I guess we ran out of time.....They said they are really interested, though. I think they are coming out here before [signing day], though."

The 6-foot-3, 315-pound senior acknowledged his biggest obstacle right now is qualifying academically. He said he has to get a better grade in a physical science course he is re-taking and/or improve his college admission test score.

"I took the SAT, but I haven't gottten my scores back," he said. "But I feel pretty confident about the last test that I took."

Asked to put a percentage on his chances to qualify academically, Kemoeatu said, "100 percent. I feel pretty strong about it. I know I am going to get past that [NCAA] clearinghouse."

Two of Kemoeatu's went from the University of Utah to the NFL, but the recruit said Chris and Ma'ake are not putting a lot of pressure on him to follow in their footsteps.

"They just said to go somewhere where you will get a good education and where you will feel comfortable," Kemoeatu said.

He also noted that he and Siilata are not a "package deal," and that there is a possibility they could be going to different schools. The Utes have also offered Kahuku linebacker Alema Tachibana, whom Kemoeatu said is visiting Hawaii this weekend.

"A lot of people out there are kind of doubting me, but I will get it done. You watch," he said.

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In our never-ending efforts to bring some Utah State recruiting news to the Trail, we present these tidbits from various news sources:

* The Dallas Morning News reported that Victor Jones, a linebacker from Richland High in Texas, has orally committed to SMU. He was also considering Kansas and Utah State.

* The Orange County Register noted that linebacker Sean Kurtz, a Canyon High product, went on an official recruiting visit to Utah State last weekend. "The Aggies certainly can ID players," the report said. "They just need to find a way to land more of them."

Snow College receiver Adam Frandsen probably would have ended up a Division II Chadron State anyway, but a call from former Buffalo Bills receiver Don Beebe, a Chadron State alum, helped seal the deal.

Turning down offers from several Division I schools and the chance to walk on at BYU, Frandsen enrolled at the school in Nebraska in early January, Snow coach Steve Coburn said.

Frandsen played high school football at Box Elder High in Brigham City before serving an LDS Church mission and playing for the Badgers.

Here's more information on where members of Snow's 11-1 team have headed or will be heading next fall:

* Defensive tackle Chris Romero has signed with New Mexico State and has already enrolled.
* Linebacker Shane Hunter drew interest from SUU and Dixie State, but has decided to walk on at Boise State.
* Receiver Kimball Burton and linebacker Josh Sharp probably could have moved on to a four-year school to play football, but both have decided to give up the game in favor of academics and both have enrolled at Utah State.
* Lineman Isleli Pau'u out of Hunter High has been recruited by at least one Division I-AA program but is still undecided
* As previously reported, OL Andrew Mitchell is goiing to Oklahoma State and DL Stephen Paea is going to Oregon State. BYU has grabbed safety Andrew Rich, lineman Tevita Hola and defensive end Coleby Clawson and lineman Casey Davis has signed with Utah State.

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So who are the Badgers recruiting? Unlike NCAA coaches, junior college coaches can discuss recruits before they have signed. However, Coburn doesn't like to talk about his recruits out of fear that a four-year school will swoop in and snatch them up at the last minute.

He did say that the Badgers have offered 20-25 in-state players, and four or five out-of-state players who are big-time guys that couldn't qualify academically for four-year programs.

He said Snow would sign between 15 and 20 players on Feb. 6.

When new Southern Utah football coach Ed Lamb said the Thunderbirds would focus on landing in-state football recruits like never before, he apparently was not joking around.

Sources in Cedar City have confirmed that the Thunderbirds have received oral commitments from at least four Utah prep standouts, with several others also in the works.

We noted that Murray lineman Zach Brackus had committed to Southern Utah in a previous post. Brackus said he also received an offer from Snow College, but wanted to play for a four-year school right off the bat.

He confirmed that Utah State was also interested, but wanted him to walk on with "preferred" walk-on status.

"I chose SUU because I liked the campus and the facilities and I got along well with the coaching staff," Brackus said. "I am confident in the new staff. It won't be long until they get things turned around down there."

Southern Utah didn't win a game last season, resulting in the dismisal of coach Wes Meier and the beginning of the Lamb era in Cedar City.

Along with Brackus, the Thunderbirds also have oral commitments from Alta High defensive end Derek Keller, Cottonwood linebacker Paul Fuaalii and Cyprus lineman James Nielson.

Southern Utah also has commitments from the following out-of-state players: Ricky Clark, a strong safety from Tennyson High in Hayward, Calif.; Miles Crawford-Harris, a defensive back from Oakland Technical High in Oakland, Calif.; Deon Turner, a cornerback from Oakland Tech and Micahel Hoke, a quarterback from Kamehameha High in Hawaii.

The Thunderbirds are also in the hunt for Snow College lineman Arron Po'uha, the former standout wrestler and football star from Cyprus High.

They are also working on getting Cottonwood High receiver Rich Tukuafu and Highland High defensive lineman Justin Manu, a source confirmed.

Help is on the way for Southern Utah University's beleaguered men's basketball program.

The Thunderbirds, who are 5-15 heading into tonight's game at IUPUI, recently signed Lucas Jones, a 6-foot-9 sophomore center at Volunteer State Community College in Tennessee.

Jones prepped at Siegel High in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and began his college career at Virginia Military Institute. He was also recruited by Carson-Newman, Central Missouri and Tennessee Tech.

He said he visited Cedar City during the Thanksgiving break and fell in love with the town and its basketball program, now directed by former BYU coach Roger Reid.

"I went to a game and there were probably 5,000 people there," he said.

Jones is averaging 7.1 points and 5.6 rebounds a game for Vol State.

In case you missed the paragraph at the end of our story about a Park City player committing to Vanderbilt in today's paper (http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_8126420), you may not have heard that the University of Utah has lost one of its recruits to SMU.

As first reported by the Web site Utezone.com on Wednesday night, Cole Loftin of Aledo High in Texas de-committed to the Utes and gave the Mustangs his pledge on Sunday.

Loftin played quarterback for his high school team, but will likely be used as a receiver in college.

With all the outstanding receivers the Utes have commitments from, my guess is that Loftin's departure is not exactly causing Utah coach Kyle Whittingham to lose sleep. Still, it hurts the Utes because of the timing -- a week before signing day.

As a side note, it could be good news to one of those "preferred walk-ons" that the Utes are courting, perhaps a guy such as Alta linebacker Boo Anderson will not get a full ride (if he's academically eligible).

Anyway, here's a note from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about Loftin's switcheroo:

Loftin switches to Mustangs

Aledo coach Tim Buchanan confirmed that quarterback Cole Loftin has decommitted from Utah and has committed to SMU. "He sure did," Buchanan said. "It was over the weekend. To be honest, he always liked SMU. When the staff turned over, they kept calling him but no one was there to offer him anything. The whole time they kept calling, and his dad asked, 'What do you think about SMU?' I told him I don't know coach [June] Jones very well. As of today, he committed to play and he met with Utah coaches last night at his house. He made up his mind he was going to SMU." Loftin, a Star-Telegram Area 50 recruit, has been recruited as a wide receiver, and will likely play slot. -- Trae Thom

We've finally discovered a high school football player who has orally committed to Utah State, thanks to a report in the Bakersfield Californian newspaper. Certainly, the Aggies have more, but they manage to keep them mum until signing day.

The newspaper reported today that Emmanuel Ojeriakhi, a standout wide receiver/defensive back from Bakersfield High, has committed to the Aggies. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound senior received a scholarship offer from Nebraska last spring, according to his coach, Paul Golla, but that offer was withdrawn after the Cornhuskers' coaching change.

Earlier this week, USU got a commitment from Magnum Mauga, a lineman from Grossmont (Calif.) Community College who had orginally committed to BYU.

He will join four junior college players who signed with the Aggies in December.

Kevin and Kyle Whimpey, twin brothers from Lone Peak High in Highland, Utah, have orally committed to Idaho State, their mother, Barbara, told The Salt Lake Tribune today.

Kyle Whimpey, a 6-foot-6, 255-pound lineman, was an All-Region 4 honorable mention selection after the 2007 season. Kevin Whimpey, 6-5, 225, was also a starter for the Knights.

Other offers came from New Mexico State and Southern Utah.

Lone Peak is having a signing party for its athletes on Feb. 6 at noon at the school.

Just got word from a source in Cedar City that Zach Brackus, a lineman from Murray High, has orally committed to Southern Utah University and new coach Ed Lamb. Brackus received some interest from Utah State, but I'm not sure if the Aggies ever came through with a scholarship offer.

Spent a good chunk of my day trying to get in touch with Uona Kaveinga, to no avail.

Really, I got nothing for you on the four-star linebacker who committed to BYU two weeks ago but is still entertaining overtures from USC and, perhaps, UCLA.

Kaveinga's coach at Leuzinger High gave me two phone numbers -- one has a recording saying it doesn't accept incoming phone calls and the other one never gets answered by a human being, either.

Coach Deon Tolliver said he isn't surprised that Kaveinga is not really talking to anybody and called him a humble, quiet kid who doesn't seek the spotlight.

"I don't know if he is going to make the decision to go over there [to Provo] or not," Tolliver said. "He hasn't told me where he is going. I don't know whether that's a sign or not, to tell you the truth."

Tolliver said the only college coaches he has seen at school this week were from Arizona State, and they were there to talk to one of his offensive linemen who has committed to the Sun Devils.

"Nobody has dealt with Uona at the school that I know of recently," he said. "If they are talking to him, they are going straight to him and his parents, not me."

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Just got a little bit of swimming recruiting news, courtesy of my colleague at the Tribune, Chhun Sun.

Sounds like the University of Denver has offered a scholarship to Judge Memorial senior swimmer Alex Carter. Pepperdine has also shown interest in the three-time state champion in the 100 breaststroke and the current 3A state record-holder in the event.

The state swimming meets begin this weekend at BYU's swimming complex.

Hemet (Calif.) High offensive lineman Hamani Stevens, a three-star LDS recruit whom BYU covets, will wait until Friday to make his college decision known, the Web site rivals.com is reporting today.

In a story written by recruiting analyst Greg Biggins, Stevens says he will make the announcement at 12:30 p.m. PST on Friday.

Stevens has not returned my text messages today for confirmation, but the latest news is not a surprise, considering that he mentioned in a text Tuesday night that UCLA -- the school he committed to last spring -- is back in the mix.

"Coach [Rick] Neuheisel and coach Palcic came to my house [Tuesday] and made a huge impression on me and my family," he told rivals.com. "They really sold my family and my parents like the idea of me staying close to home."

There's some consolation to BYU fans, however. Biggins ends the article thusly:

"If I had to say I was leaning anywhere right now, it would probably be BYU because they offered my brother Tevita a scholarship but it's not over yet and like I said, ‘I still have a lot of thinking to do,'" Stevens said.

Tevita Stevens signed with UTEP, but is currently on an LDS Church mission.

Stevens said Saturday that he had narrowed his choices to BYU and Oregon. But UCLA's push has evidently altered his thinking.

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For those of you who follow college basketball recruiting in the state of Utah, my colleague, Michael C. Lewis, has posted an interesting blog on the pursuit of Oregon prep phenom Brad Tinsley. The high school senior signed with Pepperdine in November, but has been granted his release due to the resignation of Pepperdine's coach and is now being courted by several programs, including the University of Utah.

Go to http://blogs.sltrib.com/utehoops for the story.

A third Utah prep football star has chosen to take his talents to an out-of-state Division I football program.

Park City High's Colt Nichter orally committed to Vanderbilt of the SEC on Tuesday, two days after visiting the school's campus in Nashville, Tenn.

"I just felt the most comfortable there, and the coaches are really down to earth," Nichter said. "Plus, I can get a great education."

Nichter's decision is a blow to Weber State, which was looking like it had a chance to steal the 6-foot-2, 275-pound senior from some of the big boys of college football.

Nichter was also heavily recruited by Bowling Green and Washington State, and he gave WSU coaches a soft commitment last week after visiting their school in Pullman.

But he said that a visit to Nashville caused him to change his mind.

"I really get along well with Vanderbilt's coaches," he said.

Another Park City star, running back Matt Wright, was also getting a lot of interest from Division I programs. However, Nichter said Tuesday that Wright will probably end up at a junior college because of some academic issues.

The other two known Utah preps who have committed to non-Utah programs are Judge Memorial's Lewis Walker and Cottonwood's Lynn Katoa.

Walker has committed to Hawaii, while Katoa has signed with Colorado and is currently in school there, having graduated early from Cottonwood.

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Our Utah State beat writer, Steve Luhm, has discovered a couple more players that Utah State is recruiting.

The Aggies are apparently interested in defensive back LeAndre Daniels of San Leandro, Calif., and Jamar Smith, a defensive back from Berkeley, Calif.

Daniels is 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds and is also being recruited by UNLV.

Smith is 5-11, 170 and is also being recruited by San Jose State, New Mexico State and Sacramento State.

OK, I know this is turning into the Hamani Stevens recruiting blog, but I find these kind of recruiting battles fascinating. And I have to hand it to the young man from Hemet, Calif. -- he's been incredibly accomodating about sharing it with The Recruiting Trail readers.

I've tried several times to reach Stevens today because, as you've read here, he said on Saturday that he had made a decision and was waiting until Monday or Tuesday to announce it.

Hamani just sent me a text message around 10 p.m. Tuesday night.

Here's what it said:

"No, I haven't [announced yet]. UCLA came today so it made it a little harder to decide....Kinda turned up the heat."

Read into that what you will.

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We also got a call tonight from Park City High senior Colt Nichter. The defensive tackle said he has orally committed to Vanderbilt after visiting the SEC school in Nashville over the weekend. We will have more on Nichter tomorrow.

It seems like there comes a time during the recruitment of high-profile athletes when those athletes stop talking to newspaper reporters and Web site hosts and information is funneled through another source, such as a high school coach or family member.

I get the feeling that's what is happening with some of the Kahuku, Haw., football players that Utah is recruiting and with Uona Kaveinga, the four-star linebacker that committed to BYU but is now said to be considering USC.

So, I called Kahuku coach Reggie Torres today, and he had some interesting information, especially regarding Benji Kemoeatu, the four-star offensive lineman whom Utah is dying to get. To wit:

* West Virginia is making a late run at Kemoeatu, but hasn't decided whether it will offer a scholarship or not.

"Benji is getting calls from [West Virginia], so he wants to see what they are doing first before he decides anything," Torres said. "If West Virginia gives him an offer to fly there [this weekend], that's what he is going to do."

* USC also recently made contact with Kemoeatu.

"They are keeping in touch with him because if their first recruits don't get in, then they might talk to him," Torres said.

* Fellow Kahuku lineman Anthony Siilata is planning to visit Oregon State this weekend also, but has definitely not committed to the Beavers (contrary to a report in the Portland Tribune).

"Anthony is contemplating between Utah and UNLV, so that's where he is right now, although [the visit to OSU] could change things in a hurry," Torres said.

* Linebacker Alema Tachibana, who visited Utah the same weekend as Kemoeatu and Siilata, is visiting Hawaii this weekend.

"It's still up in the air, but Alema is leaning towards Utah," Torres said.

* The coach confirmed that Kemoeatu and Siilata both have a ways to go to get qualified academically. However, he said it is more a question of them "finishing their credit recovery courses" and lifting their grade point averages in core curriculum courses (science, math, language, etc.) than it is improving their ACT and or SAT college admission test scores.
Tachibana is fully qualified.

* I also asked about Kahuku safety Shiloah Te'o, a three-star recruit who committed to BYU last summer and confirmed that commitment when he visited Provo earlier this month. Torres said Te'o has still been getting inquiries from other schools, but still plans on signing with BYU.

"We installed the same defense this past year that BYU has, and I think Shiloah fits well in it," Torres said. "Plus, he's a member [of the LDS Church], and that goes a long way."

   The Weber State Wildcats don't have a lot of football scholarships to pass out this year, as detailed in a Salt Lake Tribune story last Sunday.

    But coach Ron McBride apparently likes an offensive lineman from Sahuaro High in the Tucson, Ariz., area enough to extend an offer.

    Brett Jividen, a 6-foot-5, 260-pound all-star made an oral commitment to Weber State on Sunday, according to the Arizona Daily Star.

    Jividen chose Weber State over Northern Arizona, his high school coach, Chuck McCollum, said Monday.

    ------------------------------------

    Speaking of commitments, the Web site Scout.com is reporting that Grossmont (Calif.) Junior College star Magnum Mauga has committed to Utah State. The Aggies signed four junior college players in December, but Mauga won't sign until Feb. 6.

    Mauga, 6-0, 290, committed to BYU last summer and told JCFootball.com that he was going to sign with BYU in December. However, he de-committed when BYU told him it couldn't bring him in during the spring because it said it didn't have enough room, according to Mauga.

    "They told me one thing and switched it up and I don't want to be a step behind with them so I'm looking around again and I'm basically open to anyone who want to recruit me," Mauga told the Web site.

    He also mentioned that day that he had offers from Auburn, Arizona State, Nevada, Oregon State, Oregon and UNLV and had taken trips to Auburn, ASU and Nevada.

    If all that is true, Mauga is a huge get for the Aggies.

    -------------------------------------

    We mentioned yesterday that the Utes are recruiting Christian Matthews, a junior quarterback from Bowie High in Arlington, Texas. Turns out, Utah may have a strong connection to the prep phenom.

    Former Granger coach Dan Eckert, now the offensive coordinator at South Summit, says that Bowie head coach Kenny Perry is a Granger High alum who was Granger's defensive coordinator under coach Ray Groth from 1992-1995.

   

People like us who are recruiting junkies jump on everything little bit of news we can get, so I am going to throw this one out there with a cautionary note: It's not much, and it might mean even less.

I was able to have a quick telephone conversation this evening with Dione Tolliver, head football coach at Leuzinger High in Lawndale, Calif. That's the school atended by Uona Kaveinga, the four-star linebacker who committed to BYU on Jan. 12 but subsequently visited USC the following weekend.

Tolliver said he asked Kaveinga on Friday what was going on with his recruitment, and "he told me he's still a BYU guy."

Tolliver said he is doing his best to "stay out of the middle of all this" and didn't want to speculate any more than that on Kaveinga's mental state.

The coach took my number and said he would ask the player to call me. He said Kaveinga did not make it to his sixth period class today or he would have asked him to call me then. He told me to not read anything into the absence.

"All I know, really, is that he said he had some doubts and so he went on a trip to SC," Tolliver said. "The only thing I tell him is, ‘Do what is best for you and your family.'"

By the way, I have seen the young man's last name spelled two different ways -- Kaveinga and Kavienga. I asked a receptionist at his school to pull up his file and spell it to me today and she spelled it K-A-V-E-I-N-G-A.

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Speaking of BYU football recruits, I was unable to reach Hamani Stevens today (Monday) after the offensive lineman told me Saturday that he might announce his college choice on Monday. I texted Stevens twice during school hours (I try not to bother players while they should be in class), but he did not reply, so I am assuming he did not announce it.

In case you missed it, Stevens said after playing in Saturday's SoCal Bowl that he had made his decision (between BYU and Oregon), but was waiting until Monday or Tuesday to announce it.

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A few other BYU football recruiting-related tidbits:

* BYU coaches were holding out some slim hope that Simoni Lawrence, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound safety from Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania would change his mind and de-commit from Minnesota in order to accept a BYU scholarship offer. I've heard they were saving a scholarship for him, even at this late date, although I never got that confirmed from anyone important.

Well, the Web site GoldenSports.Net reported last week that Lawrence has recently re-affirmed the commitment he made to the Gophers on Sept. 22. He had visited BYU on Sept. 7.

* There was a report over the weekend from Rivals.com that American Fork receiver Jake Murphy, who committed to BYU last summer, was going to visit Colorado some time before signing day. However, the BYU-based Web site totalbluesports.com, part of the Scout.com network, cleared the situation up Monday with direct quotes from Murphy saying he is 100 percent commited to BYU.

Having already secured a commitment from a prep quarterback for the class of 2008 -- Devonte Christopher of Canyon Springs High in Las Vegas -- it appears Utah football coaches are already looking at a top prep quarterback from the class of 2009 (this year's juniors).

Here's a snippet from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Texas over the weekend....

Arlington Bowie coach Kenny Perry said the other day that colleges are already requesting information on junior quarterback Christian Matthews. Oklahoma State dropped by, so did Utah. Colorado State and Louisville have also been in contact. Most are wanting video, but Perry said "there's going to be quite a few" at spring practice this year.

Just had a quick conversation with Hamani Stevens, the four-star offensive lineman from Hemet High in Southern California who is listed as one of the top centers in the country by several recruiting Web sites.

Stevens said he has decided where he will play college football.

He's just not ready to announce it yet.

"I've decided, but I am kind of keeping it a secret," he said. "I will probably announce it Monday or Tuesday." Stevens said last week he has narrowed his choices to BYU and Oregon. He said Saturday night that he has not informed the coaching staffs at either school of his decision.

"Only a few people know," he said.

Stevens said he hasn't decided whether he will make the announcement at his school or at home.

Saturday afternoon, Stevens helped the Inland team defeat the Coastal team 27-13 in the SoCal Bowl, an all-star game held in Fullerton, Calif.

"I had a really good game, I feel," he said. "I messed up once on a snap, but that was about it."

Obviously, Division I-AA Weber State doesn't get the pick of the litter when it comes to football recruiting.

But the Wildcats have apparently found a pair of good ones recently, landing oral commitments from one of the state of Utah's top athletes and one of the top defensive tackles in Hawaii.

Jamie Rigby, a combination running back and defensive back from Bountiful High has given the Wildcats a pledge, a source within the football department confirmed Friday.

Also, Ryan Eastman of Honolulu, Haw., and St. Louis High School said in an email this morning that he is headed to Ogden.

Ribgy was a first-team Tribune 4A all-stater in 2007 and rushed for almost 1,000 yards for the Braves.

Eastman, 6-0, 260, is ranked as the No. 9 recruit in Hawaii by Rivals.com and the 110th best defensive tackle in the country by ESPN.

We will have more on Weber State's recruiting efforts -- perhaps the last go-round for veteran coach Ron McBride -- in Sunday's newspaper.

I know, I'm probably the last reporter on the planet to get in touch with Anthony Siilata, the Kahuku High (Hawaii) linebacker who visited the University of Utah last weekend, along with teammates Benji Kemoeatu and Alema Tachibana.

I finally reached the three-star recruit last night. I love dealing with Hawaii recruits because you never have to worry about calling too late, because of the time change.

Siilata told me the same thing he as told others: He did not commit to Utah, as was widely reported, and he is visiting Oregon State next weekend.

He was going to visit Corvallis this weekend, but canceled the trip in order to take the SAT college admission test for the third time. Alas, there was a mixup regarding his registration for the test and he won't be taking it after all.

"Now I am just waiting for the ACT test on Feb. 9," he said, noting that while he's 0-for-2 on the SAT, he has a clean slate with the ACT.

I personally don't care where Siilata ends up, but it would be fun to have him in Utah due to his sense of humor alone. The kid is a hoot!

He rolls out one-liners and self-deprecating shots as frequently as waves hit the north shore of Oahu.

"People are taking this [recruiting] thing too seriously," he said.

Siilata noted that UNLV is out of the picture and it is down to Utah and Oregon State.

He said Utah assistant coach Kalani Sitake, who recruits Hawaii, stopped by for a visit Wednesday night and that Kyle Whittingham will visit some time next week.

Asked if he was leaning in either direction, he said, "I'm not really sure. I love Utah. I have been a big fan for quite a while. I will just have to wait it out and see."

When I asked what he meant by waiting it out, he said, "an answer to my prayers."

The teenager also talked about the topic of Polynesian culture and commitments that I blogged about a few days ago, but I am saving that for an article scheduled to run in Sunday's Tribune.

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Speaking of Kemoeatu, he is apparently serious about getting his grades and test scores up enough to qualify for college. I've tried to reach him around 7 p.m. the last three nights, 11 p.m. here, and his younger sister has told me all three times that he's at the library.

Those of you who have followed the recruiting saga of Cottonwood High linebacker Lynn Katoa might want to check out a story on The Tribune's Web site today about some alleged improprieties regarding the Cottonwood football program.

Go to http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_8073725.

With the UHSAA releasing the first draft of its realignment plan on Thursday, we didn't have space in the paper for both articles, so we decided to run the other report on the Web only.

In a nutshell, a wealthy Salt Lake City real estate developer, Bob Jones, told the UHSAA (for the second time) that he purchased a home for the Katoa family at the request of a Cottonwood assistant football coach, Scott Cate. The home is apparently in the "Taylorsville triangle" -- a section of that city that feeds students to Cottonwood.

Jones also said he paid the rent when Cottonwood coach Cecil Thomas rebutted the home purchase story by saying the Katoas were renting the home.

Frankly, it is difficult to determine whom to believe. Allegations were flying around the room at the UHSAA's Midvale offices so fast and furious that everyone in attendance had trouble keeping up.

It was mind-boggling stuff, to be sure.

Almost assuredly, the UHSAA will launch an investigation into the matter that could have repercussions for next year's Colts' team. Lynn Katoa's younger brother, Tim Katoa, started as a junior last fall and some people associated with the program say he could be just as good as Lynn, who has signed with Colorado.

Cottonwood's Thomas said in the meeting that where the Katoas lived was inconsequential because they had already been enrolled in Cottonwood.

The coach and Cottonwood's principal, Garett Muse, argued that Jones has a vendetta against Cottonwood because Jones wanted to join Cottonwood's coaching staff but was rebuffed.

Some say that's the reason why Jones is investing millions and millions of his own dollars to build Utah Southvalley Community, a private school he says will open in Herriman this fall. The school exists now with more than 200 students and is tied into the Woodland Hills private school in Murray.

Jones said the Herriman facility will eventually cost $85 million and could attrract as many as 2,500 students, a couple hundred of which will live in dormitories on campus.

The big question now will be whether the UHSAA accepts USC for membership, given Jones' acknowledgements of major rules violations when he was a Cottonwood booster. He was never a Cottonwood coach, Muse and Thomas said Thursday, but both acknowledged he was a coach in the Little League football program that feeds Cottonwood.

In other words, the story is far from over.

Had to sit through a Utah High School Activities Association meeting today as the group that governs high school sports in Utah began the formidable task of realignment.

Hence, I wasn't able to get much done regarding recruiting.

Here are a few tidbits I've had tucked away in the notebook:

* Murray High's Zach Brackus, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound defensive tackle, has received a scholarship offer from Southern Utah and is also drawing interest from Utah State.

* Dudley LaPorte, a recruit from Santa Barbara (Calif.) College who is ranked as the No. 1 junior college tight end in the country, orally committed to Ole Miss last week. He had narrowed his choices to Utah and Ole Miss before making the pledge.

* David Rolf, a linebacker from Piqua High in Ohio with ties to the football-playing Kaufusi family in Salt Lake City, orally committed to Michigan State. Utah had shown some interest in Rolf, but was asking him to greyshirt, according to Rolf.

* The Tribune's Utah State football beat writer, Steve Luhm, tells me that Utah State was in the running for quarterback Jeremy Sanders of Navarro (Texas) Junior College, but he has committed to Baylor. Among the running backs the Aggies are interested in: Victor Jones of Richland, Texas, and Deonte Williams of Pleasant Grove High in Elk Grove, Calif.

Just before the 2006 Las Vegas Bowl, Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said about the only thing the Oregon and BYU football programs had in common was that they often recruited against each other.

That was certainly true six years ago, when Highland High star Haloti Ngata picked the Ducks over the Cougars to end a heated recruiting battle.

Is history repeating itself?

Although not as heavily recruited as Ngata was, offensive lineman Hamani Stevens of Hemet High in California said Wednesday he has narrowed his choices to BYU and Oregon. The four-star recruit is widely regarded as one of the best offensive centers in the country.

"My recruiting is going pretty well," Stevens said via telephone from Fullerton, Calif., as he prepared to play in Saturday's SoCal Bowl. "I am down to the last two schools -- BYU and Oregon."

Stevens, 6-2, 290, said Oregon thoroughly understands the concept of LDS Church missions, should he decide to go on one, and has emerged as his favored Pac-10 school after he was also recruited by Arizona State and UCLA.

He visited BYU on Jan. 12-13, but left as the only one of 20 or so recruits on campus that weekend who had not committed to the Cougars.

Stevens said he will probably announce his college choice immediately after Saturday's game, but would not guarantee it.

As pointed out by Vancougar in a recent comment and by several other blog readers via email, an article in Tuesday's Portland Tribune noted that Oregon State has received oral commitments from offensive linemen Benji Kemoeatu and Anthony Siilata of Kahuku High in Hawaii.

Obviously, that's surprising (and, if true, disappointing) news to Utah football fans because Kemoeatu and Siilata reportedly gave oral commitments to Utah coaches last Sunday just before leaving the U. campus to return to Hawaii.

Kemoeatu, Siilata and Kahuku linebacker Paipai Falemalu are all visiting Corvallis this weekend, according to the article.

Also, Dan Sorensen of the Web site Utezone.com is reporting today that the other Kahuku player who supposedly committed to the Utes, linebacker Alema Tachibana, is claiming he did not commit. Tachibana told Sorensen he is still leaning toward Utah, but is visiting Hawaii this weekend and needs to talk it over with his family before making a final decision.

Furthermore, there are reports on USC fan Web sites that Uona Kaveinga, the four-star linebacker who committed to BYU two weekends ago is now saying he wants to play for the Trojans.

What in the world is going on here?

I called BYU offensive coordinator Robert Anae this morning looking for some perspective on what seems like an ongoing communication problem. Anae grew up in Hawaii and recruits the islands for the Cougars, along with defensive line coach Steve Kaufusi.

Anae, who is recruiting in Waco, Texas, today, had some interesting things to say about understanding the Polynesian culture when it comes to 17- and 18-year-old kids dealing with figures of authority. It also should be noted that players of all ethnicities back out on commitments or are misunderstood, not just Pacific Islanders.

"For a Polynesian kid, anyone who is an authority figure is respected, so it is hard for them some times," Anae said. "They don't go around shooting that authority figure the straight shot. It is actually offensive in the culture to tell someone in authority something they don't want to hear."

Anae said that in a lot of cases, the recruiter hears what he wants to hear and takes it as a commitment when the player did not intend it that way.

"It is more on the coach than the kid," Anae said. "It is your coaches that read the commitment into it more so than the kids actually do. Putting it on the Polynesian kid isn't accurate all the time. I would rather put that on the coach. An over-eager coach claims the kid has committed, when in fact the kid was probably indecisive, and the coach tilted it one way or the other."

We hope to have more on this in Thursday's newspaper, but I wanted to get something posted as soon as possible about Lewis Walker, the Judge Memorial senior cornerback who helped lead the Bulldogs to a second-place finish at the 3A football tournament last fall.

Walker has orally committed to Hawaii after making a visit to the campus in Honolulu over the weekend.

"I'm a Warrior," he told Stephen Tsai of the Honolulu Advertiser.

As readers of this blog are well aware, Walker received a scholarship offer from the University of Utah last spring. But when he called Ute coaches to accept in November, he was told it was no longer on the table.

Fortunately, it appears that Walker has rebounded quite well from that setback.

Good for him. By all accounts, he's a phenomenal talent with the size and speed to be an effective defensive back and kick returner in the Western Athletic Conference.

In other Judge Memorial recruiting news, kicker Sean Sellwood will apparently walk on at Utah. Tyson Moll will take recruiting trips to Occidental and Redlands in California this coming weekend and hopes to play both football and baseball in college.

Wow. I leave town for a few days to play some golf at Pebble Beach, Poppy Hills, Links at Spanish Bay and Del Monte golf courses in sunny and gorgeous central California and the Wasatch Front get hits with one of the biggest snow storms in years.

I guess my timing wasn't that bad after all.

On the recruiting front, the big news locally was the University of Utah's big haul over the weekend, with the Utes landing oral commitments from offensive lineman Benji Kemoeatu (6-3, 315), defensive end Alema Tachibana (6-3, 220) and defensive tackle/tight end Anthony Siilata (6-2, 285). All three played for Kahuku High in Laie, Haw., last fall.

Also committing was receiver David Reed (5-11, 180 pounds) out of Pasadena City Community College.

My colleague, Lya Wodraska, wrote about all four commitments in Monday's newspaper and again in her blog on Utah football, although it sounds like the Kahuku guys -- especially Kemoeatu and Siilata -- are far from sure bets. Questions also still linger about whether they will qualify academically.

We will see.

Of course, the incident Saturday night (and reported Sunday) involving another Utah recruit, Timpanogos' David Kruger, his brother, Paul Kruger and another Ute player, Greg Newman, overshadowed the recruiting news.

The attack and subsequent injuries to the players made the news in the San Francisco bay area as well.

Suffice to say, the news was shocking, sickening and heart wrenching.

As for the recruiting news, I'm not surprised that Reed, Kemoeatu and Siilata committed. I am surprised that the commitments from Kemoeatu and Siilata are so soft.

We've got to stop calling these things "commitments" if this keeps up.

Frankly, I had never heard of Tachibana, but it sounds like his commitment is a little more solid than those from Kemoeatu and Siilata.

"I like the trip, and I want to go to Utah, but I need to talk to my parents," he told Chris Fetters of Scout.com on Monday. ".....I haven't made a decision yet, but I'm most likely going to go to Utah."

Thanks for reading The Recruiting Trail these past five months, everyone.

I hope it's been what you expected it would be when you clicked on that icon for the first time.

This will likely be my last post for the next 5-6 days or so.

I'm off to Monterrey, Calif., to take some vacation time and play in a charity golf scramble for four days (Pebble Beach, etc.) with some friends of mine, and I don't know what kind of computer and internet access I will have while I'm there.

I know, it's a bad time for a recruiting blogger to take time off, what with the Utes having a big recruiting weekend and the national signing day quickly approaching. Things are also interesting on the BYU front, too, and some local prep football players such as Sky View's McKade Brady (Navy) and Park City's Colt Nichter (Washington State) are starting to get good looks.

But this is one of those chances of a lifetime, too good to pass up.

Talk to you in a week or so.

Jay

The Web site USCfootball.com is reporting tonight (through Rivals.com) that Uona Kaveinga, the four-star linebacker who committed to BYU last weekend, will visit USC this weekend.

Certainly, that's bad news for Cougar fans. It appears that USC coach Pete Carroll is throwing the full-court press at the 6-foot, 230-pound linebacker, sending coach Ken Norton to Leuzinger High earlier this week to meet with Kaveinga for more than an hour.

It's an interesting article that touches upon Carroll's dislike for taking LDS mission kids, but says he might be willing to make an exception in Kaveinga's case. Kaveinga also talks about delaying his mission until his college career is over.

There's also an interesting line about Norton telling Kaveinga that he could do more good as a representative for his faith in the L.A. area than he could in Provo.

Don't want to give it all away, though -- that's not fair to pay sites such as Rivals.com, IMO.

Yes, I subscribe to both Rivals and Scout (as if you couldn't tell) and find them both to be excellent resources. I try to credit them (and their affiliates) for information I glean from them as much as possible.

One other thing, though, with apologies to author Greg Biggins.

The article says "the entire BYU staff was here to see him [Tuesday] and they will be back in his home tonight [Wednesday]."

Sounds like the Cougars have a battle on their hands -- and they know it.

David Rolf, a linebacker from Piqua, Ohio, is visiting the University of Utah this weekend, and although he is arriving a day later than most of the other recruits, he isn't coming empty-handed.

He will bring a little bit of bargaining power.

And if the Utes really want the two-star (Rivals.com) senior who grew up in Salt Lake City before moving east when he was 13, they are going to have to offer him a scholarship.

Simple as that.

"Utah is asking me to come in and grayshirt," he said. "They've said things might change once they see me, and they might offer [a scholarship]. But nothing is certain."

A grayshirt means that the player doesn't enroll until the following January, instead of the beginning of the school year. Basically, it gives the player time to grow and develop before his eligibility clock starts and allows him to work his way into a scholarship, if one opens up.

Here's the deal, though: Rolf, 6-3, 220, already has full-ride offers from Ball State, Air Force and Vanderbilt. He's made visits to Ball State (where his brother, Pete Rolf, plays) and Vandy and has a trip scheduled to Oregon in two weeks. Michigan State is also trying to line up a visit.

Rolf said he is pretty sure the Ducks have offered, but is not 100 percent positive.

"I am kind of open still," he said, when asked if he has a favorite. "I do know that I don't want to grayshirt anywhere. I want to start [classes] in the fall and get on the field."

Rolf's uncle, former Ute Jason Kaufusi, will accompany him when he arrives on Saturday (he's got an important basketball game Friday night). Another uncle, Steve Kaufusi, is BYU's defensive line coach, but Rolf says the Cougars never contacted him.

Utah liked him a lot last spring, he said, but told him over the summer that they were done recruiting linebackers. However, he is also a fine tight end (30 receptions, 540 yards, 6 TDs) and thinks the Utes might be willing to give him a shot at that position, if not linebacker.

"It will be an interesting trip," he said.

I just spoke to Linette Chambers, mother of O'Neill Chambers, the three-star recruit from Florida's Harmony High.

She confirmed that O'Neill will conduct a press conference in his high school's media center on Thursday at 1 p.m. (EST) to announce his college choice.

She wouldn't give many clues about what O'Neill will say tomorrow, but she did say that the Utah media will be very interested in the proceedings and offered to line up a correspondent to cover it for us.

I'm 99 percent sure that O'Neill will announce he is headed to BYU, but stranger things have happened. Anyone who followed the saga of Highland High's Haloti Ngata a few years ago knows that.

Anyway, The Tribune reported in its Sunday edition that Chambers had orally committed to BYU while he was on his official campus visit to Provo last weekend. We haven't been able to reach the player himself since before the trip (he's been incredibly busy with finals, his mother said), but another BYU recruit, Austin Holt, confirmed on Saturday night that Chambers had indeed committed, along with Uona Kaveinga and Solomone Kafu.

There's one uncommitted high school football player visiting Utah this weekend that the Utes probably won't have to work too awfully hard to get.

In a way, Anthony Siilata, an offensive lineman from Kahuku High in Laie, Haw., talks as if he is already a Ute.

Officially, Siilata is undecided on the eve of his official campus visit to Salt Lake City, but when I asked him if he plans on making a commitment when he meets with Utah coaches on Saturday before the BYU-Utah game at the Huntsman Center, he said: "There's a real good chance of that. I am very serious about Utah. I have been looking at the Utes since my sophomore or my freshman year."

A massive recruit at 6-foot-2, 315 pounds, Siilata visited UNLV last month and has a trip scheduled to Oregon State next week. Both those schools have offered, along with Utah.

Since BYU also recruits Kahuku heavily, I asked about the Cougars.

"Didn't really talk to them much," he said.

Fellow Kahuku lineman Benji Kemoeatu will be on the same trip, and Siilata has some of the same concerns.

Namely, academics.

Siilata said he has unsuccessfully taken the SAT college admission test twice, "and more to come."

Will the third time be the charm?

"Hope so," he said, noting that he also plans to take the ACT to see if it fits his style a little better.

Also, he said he needs to raise his GPA a bit.

As for the other top Kahuku products -- Kemoeatu, Paipai Falemalu and Shiloah Te'o -- Siilata said he thinks Kemoeatu will end up at Utah, Te'o will end up at BYU (where he has already committed) and Falemalu will end up at Cal.

The Utah Utes have already landed one high-profile junior college receiver for their 2008 football signing class, getting a commitment from Aiona Key of Mt. San Antonio College a few weeks ago.

They may be days away from getting another ball-catcher who posted impressive statistics in the junior college ranks last season.

David Reed, a three-star receiver (Rivals.com) from Pasadena City College in California will visit Utah this weekend and is seemingly close to giving the Utes a pledge.

At least, I got that feeling after chatting with the softspoken juco sophomore on Monday evening.

"Mostly, I have been really focused on Utah," he said. "If I like it, then, that's going to be it, right there."

Reed said he originally received offers from schools such as Iowa, Ole Miss and Kansas State, but hasn't heard from any of them since the dead period began in December. Kansas State had shown the most interest before then, along with Utah.

He thinks schools might be backing off because of his academic situation, but he swears he has his schoolwork in order and will get his associates degree in May so he can join his chosen school in June for summer workouts.

"I'm on the right track," he said. "I'll get there."

At 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, Reed is much shorter than the lanky Key, but actually had better numbers last fall. He caught 111 passes, a juco national record, for 1,661 yards and 13 touchdowns in just 10 games.

Having grown up in Connecticut, Reed said Utah's wintry weather won't bother him this weekend. He attended several high schools in Connecticut before graduating from New London High, but wasn't academically eligible for Division I football and moved across the entire country to play at PCC.

While trying to figure out which uncommitted recruits are visiting the University of Utah this weekend, I stumbled across a player who isn't: Kahuku (Haw.) linebacker Paipai Falemalu.

He's visting Washington this weekend, he said.

Next week, he's visiting Oregon State.

I asked if Utah or BYU is still in the picture, because Kahuku coach Reggie Torres told me earlier Monday that he thought one of our local schools here was still recruiting the 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior.

"I don't think so," said Falemalu, a man of few words, noting that it was probably down to Washington, Oregon State and Cal, the school he visited in December.

Falemalu is listed as a two-star recruit by both Rivals.com and Scout.com and is one of perhaps a half-dozen players off last fall's 6-3 Kahuku team that will likely sign with Division I schools on Feb. 6. Incidentally, Kahuku lost 27-0 to South Jordan's Bingham High last fall in a game played in Cedar City, Utah.

Falemalu carries a 3.2 GPA and has reportedly clocked 4.6 in the 40-yard dash, an excellent time for a person his size.

He said BYU coaches offered him a scholarship last summer, but let him know around late November that it was no longer available.

"I think they ran out of scholarships. I'm not sure," he said. "BYU was a pretty strong choice."

As for the Utes, Falemalu said he isn't certain if they ever made an official scholarship offer.

Falemalu told me that two of his Kahuku teammates, linemen Benji Kemoeatu and Anthony Siilata, are visiting Utah this weekend, a statement I later confirmed with Siilata.

I'll have more on Siilata in another post.

The next great point guard at Judge Memorial Catholic High School in Salt Lake City is starting to turn the heads of college recruiters.

Tribune correspondent Patrick Bahr reports that longtime Judge coach Jim Yerkovich is saying junior point guard Stallon Saldivar could be the 15th major college point guard from Judge in Yerkovich's 42 years of coaching at the school.

Yerkovich said that University of Utah assistant basketball coach Chris Jones (a former Bulldog, by the way) was watching the Bulldogs practice recently and went away impressed by Saldivar.

Of course, the four best players in this year's junior class are said to be Lone Peak's Tyler Haws, Pleasant Grove's C.J. Wilcox, Provo's Brandon Davies and Lone Peak's Nate Austin.

Saldivar is making a case to perhaps make that a top five.

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Brieann Dimond, a senior at Juan Diego High in Draper, signed to play softball for the College of Southern Idaho today, according to a news release from the school.

Dimond also competes in basketball for the Soaring Eagle. She helped Juan Diego finish second and third in the last two Class 3A state softball tournaments and will be counted on to lead the team to another high finish this spring.

Dimond plays for the Utah club team known as the Magic in the offseason. She is the cousin of Major League baseball pitcher Brandon Duckworth, a Kearns High product who also played at CSI.

I figured it wouldn't take long for Joe DuPaix, the former Skyline High and Southern Utah quarterback who is now the running backs coach at Navy, to start making some football recruiting inroads into Utah.

DuPaix, who spent the last several years of his coaching career as offensive coordinator at Cal Poly, has made his first scholarship offer to a Utah player.

Navy has offered a scholarship to McKade Brady, a receiver and safety at Sky View High in Smithfield. Brady said he got the offer a week or so ago and is trying to set up an official campus visit to Navy, which is in Annapolis, Md.

"I think I could handle it, but I'm not sure I want to," Brady said. "I need to get there and see what's going on and hear everything they have to say."

Brady, 6-0, 170, played some quarterback and also returned kicks for the Bobcats last season.

He's also considering a fut