The Salt Lake Metro club girls basketball team of players slated to graduate in 2011 has gone 3-1 at the Oregon City (Ore.) Shootout tournament. Metro opened the tourney with a 58-50 upset of End of the Trail, the tournament host and favorite.

They followed that with a 53-34 win over a Sacramento team, then lost 65-55 to the YEA (Washington) All-Stars in the quarterfinals.

Metro defeated the Utah Flight Blue 48-32 on Sunday and was scheduled to play for fourth place on Monday in the 20-team tourney.

Members of the team and their high school: Abbie Brickley (Skyline), Sadie Dias (Pine View), Lexi Eaton (Springville), Stacey Kerr (Spring Creek, Nev.), Addison Moore (Layton), Hayli Shurtz (Alta), Brooke Slade (Taylorsville) and Kaylee Walker (Box Elder).

The team is coached by Dorney and Haley Hall.

Been talking to a couple of basketball people today and thought I would throw out some information on what's been going on in Utah prep basketball recruiting the past little while.

* The latest on Lone Peak guard Tyler Haws is that he made an unofficial visit to Davidson when he was back east a few weeks ago to participate in that NBA Players Association Top 100 camp in Charlottesville, Va. He was also scheduled to visit Wake Forest, but didn't make it over there.

Coincidentally, Haws was roommates in Virginia with Jeremy Olsen, the 6-foot-9 post player from Georgia who has committed to Utah.

That would seemingly be good news for the Utes. However, some folks close to Haws believe Utah may be slipping off his radar screen and that it is turning into a two-way battle between BYU and Stanford.

Haws was on BYU's campus most of last week, competing in the Cougars' team basketball camp with his Lone Peak teammates. Lone Peak won the championship, beating Provo in the title game.

Lone Peak will play in another team camp in Kansas City in a couple of weeks, and Haws is also scheduled to participate in the Reebok All-American Camp in Philadelphia in mid-July.

* Several sources have confirmed that Orem's 6-10 Ian Harward, who will be a senior this fall, has an offer on the table from Utah State. Harward isn't returning calls, however, so I can't determine whether he is leaning toward accepting the offer or not.

* Bingham lost to West Jordan for the second-straight year in the finals of the Rocky Mountain Hoops Classic on Saturday in Denver, Colo. Remington Peck, the recent BYU football commit, played in the game, along with Ben Clifford, a 6-8 junior-to-be who is starting to draw a ton of college interest. I'll have more on Clifford in a later post.

Reportedly, Reyes Gallegos, Jordan Wierick and Mason Sawyer played well in the game for the Jaguars, who looked to be a contender for the 5A title next winter, along with Bingham and, of course, Lone Peak. Skyline and Riverton also played well in the 40-team (varsity) affair in Colorado, as Skyline lost to West Jordan in the semifinals and Riverton lost to Bingham in the quarterfinals.

Bingham defeated West Jordan in the Utah team camp the week before Denver, but that tournament was won by Judge, which defeated Bountiful in the championship game. Point guard Stallon Saldivar, who will most likely be the next great Judge point guard to land a Division I scholarship, was instrumental in the win.

Sometimes, college football recruiting makes no sense to me.

For instance, I can't figure out why Layton High running back LaVaughn Jackson doesn't have a Division I football offer yet.

I ran into Jackson at BYU's non-padded camp last week, and he's as puzzled as I am.

Jackson's speed may be questionable -- he ran a 4.65 at the NIKE Combine at Murray Park a few weeks ago -- but he says he's been clocked at 4.58, respectable for a 5-11, 190-pounder.

Jackson is the player who returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown against Alta in the 5A state championship game last fall. He recorded the best score at the Nike Combine at Murray Park and was named MVP of the Nike Training Camp at BYU a few weeks ago.

He's more chiseled than a high school kid has a right to be.

Jackson said he didn't go to Utah's recent camp because he didn't know about it. He was going to to go Washington's camp last week, but twisted his ankle at didn't want to put out the expense of going to Seattle if he wasn't going to be at full strength.

So, the appearance at the combine and some events at BYU are about all the exposure he will get until his senior season begins, and, frankly, he said he is not really a BYU-type kid, although the Cougar coaching staff has been great to him.

Jackson's father, George Jackson, played running back for Weber State, but the Wildcats haven't offered, either.

"I talked to Snow College coaches," Jackson said last Wednesday. "They want me to come up and train with them and stuff. That's about all [the interest] I have right now."

Is there an academic problem?

Jackson said he got a 16 on the ACT college admission test (he'll need at least an 18 to get in to most schools) and will have to retake it this fall. He also said his junior year "was a struggle," but that he is taking summer school classes and "will get things turned around."

If he had his choice, he would go to a college in California, which is where his father and grandparents reside.

"I know I can play," he said. "It's just a matter of getting a school to believe in me."

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Dan Sorensen of UteZone.com is reporting that Utah has offered Josh Mauro, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound athlete from L.D. Bell High in Hurst, Texas. Mauro, who is being recruited as both a tight end and a defensive end, also has an offer from Boise State.

Mauro told Sorensen that he also went to a camp at Stanford last week, and is receiving attention from Arkansas, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Alabama, Baylor and Rice.

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My co-worker, Lya Wodraska, blogged over the weekend about Boo Andersen, the former Alta High linebacker who has apparently earned a scholarship from Utah after getting his academics in order. Go to http://blogs.sltrib.com/utes/index.htm

Just got a call from Chris Oliver, a University of Utah graduate who now lives in Southern California. Oliver attended the B2G Elite Football Camp at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, Calif., on Sunday.

He said that Chris Washington, the safety from Northridge High in Layton who has offers from Utah and BYU, was the star of the camp.

Washington, 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, was named the camp's Defensive MVP, which is quite remarkable considering the camp featured dozens of players who have committed to the likes of USC, UCLA and other Pac-10 schools.

"Everyone was asking, who is that kid," Oliver said. "He was really good, especially in the 7 on 7 drills."

Washington got the BYU offer a week ago Saturday, and the Utah offer last Tuesday.

A second-team all-region selection for Northridge in 2007, he has showed well at every camp he's attended this spring and summer. Although he will be a senior this fall, Washington is only 16 years old, having been moved ahead a year in school when he was younger.

Bingham High linebacker and tight end Remington Peck has orally committed to BYU, his father, Kenny, confirmed in an e-mail early Saturday morning.

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound rising senior apparently told BYU coaches he was headed their way on Friday night.

Peck becomes BYU's 10th commit from the class of 2009 and the fourth Bingham product to commit to BYU in two years, joining 2008 signees Justin Sorensen, Austin Holt and Iona Pritchard.

Peck, who was also a basketball star on the Miners team that made it to the 5A state championship game in March, could play either outside linebacker, tight end or defensive end for the Cougars.

He received an offer from BYU about two weeks ago, and also had an offer from Weber State. He was drawing interest from Utah and Washington.

A month ago, BYU's football program had five commitments from the class of 2009.

Now the Cougars have nine.-- 10 if you count Riley Nelson, the former Utah State quarterback who is transferring to BYU when he returns home from his LDS Church mission in the early part of 2009.

Teko Johnson, head coach of Mountain View High in Orem, just called to inform us that Anthony Heimuli, a 5-foot-11, 225-pound running back and linebacker, orally committed to play football for BYU on Friday.

We mentioned in a post last week that Heimuli's stock was rising quickly, after he performed well at the Nike Sparq Training Combine at Murray Park and at BYU's Junior Day.

"He's pretty dang excited," said Johnson. "It has always been his dream to get an [scholarship] offer from BYU."

Heimuli ran for nearly 800 yards and averaged almost 9 yards a carry for the Bruins last season, and will be a senior this fall.

"He's a good one," Johnson said. "He runs well, blocks well, catches the ball out of the backfield and works hard. He will help BYU a lot."

Johnson said he was contacted by BYU assistant coach Barry Lamb on Thursday with the news that the Cougars wanted to meet with Heimuli and his parents on Friday morning. A scholarship offer was extended, and accepted, by coach Bronco Mendenhall at that meeting, the coach said.

Heimuli "is a mission kid" who also does well in the classroom with a 3.3 GPA, Johnson said.

He once weighed almost 245 pounds, but doctors discovered he had an asthmatic condition last year that was hampering his ability to sustain his fitness. Since receiving treatments, he has dropped 20 pounds and is in excellent physical condition, Johnson said.

Several readers have asked about the outstanding boys basketball team that Brighton High had last winter, and where some of the Bengals' top players are going to college aside from Jace Tavita, whose signing with Utah was well-publicized.

Talked to coach Lyndon Johnson today, and he gave me the latest:

* Ali Langford, the 6-foot-6 wing player, has signed with Northern Idaho College, a junior college in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The Cardinals play in the same league (Scenic West Athletic Conference) as SLCC, Snow College and the College of Eastern Utah.

* John Sherwood, the 6-3 shooting guard, has signed with Glendale Community College of Arizona.

* Abe Millsap, the 6-3 brother of Utah Jazz forward Paul Millsap will play for a prep school in Connecticutt.

* Clark Richardson, the 6-3 guard, will walk on at BYU.

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Of course, one of the best players on Brighton's team last year was freshman guard Corbin Miller. The sophomore-to-be has had a great spring and summer playing for the Salt Lake Metro club team and will be one the most highly recruited players in state history when his prep days are done.

After playing in the Houston Kingwood Classic last month, Miller was ranked as the No. 40 player at the tournament by hoopscoop.com. By way of comparison, Washington-bound C.J. Wilcox of Pleasant Grove was No. 17, Lone Peak's Tyler Haws was No. 26 and BYU-bound Nate Austin of Lone Peak was 58.

Miller was the second-highest ranked freshman at the tournament.

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Speaking of the Milsap family, 6-foot-6 Elijah Millsap announced on Thursday that he is transferring from Lousiana-Lafayette to Alabama-Birmingham (UAB). Elijah, a 211-pound guard/forward, will have to sit out next season per NCAA transfer rules, and will have two years of eligibility remaining with the Blazers.

Paul Millsap's younger brother averaged 10.7 points and 6.4 rebounds a game for the Cajuns in two seasons.

College football powerhouse USC held its two-day "Rising Stars Camp" earlier this week, and several Utah kids participated in the prestigious event, including a pair who have offers from the Trojans, Cottonwood's John Martinez and Timpview's Xavier Su'a-Filo.

Also participating was 6-6, 340-pound lineman Stan Hasiak of Kapolei, Haw., a four-star recruit who has an offer from BYU.

Here's an excerpt from a report on the camp written by Craig Haubert of Scouts Inc. for ESPN.com......

One of the most talented groups as far as depth at the camp was the offensive linemen. Along with Graf, other top line prospects in attendance included Utah natives John Martinez (Salt Lake City, Utah / Cottonwood) and Xavier Su'a-Filo (Pleasant Grove, Utah/Timpview). All three had good showings throughout the day.

Martinez looked very good throughout the day. He is not very big, but he moves his feet very well. If he can add weight on his frame and keep his quickness, he could be an excellent college lineman. Su'a-Filo lined up often at tackle and had some trouble early on, but looked much sharper in the afternoon practices displaying the ability to adjust and learn. We feel the better fit for him will be at guard at the college level.

The offensive line had two pleasant surprises. One was Stan Hasiak (Kapolei, Hawaii) who had a good day lining up at guard. He had good size and displayed the ability in one-on-ones to get hands on and mirror rushers. He, Martinez and Su'a-Filo hung around each other all day and looked like an impressive group.

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A pair of receivers from Utah -- Bingham's Michael Edmunds and Timpview's Travis Van Leeuwen -- are participating in Washington's camp today (Friday) and Saturday.

Bingham's Remington Peck, who has an offer from BYU, was considering making the trip to the Northwest, but instead is in Denver playing in a basketball tournament with his high school team. Air Force is the latest school to express interest in the 6-foot-5, 220-pound rising senior who could play tight end, defensive end or linebacker in college, a source close to Peck said Friday.

Speaking of recruits from Bingham, former Miner tight end Austin Holt, who signed with BYU in February, received his LDS Church mission call on Thursday and will serve in the St. Louis (Missouri) mission.

Having received commitments from eight football players from the class of 2009 -- about half of their available scholarships -- BYU's coaches are already offering a couple select players from the class of 2010.

One such player is Gifford Timothy, a 6-foot-6, 280-pound offensive tackle from Middletown High in Middletown, Del.

Timothy's father, Ian, confirmed Thursday that his son received a scholarship offer from coach Bronco Mendenhall after participating in BYU's padded football camp last week. Gifford Timothy also participated in the All-Poly Camp at Bountiful High.

The junior-to-be also has scholarship offers from Boise State and Rutgers, according to his father, Ian, and his high school coach, Mark Delpercio.

"He's one of the finest tackles in the state, and he's only a junior," Delpercio said.

Ian Timothy said his son has not officially committed to a school, "but he's definitely leaning toward BYU. He wants to serve an [LDS Church] mission, and BYU is probably the best fit for him."

However, Timothy said "the door is still open" for other schools to recruit the big lineman who carries a 3.6 grade point average.

Penn State and Pitt have expressed strong interest, and Delaware is also on the verge of offering. At the All-Poly Camp, Stanford coaches also liked what they saw from Timothy and asked him to visit their campus.

"I would consider him a blue-chip kid," Delpercio said. "He started every snap but one for us at left tackle as a sophomore, and he was an all-conference selection on a team that won a state title."

As I mentioned in a previous post, I spent a good chunk of Wednesday at BYU's non-padded camp watching prospective recruits and chatting with parents and some of the players. A few observations.....OK, more than a few:

* Coach Bronco Mendenhall zipped from station to station in a golf cart, occasionally sipping on a Jamba Juice to beat the 97-degree heat and frequently getting out to get better looks at players, provide instruction or talk to assistant coaches such as Brandon Doman, Patrick Higgins and Lance Reynolds.

* Florida receiver O'Neill Chambers and West High running back Garrett Nicholson, signees from the 2008 class, were there and spent some time watching the high schoolers work out. Chambers said he is staying with Nicholson's family for a few days and will return in mid-July to begin his Cougar career in earnest.

* Steve Heaps, father of super-recruit/quarterback Jake Heaps, was wearing a green baseball cap with a block-letter ‘S' on the front. I mistakenly figured it was a Michigan State cap and asked if Jake was hearing from the Spartans. Turns out, it was a Skyline Spartans cap from Jake's high school in Issaquah, Wash.

Oops.

Coincidentally, when BYU plays at Washington on Sept. 6, Jake will be in Portland, Ore., preparing to play a prep football game that night. However, Hawaii's Punahou High and all-everything linebacker Manti Te'o will be in Seattle and will play that night across town at Seahawks Stadium.

* Jake Heaps, of course, easily stood out as the top quarterback at the camp, despite being a year younger than most of the others. The kid can throw the football. Wow. A few months ago, after watching Heaps thrown at the Las Vegas 7 on 7 camp, I posted something about not being impressed. I stand corrected.

* Two other QBs stood out -- a kid wearing an Alta football shirt whom I assume was Ammon Olsen, and another rising senior named Jerry Slota, from Parker, Colo.

Slota's father said his son isn't being recruited by BYU. Jerry went to Utah's camp on Tuesday hoping to get noticed because he's a multi-threat quarterback who runs well and would seemingly fit the Utes' spread offense. He's not well-known because he missed a good portion of his junior season with a fractured elbow.

When they heard BYU was having a non-padded camp this week, they decided to stick around an extra day and attend.

Mr. Slota said Idaho's Taysom Hill and Logan's Jeff Manning were at the Utah camp, along with a quarterback from Texas named Derek Thompson whom the Utah coaches seemed really, really interested in.

* Watched the receivers for a while and four in particular (that I could identify) stood out: Bingham's Michael Edmunds, Timpview's Travis Van Leeuwen, Sky View's J.D. Falslev and Tooele's Jordan Clemente.

Edmunds, of course, is still waiting for his first offer, which is amazing because he is 6-foot-5, rarely drops a pass and runs extremely well for a boy that size. He said he is going to Washington's camp on Friday (as is Van Leeuwen) and thinks, just maybe, that the Huskies might offer.

Falslev is fast and runs great routes, but might not have the height that Division I programs are looking for. He reminds me a lot of Jordan's Cody Raymond, who ended up signing with Snow College despite having one of the most prolific receiving careers in state history.

Clemente, also a track and basketball star at Tooele, reportedly has an offer from Weber State.

* Several Snow College coaches worked the camp, including head coach Steve Coburn, and Coburn mentioned that the Badgers are getting defensive lineman David Angilau, a former BYU player who was suspended for violating team rules a few months ago.

A day after receiving a scholarship offer from the University of Utah after participating in its football camp, Northridge High safety Chris Washington was back at BYU's football camp on Wednesday -- but just to watch.

I got a chance to chat with the 6-2, 195-pound Washington and he said he wants to make a decision soon. I wouldn't be surprised if he commits next week.

To which school?

"Right now, it is totally up for grabs," he said, noting that BYU and Utah are both recruiting him "consistently," but not with a lot of undue pressure.

"Both [coaching staffs] have been great about it," he said. "I feel comfortable around both [staffs]."

Washington said he kind of wants to stay in-state, but will go to the B2G camp at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, Calif., tomorrow and will participate Friday through Sunday in hopes of seeing what else is out there, and what kind of interest he draws. Boise State and Oregon State have seemed the most interested among the out-of-state programs.

I asked him if the commitment of his good friend and teammate, Peni Maka'afi, to BYU on Saturday affects his decision.

"Yeah, it does," he said. "Obviously, it would be fun to play with him and go to a place where I already know someone really well. But that won't be the biggest factor. There are other things to consider like playing time, how I will be used, and all that."

Washington is a walking advertisement for what camps and exposure can do for a player. He wasn't even a first-team all-region selection last fall at Northridge, but he has performed so well at camps such as the Las Vegas 7 on 7 meet in March and the ones at BYU and Utah that schools have taken notice.

Northridge coach Erik Thompson said Washington used to be a lanky, skinny guy, but has filled out well and is still only 16, having been moved ahead a year in school.

He's smart, too, getting a score of 22 on the ACT college admission test. That's not Rhodes Scholar territory, but it will get him into most colleges in the country.

Washington, who is not LDS, reiterated that he could "handle" the BYU lifestyle and honor code.

"Probably 90 percent of my friends are Mormon," he said. "It's not a big deal at all."

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By the way, Josh Nunes, the four-star quarterback from Upland, Calif., who had BYU in his top eight, has committed to Tennessee. The 6-foot-4, 208-pound rising senior stunned the recruiting world with the announcement on Tuesday because most observers figured he would wait until at least September to make a decision.

The Cougars, incidentally, pretty much stopped recruiting Nunes after former Utah State quarterback Riley Nelson said he was transferring to BYU.

I checked out the afternoon session of BYU's non-padded football camp today, and will have more on that later tonight or tomorrow.

First though, a couple of BYU commitments to report.

The Cougars received commitments on Wednesday from Mitch Mathews, a receiver from Beaverton, Ore., and Trevor Bateman, a defensive back from Palm Desert, Calif.

Mathews was at the camp (though not participating) and he confirmed the commitment firsthand. He said he gave his word to BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall this morning, and said Mendenhall "was really happy" to get the news.

Mathews is a three-star recruit, according to scout.com.

As for Bateman, a California newspaper (The Desert Sun) reported a week ago Sunday that he was "99 percent sure" he would receive an offer from BYU and that he would probably commit.

The guys from totalbluesports.com were also at the camp today and confirmed it through their sources that Bateman had committed. Reportedly, Bateman is an LDS recruit who was turned on to the BYU coaching staff by former Cougar running back Curtis Brown.

He also had offers from UNLV and Arizona, according to the Desert Sun. The Cougars now have eight commitments for next February's signing day, as Mathews and Bateman join Snow Canyon's Adam Timo, Timpview's Tui Crichton and Craig Bills, Jray Galea'i of Kahuku, Haw., Terry Alletto of Ponderosa, Colo., and Northridge's Peni Maka'afi, who committed on Saturday.

Speaking of Maka'afi, he was also at the afternoon session on Wednesday, and confirmed what has been reported here and elsewhere: he committed to BYU after Northridge lost to Bingham in the championship game of the 7 on 7 passing tournament.

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Totalbluesports.com is also reporting that BYU received a second commitment from the class of 2010 (guys who will be juniors this fall). Gifford Timothy, an offensive tackle from Middletown High in Middletown, Del., is said to have committed to BYU earlier this week.

Timpview's Bronson Kaufusi is the other rising junior to have committed to the Cougars.

The kind people in the front office at Timothy's high school in Delaware won't give out his coach's phone number, and the coach has yet to return a message I left on his voice mail (which he probably won't get until school starts in August), so I haven't been able to personally verify the commitment.

Timothy is 6-foot-6 and 280 pounds, according to his profile on scout.com.

Fans of local women's college basketball now have a way to get their fix without having to wait until November.

The Salt Lake City Women's Collegiate Summer League begins tonight at Murray High School, director Cedric Williams announced.

Games will be played every Wednesday night at 7, 8 and 9 p.m. at the school at 5400 S. State in Murray.

Williams says that Snow, Salt Lake Community College and Dixie State will have full teams, while six players from Utah State and a few Westminster players will join in. Also, some players from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Southern Utah University are also expected to participate, along wiht a couple of former professional players from overseas.

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A 6-foot-7 wing player from Stone Mountain, Ga., who had an offer from the University of Utah's men's basketball program has committed to Virginia Tech, according to the Roanoke (Va.) Times.

Manny Atkins started on the Tucker High team that won a state championship in 2007. He picked the Hokies over offers from Georgia Tech, Marquette, Clemson, Auburn, Michigan and Utah, according to the newspaper's Doug Doughty.

Atkins averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds per game as a junior .

Catching up on a few recruiting items seeming lost in the shuffle the past few days....

* The Web site Buffstampede.com is reporting that Timpanogos High linebacker Jordan Pili received his first scholarship offer over the weekend -- from UNLV.

Pili, a 5-foot-11, 225-pound rising senior attended the NIKE Training Camp in Provo last week as well as the All-Poly Camp. He told the Web site he has also talked to coaches from Stanford, Colorado, Arizona, UCLA, BYU and Oregon.

* Dixie State College in St. George announced its has signed Shanae Vaifanua, a 5-8 guard from Hurricane High, to a national letter of intent. Vaifanua is Dixie State's fifth women's basketball signee, joining SLCC's BreAnne Haslem and three out-of-state players. Vaifanua was a two-time all-stater for the Tigers.

* Riverton High's Candus Aiello, one of the top throwers in Utah, has signed with the University of Utah's track and field team. Aiello was a two-time state champion in 2008, winning 5A titles in the shot put and the discus.

* Quarterback Jake Heaps, a junior-to-be from Issaquah, Wash., now has 11 scholarship offers, according to Chris Fetters of Scout.com. The latest school to offer Heaps was California. Heaps is supposed to participate in BYU's non-padded camp one day this week. BYU was one of the first schools to offer the LDS prospect who could be the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the country in 2010.

Three days after Northridge safety Chris Washington received his first college football scholarship offer, he landed his second.

Washington was at the University of Utah's camp today (Tuesday) and received an offer from the Utes, his father reported in an email.

"Chris was offered a scholarship from the University of Utah today! He is one happy boy," wrote Tony Washington.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder who rates three stars from Scout.com received a scholarship offer from BYU on Saturday after helping Northridge get to the championship game of the BYU 7 on 7 passing tournament.

Add Orem High's 6-foot-10 center Ian Harward to the list of members of the class of 2009 who being recruited by Division I basketball programs.

Harward has received a scholarship offer from Utah State and will probably decide this week whether he will commit to the Aggies, his high school coach, Mike Conner, said Monday morning.

Harward is rated by the Intermountain Hoops Scouting Service as one of the top prospects in the state.

He plays for the Utah Pump-N-Run club team, coached by Todd Phillips.

So that's what a five-star recruit looks like.

Utahns had one in their midst this week, as linebacker Manti Te'o, the all-everything recruit from Punahou High in Honolulu, Haw., participated in the All-Poly Camp at Bountiful High.

I was only able to get to the camp Thursday and part of Friday, but from all accounts, Te'o is the real deal. The term "man among boys" comes to mind.

The thing that stuck out to me as I watched him was his leadership ability. He seemed as genuinely happy when a teammate made a big play as when he made one himself. Guys seemed to rally around him.

Thursday night, Te'o told me that he has 32 offers.

Does BYU have a shot at this kid who is LDS and who has a cousin, Shiloah Te'o, who signed with the Cougars in February?

"Definitely," he said. "All 32 schools are still in it. I have eliminated anybody."

Te'o said he will try to narrow his choices down to a workable number -- between 5 and 10 -- by the time his senior football season starts.

I asked him what he was looking for in a college and whether it was important to him to go to a BCS school.

"The one priority I have is to serve a [LDS] mission," he said. "I tell every college that talks to me that I am going to serve a mission."

Te'o said that so far, every school has told him that won't be a problem.

"That part of it has been amazing," he said.

Te'o turns 19 in January of 2010, so he would like to play the 2009 season and leave shortly after it ends.

Bingham beat Northridge in the championship game of the BYU 7 on 7 camp today (Saturday) at BYU, but perhaps the bigger news to come out of the camp was that the Cougars offered scholarships to a pair of Northridge players.

One committed, the other didn't.

Committing to the Cougars was Northridge running back Peni Maka'afi, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound rising senior who rushed for 890 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. He also had more than 400 receiving yards, according to Northridge coach Erik Thompson, who confirmed the commitment.

"He's always wanted to be a Cougar," Thompson said. "He has always said he would rather go there than Oregon or Arizona State or any other Pac-10 school."

Reached Saturday evening, Maka'afi said he was "thrilled" when the offer came, and he quickly accepted.

"I have been talking to them for awhile," he said. "I was pretty shocked they offered. I guess I had a pretty good day."

Maka'afi also had an offer from Utah State, but was drawing interest from Boise State and Oregon, he said. Maka'afi rates one star from Scout.com.

Northridge is the 5A school in Layton that produced former BYU tight end Daniel Coats.

Northridge safety Chris Washington also received an offer from BYU on Saturday, but did not commit.

"The coaching staff said they were very impressed with his efforts," Washington's father, wrote in an e-mail.

Thompson said Washington, a 6-foot-2, 195-pounder who rates three stars from Scout.com, wants to go to camps at Utah and Cal before he decides. But the coach acknowledged he received a call from BYU quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman on Saturday evening confirming that the Cougars offered both prospects.

Coincidentally, Maka'afi and Washington were injured and not able to play in the championship game against Bingham today.

Timpview High lineman Xaver Su'a-Filo rested up this weekend, opting not to participate in the physical portions of the All Poly Camp at Bountiful High.

Part of the reason is because Su'a-Filo has a busy week ahead of him.

He said Thursday that he will participate in UCLA's camp on Monday, Stanford's camp on Tuesday and USC's camp on Wednesday.

That means he will go from Los Angeles to Palo Alto, then back to Los Angeles. Not exactly how you would draw it up.

"It's just the way the scheduling worked out," he said.

Su'a-Filo said he has 22 offers, but doesn't have a favorite yet. In fact, he doesn't even have a top five.

"I am narrowing it down in my mind a little bit," he said. "Toward the end of my senior season, I will really try to narrow it down a lot."

Su'a-Filo, who counts offers from BYU and Utah among the 22, said he will probably decide right around signing day next February.

Scout.com has Su'a-Filo as a four-star recruit and lists him at 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds. I asked him his height and weight on Thursday and he said he was 6-4, 280.

Five-star recruit Manti Te'o is drawing all the oohs-and-aahs at the All Poly Camp this week, but a Bingham High linebacker looks almost as impressive.

L.T. Filiaga is not only a physical specimen, he moves well, too, and it wouldn't surprise me if the 6-foot-1, 230-pound rising senior picks up a few more scholarship offers after this weekend.

Filiaga said he currently has six offers: Stanford, Washington, Utah, BYU, UNLV and Arizona.

A three-star recruit, according to Scout.com, Filiaga carries a 3.85 GPA and told me on Saturday that he is thinking about graduating early, like Cottonwood's Lynn Katoa did last winter, so he can participate in spring ball with his chosen college.

It is a little more difficult now, though, because the NCAA has increased the number of required core class credit hours from 14 to 16.

Filiaga said he is not leaning toward any school right now, he said.

"I will pick a top five pretty soon, and start investigating all five," he said. "Then I would like to take my five trips, and see what schools can take care of me, and make me a better person and football player."

By the looks of the camps I've been through the past few weeks, Bingham High is going to be loaded this fall. Along with Filiaga, the Miners have a gifted quarterback in Jake Soffe, a tall, swift receiver in Michael Edmunds and a stalwart defensive tackle in Talai Livai.

For the life of me, I can't figure out why Edmunds does not have any offers yet. Along with being 6-4 or 6-5 and fast, he's done nothing but impress at the Las Vegas 7 on 7 camp a few months ago and BYU's Junior Day last Friday. He's also an excellent student.

Soon, they will start calling it Riverton Community College of Miles City, Mont.

Four Riverton High baseball players have signed with Miles City Community College, coach Rob Bishop announced Friday.

Alex Newman, Connor Woodward, Vance Howard and Nic Johnstun will join former Riverton teammates Matt Newbold and Andrew Sanchez as members of the Pioneer baseball team.

Newman and Woodward pitched and played outfield for coach Jay Applegate's Silverwolves this past season

Newman has a .418 batting average and finished with 39 hits, 34 RBIs, seven doubles and a couple of homers.

Woodward hit .348 with three homers, 40 RBIs and had nine stolen bases.

An infielder, Howard hit .300 with 17 RBIs for Riverton last season. He also lettered in golf for Riverton.

Johnstun missed his senior season with a torn ACL. As a junior he hit .306 and was a second-team all-region performer.

One big-time football recruit who is not at the All Poly Camp at Bountiful High this week is Kyle Van Noy, a linebacker from McQueen High in Reno, Nev.

Van Noy, a four-star recruit according to Scout.com, was at last Saturday's Nike Training Camp at BYU and talked a little about how his recruitment is going. Van Noy is LDS but said he more than likely will not go on an LDS Church mission.

The 6-foot-4, 202-pound rising senior said he has offers from BYU, Arizona State, Stanford, Oregon, San Diego State, Cal, Nevada, UNLV, Boise State and Colorado.

Does BYU have a shot at landing him?

"Yeah, definitely," he said. "They are in my top three, along with Arizona State and Oregon."

Van Noy said he probably won't decide until around the Christmas break. He said BYU didn't ask him to commit over the weekend, "but I think they wanted me to."

Although Van Noy worked out with the receivers at Saturday's shindig, he expects to play outside linebacker in college. He plays both positions for McQueen, which started its summer football training on Monday, a factor that prohibited Van Noy from returning for BYU's padded camp or the All Poly Camp.

The Oregonian newspaper is reporting that Cade Cooper, the former Snow College and BYU quarterback, is transferring from Oregon to Southern Utah University.

Cooper will have to sit out a year before competing for the Thunderbirds.

Cooper was a walk-on at Oregon.

But he didn't appear to be in the Ducks' plans because they had five quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart.

Cooper, who played high school football at Timpview, will be reunited at SUU with quarterbacks coach Paul Peterson, who coached him at Snow.

Just got back from watching the All Poly Camp at Bountiful High. It was -- and continues to be -- quite the gathering of high school football talent and top college coaches.

It was rather striking to see all the different uniform and helmet colors and, of course, well-known coaches such as UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow and BYU offensive coordinator Robert Anae running drills and teaching techniques.

Camp organizer Alema Te'o said some 270 players participated today, and Friday's total should surpass 300. About 40 coaches helped out.

Last year, 49 kids who participated at the camp signed with Division I programs.

Before they even stepped on practice fields, however, the players took courses on ACT and SAT testing, goal setting, and what it takes to pass the NCAA clearinghouse.

"We teach them that if they can't qualify [academically], they can't play, no matter how good they are," Te'o said.

The term All-Poly does not mean only Pacific Islanders need apply. The camp is open to all ethnicities; however, the majority of coaches are of Polynesian descent.

Chow was scheduled to speak at the close of Thursday's afternoon session. BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall is on the docket to speak Friday.

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The player a lot of camp observers wanted to see, linebacker Manti Te'o of Punahou High in Hawaii, was there, and he didn't disappoint. The rising senior who is listed as one of the top five recruits in the entire country by several national sources looked good, although he said school just got out for him a few days ago and he felt a little rusty.

"This is the first [summer] camp I've been to," he said. "Some of these other guys are in better shape."

Te'o said he had 32 scholarship offers at last count, and will start narrowing his list to five or so by the time Punahou's season starts in the fall. Utah and BYU have both offered, and he spent time talking to both BYU's Robert Anae and Utah's Kalani Sitake on Thursday.

I'll have more on Te'o in a later post.

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Timpview's Xavier Su'a-Filo, the big lineman who has offers from some of the top schools in the country -- LSU, USC, Notre Dame and Miami, to name a few -- was at the camp, but did not participate in any of the physical drills. Su'a-Filo said he and his father decided it would be better to sit this one out to avoid injury.

Next week, he will participate in UCLA's camp on Monday, Stanford's camp on Tuesday and USC's camp on Wednesday, he said.

Su'a-Filo, 6-4, 280, said he currently has 22 offers.

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Word around the camp was that quarterback Jake Heaps, the jurnior-to-be from Skyline High in Washington, plans to attend the camp on Friday.

One of the better quarterbacks who participated on Thursday was Kimo Makaula, Te'o's teammate from Punahou.

Makaula, a 6-foot-2, 225-pounder who looks more like a linebacker, said he has one offer so far, from UNLV. He said BYU and Utah have expressed some interest, along with Washington State and Hawaii.

Richard Wilson, the tight end from Spanish Fork who now has eight college scholarship offers, will probably make his college decision during his senior season, he said Saturday after taking the ACT college admission test.

Wilson, who carries a 3.8 GPA, said he did OK on the test, but struggled on the science portion of the ACT.

He recently returned from a camp at Boise State with an offer from that school on Sunday night, and on Wednesday, the Washington Huskies threw their hat into the ring.

Wilson said he now has eight offers: LSU, Miami, BYU, Utah, Arizona, Tennessee, Boise State and Washington.

Rivals.com lists him at 6-foot-3 and 224 pounds, while Scout.com says he taller and lighter than that.

I asked Wilson if, a few months ago when he got that fiirst offer from BYU, he ever believed the likes of LSU and Miami would seek his services.

"Never," he said. "It has been crazy."

Wilson said he will attend LSU's camp and BYU's non-padded camp next week, and maybe catch Utah's June 23-24 camp for a day.

"I don't have a favorite, really," he said. "I am just trying to find the place where I fit best. I want to go to a place where I am going to play, and where they are going to use me. Those are the biggest issues, right there."

He said every school is recruiting him to be a tight end, "which I like."

Is this another local big-time recruit who seems to be slipping away from the Utes and/or Cougars?

"I am pretty close to all the coaches at BYU and a lot at Utah," he said. "But in the end I got to do what is best for me."

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Timpview receiver Travis Van Leeuwen, a 6-foot-3, 190-pounder, said Saturday he is also going to LSU's camp, having received an invitation from Gary Crowton, the former BYU head coach who is now the Tigers' offensive coordinator.

Van Leeuwen's only offer to date is from Southern Utah.

It's camp season, as readers of this blog and other recruiting Web sites are well aware, the chance for high school football players to show what they can do in front of college coaches.

Some camps, like the one at BYU this week, are specific to a particular school. Others, such as the All Poly Camp going on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Bountiful High, are non-institutional, but still have a boatload of college coaches working on the staff.

More than 20 NCAA Division I football coaches will participate in the All Poly camp, according to a news release sent out by the Pacific Islander Chamber of Commerce.

The list includes Stanford's Jim Harbaugh, Colorado's Dan Hawkins, BYU's Bronco Mendenhall, Utah's Kyle Whittingham and Norm Chow, UCLA's new offensive coordinator.

Props to former Woods Cross coach Alema Te'o, now a Bountiful assistant, and what he's been able to build through his All Poly Sports organization.

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One of the prep football players with a lot to prove this month is Jordan High lineman Kyle Johnson. After the 2007 season, the 6-foot-4, 280-pound Johnson figured to be one of the more highly recruited rising seniors this summer.

However, Johnson, who sports a 3.7 GPA, tore his ACL during the wrestling season, and the offers have not flowed in because many schools are waiting to see how well he recovers from the injury.

Johnson's teammate on Jordan's line, Vyncent Jones, has committed to Utah, and Jordan coach Alex Jacobson said Kyle Johnson is very similar to Jones in size, strength and talent.

Southern Utah has offered Johnson, while Jacobson believes Utah State is close to offering after Johnson performed well at coach Brent Guy's team camp last week.

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Mountain View High in Orem, which has seen its football fortunes plummet the past 5-6 years before the Bruins won seven games last year, also has some talented prospects who seem to be flying under the radar.

Fullback/linebacker Anthony Heimuli (5-10, 225), posted some of the best numbers at the recent Nike Combine at Murray Park and was also impressive at the combine at Hillcrest High, according to Jacobson.

Also, the Bruins have another Stroshine, and this one could be the best of the lot. Dave, Mike and Matt Stroshine were all starters at Weber State, and Dave got some time with the Tennessee Titans.

Nate Stroshine will be a senior at Mountain View this fall, and the quarterback/linebacker has turned some heads at the BYU padded camp. The 5-11, 250-pounder is as physical as they come, especially for someone who plays quarterback.

LaVaughn Jackson is as puzzled as everybody else.

The Layton High running back was one of the best football players in the state last year as a junior, and returned the opening kickoff of the Class 5A championship game back for a touchdown against Alta.

Recently, the 5-foot-10, 190-pound rising senior was named the Most Valuable Player at the Nike Training Camp at BYU on Saturday.

Yet, Jackson does not have a single college scholarship offer yet.

He's hoping to change that this weekend when he participates in the All Poly Camp at Bountiful High with a bunch of his Layton High teammates. Tight end Thomas Bryson and running back Carl Williams also appear to have some college potential.

"I have no offers yet, and I don't know why for sure," Jackson said after posting the highest score at the combine portion of the Nike affair at Murray Park last Friday. "They all kind of say they have to wait a little bit to talk to me."

By looks alone, Jackson would be a five-star recruit. It is obvious that the young man has spent some time in the weight room.

Jackson said he has talked to coaches at Utah State and BYU, and that one of Utah's assistant coaches visited Layton last month and talked to head coach Jim Batchelor about him and the others.

Some out-of-state schools have sent a few letters.

But that's it.

"I guess I need to get my name out there a little bit more," he said.

Jackson said he was timed at 4.65 seconds in the 40 at the combine, but that was on grass and none of the times were all that good. He says he has been clocked at 4.5 before.

Jackson said he is "improving" in the class room.

"I have struggled a little bit" in the past, he said. "But I am coming up to my senior year and that has opened my eyes a little bit. I'm going to do better."

Snow College has announced its 2008 men's basketball signing class, which features a couple of 6-9 centers and a couple of return missionaries.

Most of these signings have been mentioned before, but here's a comprehensive list, with comments about each player:

* Brenan Davis, point guard, American Fork

Recently returned from an LDS mission to New Zealand, Davis averaged 15 points a game for the Cavemen and was a first-team all-stater in 2005.

* Jordan Wood, guard, Cedar City

Wood redshirted at Southern Utah in 2006 and is a "tough, athletic scoring guard and a great fit for our program," said coach Michael Ostlund.

* Tylan Jackson, wing, Manti

Jackson led the Templars to the 2A state championship and was the Tribune's 2A MVP. The 6-foot-4 star averaged 14 points per game last winter.

* Cameron Evans, forward, Clearfield

Evans averaged 16 points and 9.5 rebounds a game in 2008 and was a first-team all-state selection. The 6-6 start helped his team reach the 5A quarterfinals.

* Jordan Rex, center, Pine View

Rex, 6-9, helped Pine View win the 2007 3A state championship as a junior. He averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds a game and shot 53 percent from the field as a senior in 2008.

* Melvin Haynes, guard, Akron, Ohio

Haynes was a first-eam all-ciity performer for Garfield High as a senior, and averaged 22 points per game.

* Henrique Nunes, guard, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Nunes is a prolific three-point shooter and was a "Basketball without Borders" all-star in 2007.

* Gerald Hill, wing, University Place, Wash.

Hill, a 6-4 wing, led Charles Wright Academy to the 1A title in Washington and averaged 19 points and nine rebounds a game. He was the Seattle Times 1A Player of the Year in 2008.

* Dominique Hatcher, forward, Monroe, La.

Hatcher, a 6-6 prospect, sat out his senior year at Wossman High due to transfer rules. He averaged 11 points and seven rebounds a game as a junior.


* Justin Vorwallers, center, Parker, Colo.

Vorwallers, 6-9, returned from an LDS mission to Houston in August of 2008. He averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds a game in 2006 for Ponderosa High.

Bingham High linebacker and tight end Remington Peck received a scholarship offer from BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall today, his father confirmed.

Peck, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound star who also shined for Bingham's basketball team last winter, will be a senior for the Miners this fall.

He got the offer after participating in BYU's padded camp on Tuesday, Kenny Peck said.

"He was way pumped...very excited," Kenny Peck said.

Remington Peck is No. 90 in Scout.com's Northwest Hot 100, released Tuesday. His dad said the Cougars are recruiting him to be either a tight end or an outside linebacker.

He was going to attend camps at Stanford and Washington to get more exposure in the coming weeks, but now probably will not to save money, his father said.

Does that mean Remington will commit to the Cougars?

"He's still up in the air," Kenny Peck said. "He wants to do it before the season starts, though."

Peck has also received an offer from Weber State, while UNLV, Washington, Stanford, Boise State and Utah have been in contact with the two-sport star.

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The brother of Timpview High junior-to-be Chris Badger just informed me that Badger received an offer from the University of Utah today. Last week, Badger received an offer from BYU.

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Speaking of Scout.com's Northwest Hot 100, compiled by recruiting guru Chris Fetters.....

Twenty Utahns made the list of top players from the class of 2009, including five of the top seven.

Here are the Utahns, and where they are ranked:

No. 2 -- Xavier Su'a-Filo, Timpview

No. 3 -- John Martinez, Cottonwood

No. 4 -- Richard Wilson, Spanish Fork

No. 5 -- Latu Heimuli, Highland

No. 7 -- Adam Timo, Snow Canyon

No. 14 -- Craig Bills, Timpview

No. 17 -- J.T. Filiaga, Bingham

No. 21 -- Vyncent Jones, Jordan

No. 35 -- Isi Sofele, Cottonwood

No. 41 -- Tui Crichton, Timpview

No. 52 -- Keenyn Walker, Judge

No. 54 -- Chris Washington, Northridge

No. 63 -- Talai Livai, Bingham

No. 66 -- Jeff Manning, Logan

No. 68 -- Asi Hosea, Cottonwood

No. 75 -- Kyle Johnson, Jordan

No. 77 -- Percy Taumoleau, Cottonwood

No. 78 -- Travis Van Leeuwen, Timpview

No. 79 -- Michael Edmunds, Bingham

No. 90 -- Remington Peck, Bingham

By the way, No. 1 on the list is linebacker Manti Te'o, the LDS athlete from Punahou High in Hawaii who has offers from all the top schools in the country, including BYU and Utah.

Taysom Hill, the quarterback from Pocatello, Idaho, who has offers from BYU, Utah and others, is No. 11, and linebacker Darren Markle of Meridian, Idaho, is No. 29.

Spanish Fork sprinter Natalie Stewart, who has signed with BYU, is the 2007-08 Gatorade Utah Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year, the sports drink maker announced today.

Stewart joins her twin sister, Nachelle, in becoming the second Spanish Fork athlete to win the award. Nachelle Stewart was last year's winner.

Natalie Stewart, who carries a 4.0 GPA, is now a finalist for the Gatorade National Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year award, which will be announced later in June.

Natalie was a triple-winner at the recent Class 5A stte meet and led her team to the state title. She won the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash.

"Natalie is arguably the greatest sprinter ever in the state of Utah, and her sister Nachelle isn't too far behind," said Spanish Fork coach Dave Boyack.

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In other track recruiting news, Sky View High's McKade Brady has also signed to compete for BYU.

The Cougars apparently offered Brady a scholarship after he ran the 400 meters in 47.90 seconds at the 4A state meet last month. Brady was also a state placer in the 200 and in the 100 as a junior.

He was offered a football scholarship at Navy, and preferred walk-on status at BYU, Utah and Utah State after being named the Region 5 defensive player of the year last fall.

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Former BYU receiver Tyler Anderson, who has been coaching football in central Florida, helped deliver recruit O'Neill Chambers to BYU earlier this year. But now Anderson will be doing some football recruiting himself.

Anderson was named an assistant football coach at Southern Virginia University on Tuesday. He will also be the director of athletic retention and the head men's and women's track coach at the school in Buena Vista, Va.

Anderson, the former head football coach at Tooele High after a standout career at BYU, will work for head coach Mike Smith at SVU. Smith was formerly head coach at Copper Hills High and Dixie High in Utah.

Anderson has been the head coach at Harmony High in Harmony, Fla.

Word out there from BYU's Junior Day on Friday was that the Cougar coaching staff put a little heat on Taysom Hill, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound quarterback from Highland High in Pocatello, Idaho, to give them a commitment when he was in Provo last weekend.

I just got off the phone with the four-star (Scout.com) recruit, and he said nothing could be further from the truth.

"No, no," Hill said. "There was no pressure. That's not the case. Obviously, they want me and they said they would accept a commitment from me any time. But as far as pressuring me, no, it was nothing like that at all."

Hill said he didn't stick around for Saturday's Nike Training Camp, although it was free, because he had seen what he needed to see.

"It went well," he said. "I had a good time and whatnot."

Hills said he did not commit, but began looking at BYU in a new light.

"It was not my first trip down there," he said. "But it was my first time being on campus as one of their recruits. I had been there before, but it was different this time. There was a different feel to it."

He said the closest the staff came to asking for a commitment was "kind of like a, ‘when you are ready, we are ready' kind of thing."

Hill said he has offers from BYU, Utah, Arizona, Stanford, Washington State, Boise State, Idaho and Idaho State.

He is going to Stanford this coming weekend for a two-day camp on Sunday and Monday. He would also like to get up to see Washington State, if he can.

Unfortunately, he said, the Stanford camp will keep him from attending Utah's camp on June 23 and 24.

I asked if Utah had a shot at him.

"Utah is definitely being thought about," he said. "We will have to see what I can do as far as [visiting] Utah here in the next little while."

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More odds and ends from BYU's big recruiting weekend:

* Several insiders say it is only a matter of time before the Cougars get a commitment from Mitch Mathews, the receiver from Beaverton, Ore., who received a scholarship offer on Friday.

* Darren Markle, a linebacker from Mountain View High in Meridian, Idaho, impressed Cougar coaches on Friday and may be in line for a scholarship offer. He could be meeting with BYU coaches as early as Tuesday, and, if offered a scholarship, might just commit on the spot.

Bountiful High offensive tackle Darren Denucci went into this week thinking that he would get his long-awaited chance to impress college coaches at the All Poly Camp at his school on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

However, midway through a workout in front of Weber State coaches on Monday, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound rising senior got his first scholarship offer.

Wildcats coach Ron McBride extended the invitation, as Denucci held his own against some of the more highly touted prospects in the state.

Denucci has also drawn interest from BYU, Utah State, Colorado and others, according to a family member.

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In a report on Saturday's Nike Training Camp at BYU, I surmised that the reason Logan High quarterback Jeff Manning was not there was because he had been told by BYU coaches on Friday that they were probably not going to offer him a scholarship.

Turns out, a very credible source I got that from misinterpreted a conversation with someone close to Manning. While it is true that the Cougars did not offer Manning a scholarship after Junior Day, he left with the feeling that he is still of great interest to them.

The lack of an offer is not the reason Manning did not attend Saturday's camp.

It is no secret that BYU has offered Taysom Hill, the four-star QB from Pocatello, Idaho, and Josh Nunes, the four-star QB from Upland, Calif. They also like what they see from three-star QB Jamie Jensen of Gilroy, Calif.

My guess is that if they don't get Hill or Nunes (whom they may have stopped recruiting, according to some sources), they will make a run at Manning or Jensen, if they are still available.

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.

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

An article in Thursday's Palm Desert Sun noted that Palm Desert High player Trevor Bateman, a defensive back and all-purpose back on offense, expects a scholarship offer from BYU this weekend.

Bateman already has offers from Arizona and UNLV, he said.

"I am going up to BYU's campus this weekend. I talked to their recruiting coordinator [Paul Tidwell] and he said he's 99 percent sure that they are going to offer me one after I meet the head coach," Bateman said in the article.

BYU is holding its Junior Day today (Friday) and many of the top seniors-to-be that the Cougars are interested in are supposed to be there.

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An Arizona offensive lineman who reportedly had an offer from Utah has committed to Arizona State, according to the Arizona Republic.

Kody Koebensky, a 6-foot-4, 290-pounder, is ASU's fourth commit from the 2009 class.

Koebensky said he also had offers from Utah, San Diego State, Army and Air Force.

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

Count Brigham Young football coach Bronco Mendenhall among the coaches happy with an NCAA recruiting rule change that went into effect this spring. The rule prohibits head coaches from visiting high schools during the spring evaluation period.

Before the change, head coaches could visit high schools during the evaluation period, which runs from April 15 to May 31, However, they were prohibited from speaking in person to potential student-athletes.

Mendenhall said the change didn't effect him because he doesn't visit high schools in the spring anyway.

"I didn't go out before," he said. "I am using that entire time to go out to speak at firesides and really promote the faith of young people around the country."

Alabama coach Nick Saban called the rule change "ridiculous" and USC's Pete Carroll said it benefits "lazy" coaches. But many others agree with Mendenhall, including Utah State coach Brent Guy.

"I personally think it is good that we pulled back in for awhile," Guy said.

Mendenhall said before the change head coaches "put themselves in a very difficult situation" when they went into high schools because it was almost impossible to avoid interaction with recruits.

"Rules are being broken instantly because the head [high school] coach want to introduce people to you, wants them to shake your hand," he said. "Those are called ‘bumps' and it is not legal, and so then you have to act ....rude and it doesn't leave the right impression."

Some coaches have said the ban could prevent them from finding out more about recruits. Saban, for instance, has turned to video conferencing as a way to get around the rule. Mendenhall says he doesn't foresee BYU coaches doing that.

"For the talent pool we are involved with and the unique fit we are after, I don't think [something such as video conferencing] matters," he said.

Utah State football coach Brent Guy was kind enough to call me back today in between sessions of his summer football camp for a recruiting article I am working on.

So, I asked him about Antonio May, the three-star defensive end from Dodge City (Kan.) Junior College. Some internet reports have claimed that May signed with the Aggies a week ago and will be eligible to play this fall.

Guy said he could not comment on May, which leads me to believe that the player has not actually signed anything yet, but will. Utah State is as cautious as any school out there when it comes to giving out any information about recruiting.

For instance, an Aggie assistant I spoke to last week claimed to have no knowledge of May.

At any rate, the Aggies could really use a strong rushing defensive end, according to my colleague at the Tribune, Steve Luhm. May seems to fit that bill. The 6-foot-4 prospect committed to Houston last fall after a strong couple of years at Dodge City, but it is unclear why the Cougars are no longer interested in him, or he in them.

Guy said the Aggies have four scholarships left to dole out this summer, which seems like quite a few with fall camp about seven weeks away.

_________________________

J.D. Jorgensen, a former University of Utah football player, says that one of the players that BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall was referring to Monday (see earlier post) may have been his brother, Jan Jorgensen.

The Cougars' standout defensive lineman originally signed with Kentucky.

"I will say this: my family, mainly myself, reached out to the coaching staff first and initiated all the contact," J.D. Jorgensen wrote. "It was exactly like Bronco described in your blog. We expressed interest first."

J.D. Jorgensen noted that the family also contacted Utah, but the Utes "didn't seem too interested, though."

He probably won't replace Trent Plaisted in the starting lineup, but a prep player from Oregon said recently he is joining the Cougar basketball team.

Michael Boswell, a 6-foot-9, 210-pound post player from Aloha High in Beaverton, Ore., will walk on to BYU's basketball team this fall, according to the Web site Oregonpreps.com.

Boswell says he had some scholarship offers from other programs, but decided on BYU because he wants to become a doctor. He said BYU sends 90 percent of its pre-med students to their top choice for medical school.

The high school graduate said he will be playing as a preferred walk-on, but hopes to earn a scholarship later in his college career.

The Web site says Boswell turned down "immediate scholarship offers" from Weber State, Utah State and Toledo. and was drawing strong interest from Portland and Portland State.

The prospect said he will go on an LDS Church mission after his first year at BYU.

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Defensive back Brandon Bradley is the other missionary that Bronco Mendenhall was referring to on Monday that signed with a different program out of high school but decided to join the Cougars after an LDS Church mission.

Bradley signed with Louisville before making the decision to transfer.

BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall and Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham went head-to-head on Monday, but it wasn't for a prized recruit.

This time it was on the golf course.

In the annual Rivalry for Charity golf tournament, Whittingham's team of Utah boosters beat Mendenhall's team of BYU boosters, requiring the Cougar coach to sing Utah's fight song afterwards.

You can read more about it on the Tribune's Web site, and I am sure Mendenhall's performance will be all over the television news broadcasts tonight.

After the singing, reporters were able to visit with both coaches, and, of course, the subject of recruiting missionaries came up because it was the first time, to my knowledge, that Mendenhall has given any interviews since the famous Memorial Day announcement by USU's Riley Nelson that he is transferring to BYU when he returns home from his LDS Church mission.

Here's what was asked:

"There's been debate raging the last few weeks about recruiting and missionaries. To set everyone straight, what is the rule you follow as far as how you handle them?"

Here's Mendenhall's response:

"We, in every possible chance, will not recruit or interfere with anybody out on their mission.

There have been three very unique cases with permission and requests by parents and/or mission presidents that have asked us to be involved to help a young man make a decision earlier and go on about his business. It will take something like that for us ever to consider a young man while he's out there.

There have been three to this point in four years, and there could be others, but it will take those criteria to make it happen."

The coach could not say who those three missionaries are, per NCAA rules, but two are presumed to be Nelson and Malosi Te'o, the running back from Kahuku High in Hawaii who signed with UNLV.

Shoot me an e-mail if you know who the third one is.

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Whittingham was asked about reports that the Utes will be playing at Notre Dame in 2010.

"From what I understand, it is getting close to being a done deal," he said. "It is not completely certain at this point, but probably 95 percent. We hope for the best."

The coach was also asked about the status of Keni Kaufusi, the Cottonwood High lineman who was close to joining the Utes but had his offer of a grant-in-aid withdrawn due to some highly publicized legal issues.

"We are just waiting. It is an unfortunate situation," he said. "But from our standpoint, nothing has changed."

Friday's horrible news about the tragic death of BYU track star Chelsi Petersen is obviously devastating for not only the Cougars' track and field program, but their entire athletic program.

From all accounts, Petersen was a wonderful person, athlete, friend, daughter and teammate. She died at the scene of an automobile accident in Provo Canyon as Thursday turned into Friday.

It's just an absolute shame and heartwrenching for sports fans everywhere, regardless of what program they cheer for.

I spent most of Friday learning about Petersen, talking to her high school principal and high school track coach, along with the people BYU gathered Friday afternoon to talk to reporters: track coaches Dick Legas and Mark Robison and teammates Mindy Robins and Nicole Rasmussen.

Several people told me that Petersen was madly in love with someone on an LDS Church mission, but for some reason it never occurred to me to ask the missionary's name.

Today, several people let me know via e-mail that Petersen's boyfriend is James Lark, the BYU quarterback who is also from St. George but attended a different high school, Pine View.

Petersen graduated from Dixie High.

Lark, who is expected to return in January of 2010, is one of the QBs in the Cougar pipeline who will compete for the starting job in 2010 with Jason Munns and Riley Nelson.

Right now, though, that seems rather trivial.

How big is lacrosse in Utah? College coaches are starting to look at the Beehive State for recruits, even though lacrosse is not sanctioned by the Utah High School Activities Association.

Prediction: It will be by 2010.

Just received a notice that the "other" Notre Dame has signed a Utahn to play college lacrosse.

Murray High's Aleisha Matsuura has signed with Notre Dame College of South Euclid, Ohio, an NAIA school with a powerful women's lacrosse program.

At Murray, Matsuura was the team captain for the school's club team for three years, playing defender for the Spartans. She is a two-time first-team All-American and a first-team All-Utah selection.

As a senior, Matsuura amasses 100 groundballs, 11 interceptions and 37 caused turnovers.

The NDC lacrosse team went 12-4 last season and had a nine-game winning streak.

A lot of the posts on this blog are about the big spectator sports -- football and basketball -- but in reality far more Utah high school athletes are recruited in other sports.

Take girls soccer, for example. Last time I checked, more than 75 Utah girls from the class of 2008 were moving on to play college soccer somewhere. I can't think of a sport in Utah that produces more.

In boys basketball, for instance, there have only been a dozen or so Division I signees.

That said, the Tribune's Chhun Sun has an interesting blog on the top girls soccer player in the state, Alta's Kealia Ohai, who is just heading into her junior year.

To check out where Ohai may be headed to college, go to http://blogs.sltrib.com/prepsports/index.htm

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Apparently, there are some College of Southern Idaho fans/alumni in Utah who want to know how many Utahns have signed to attend and play sports for CSI next fall and winter.

Here's the list I've come up with:

Boys basketball: Louis Garrett, forward, Pine View.

Baseball: Preston Olson, pitcher, Taylorsville.

Girls basketball: Kim Gamblin, forward, Riverton; MeChel Hunt, forward, Fremont.

Softball: Brie Dimond, pitcher, Juan Diego; Brittany Gonzales, infielder, Tooele; Ashley Chappel, infielder, Spanish Fork; Generra Nielson, pitcher, San Juan; Michon Vanderpoel, infielder, Taylorsville.

Couple of recruiting items to pass along on a rainy June day in Utah...

East High's two-sport star, Eric Bohling, will play football and baseball at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisc. Bohling was one of the top multi-sport prep athletes in the state this past year. He will receive a full-ride scholarship from the Vikings.

Superprep.com is reporting that Richard Wilson, Spanish Fork tight end, has received an offer from Miami. Wilson now has offers from the likes of LSU, Miami, Utah and BYU.

My colleague Lya Wodraska covered this extensively in her blog -- http://blogs.sltrib.com/utes/index.htm -- so I will only mention it here. The University of Utah football program has picked up a third commitment, getting the world from running back Chris Brown of Newbury Park, Calif., that he will join the Utes.

Brown is a 6-foot-1, 205-pounder who rushed for 1,904 yards his junior year.

Utah Valley State College started its women's golf program just a few years ago, but already the Wolverines are attracting some top in-state players.

The school announced Tuesday that it has signed four more female golfers.

Weber State transfer Erika Baldwin, Dakota Wesleyan transfer Abby Wheeling and twin sisters from Cottonwood High in Salt Lake County, Monica and Stephanie Fox, have signed with UVSC.

Outgoing coach Denise Larson said the combination of the incoming recruits and the returning players will make the Wolverines more formidable than they've ever been.

Baldwin is from Idaho Falls, Idaho, and just completed her sophomore season at Weber State. She tied for 34th at the Big Sky Championships in April.

Wheeling will be a sophomore. She tied for 73rd out of 120 players at the NAIA national championships.

Stephanie Fox recently won the Hidden Valley Country Club Invitational with a 76. Monica Fox shot a 77 at the state tournament to finish tied for 9th.

Tooele's Sadie Palmer, the 4A/5A state champion last month at Davis Park, has signed with Southern Utah University, which also has a relatively new women's golf program.

Utah Jazz guard Ronnie Brewer's cousin announced his college decision over the weekend. No, it isn't BYU or Utah.

Doesn't look like the Utes or Cougars were in the running for Fred Gulley, a 6-foot-2 guard who was the Arkansas Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

Gulley committed to Oklahoma State and its new coach, Travis Ford.

According to the Oklahoman newspaper, Gulley was expected to go to either Arkansas or Missouri, so his decision to head to Stillwater came as a surprise. Gulley was apparently so impressive growing up that Arkansas coaches reportedly offered him a scholarship when he was 11 years old.

A report by Dontay Allen in the newspaper says Gulley works out with Brewer several times a week at the University of Arkansas campus.

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Among the six basketball players that UC Irvine signed recently was Aaron England, a 6-foot-5 guard from Cyprus High. England played for College of Eastern Utah last season, starting all 29 games and shooting 38 percent from three-point range.

England originally signed with Utah State, but redshirted his first year before transferring to CEU.

At Cyprus, he was a first-team all-stater in 2005-06 after averaging 15.4 points and 4.3 rebounds a game.

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

Jordan High basketball coach Rob Geertsen will conduct a little kids camp June 9-12 at Mount Jordan Middle School in Sandy.

Grades 3-4 go from 8 am. to 9:30 a.m. and grades 5-6 go from 9:45 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

Cost is $40. For more information, go to www.jordanbasketball.net.

"It just felt right."

That's how Craig Wilcox described his son's decision to commit to the University of Washington on Sunday night.

C.J. Wilcox, the high-scoring and highly recruiting shooting guard from Pleasant Grove High, ended a rather heated recruited battle between Washington and Utah -- other schools came strong into the picture later -- by choosing the Huskies over the weekend and announcing it on Monday.

Craig Wilcox, who played for BYU in 1990s, said C.J. was leaning toward Washington for a few days, so he tried to sell the strong points of some of the other programs to his son "just to see where he stands and how committed he was."

Turns out, C.J. held true to that initial feeling about UW and coach Lorenzo Romar and now he's on his way to Seattle after what should be a phenomenal senior year at Pleasant Grove.

Craig Wilcox spent much of Monday talking to coaches about from programs that had recruited C.J., including BYU's, and said they all handled it with class.

He acknowledged that he called Utah coach Jim Boylen with the news, rather than C.J.

Craig Wilcox said Boylen was "very disappointed" but was told he didn't do anything wrong C.J.'s recruitment. It was just that C.J. had a better feeling about Washington, which entered the fray late.

"I personally believe coach Boylen is going to do something special at Utah," Craig Wilcox said.

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Some people have wondered how Wilcox's announcement today will effect the decision of Lone Peak's Tyler Haws, considered the state's other top recruit. The answer: not at all.

However, it could affect the choice made by Provo's 6-foot-8 Brandon Davies. The thinking is that Utah will now go hard after Davies, not wanting to be left out of the in-state sweepstakes this year.

BYU already has a commitment from one member of the class of 2009, Lone Peak's 6-10 Nate Austin. Utah's still in the running for Haws, of course, but it is looking more and more like the battle for his services will be between BYU and Stanford.

I talked to Davies tonight, and he was not aware of Wilcox's decision. So much for that theory.

Davies said he still has offers from Utah, BYU and Utah State, but no out-of-state offers, although Boise State seems highly interested.

"Me and C.J. are good friends, so it might make [his decision] a little harder," Davies said after learning about Wilcox's plans. "It would have been nice to play in college with him, but Washington isn't recruiting me, obviously."

Davies, who had a strong state tournament in helping Provo win the title, has not had a stellar spring, according to several sources. He will go to camps at BYU and Utah State with his Provo teammates, and will go to some July tournaments with his club team, Utah Pump N Run.

"I'm still trying to get my name out there more," he said.

Asked if he planned on committing soon, Davies hesitated.

"I have some things I need to take care of first, schooling and stuff," he said.

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My colleague who covers University of Utah football, Lya Wodraska, has a blog up about the unfortunate situation regarding Ute recruit Keni Kaufusi, the Cottonwood High product who had made such great strides in his life recently to become a recruitable Division I athlete. Go to http://sltrib.com/utes/index.htm

The safety from a Texas high school football powerhouse called and confirmed that he has committed to the University of Utah.

However, Jarrad Stewart said he actually made the pledge almost two weeks ago, not over the weekend as has been previously reported.

Still, he called it a "strong commitment" and one not likely to change.

"I looked at Utah's tradition at safety. That was a big factor," he said of his decision. "A lot of good safeties have gone to Utah."

Stewart, 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, said he has never been to Utah, but plans a visit in a few weeks.

He said that after he committed, his high school coach (Tony Heath) told him that Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Boise State, SMU and other schools had expressed interest and were probably on the verge of offering scholarships.

Although he is set on playing safety in college, Stewart said he might get a shot at running back or receiver for his Pearland High team this fall.

He also said he is doing well academically and is on track to graduate.

Just got confirmation that Jarrad Stewart, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound safety from Pearland High in Pearland, Texas, has orally committed to play college football for the University of Utah.

Stewart's high school coach, Tony Heath, confirmed that the player made the commitment.

"Yeah, he's heading that way," Heath said.

The coach said Stewart, who will be a senior this fall, started as a sophomore on a team that reached the semifinals in Class 5A Division I, the highest classification in Texas prep football.

Last year, he started as a junior on a team that won the district championship.

"He's a good one," Heath said.

College coaches cannot comment on recruits until they have signed.

He's the second prospect from the class of 2009 to commit to Utah, joining Jordan High lineman Vyncent Jones.

C.J. Wilcox, the 6-foot-5 shooting guard/small forward from Pleasant Grove High has committed to play college basketball for the University of Washington, several sources have confirmed.

Wilcox made the commitment either Sunday night or Monday morning.

The commitment comes as bad news for the University of Utah, which had been recruiting Wilcox heavily.

Friday, Wilcox's father, Craig, told The Recruiting Trail that his son had narrowed his choices to Utah and Washington, but might re-open his decision-making process to include Miami and Florida State.

Apparently, the senior-to-be decided over the weekend that Washington was the place for him. A source said either Wilcox or his father called Utah coaches on Monday morning with the news.

As detailed in a previous post, Wilcox had offers from more than a half-dozen Division I schools.

Spent the weekend watching motorcycle racing at Miller Motorsports Park. It was quite the spectacle, but now it is back to some recruiting news....

A source close to the Utah football coaching staff has confirmed that the Utes received an oral commitment over the weekend from Jerrad Stewart, a safety from Pearland High in Pearland, Texas.
He's the second high school senior-to-be to commit to the Utes, joining Jordan High's Vyncent Jones.
Scout.com reported the commitment first (far as I can tell), but doesn't have his height and weight or many other details.
Rivals.com lists him at 5-foot-10, 176 pounds, with 4.5-second speed in the 40. I am trying to reach Stewart and hope to have more on him in a later post.

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BYU's baseball program has added a pair of right-handed pitchers to its 2008 signing class.
Marc Ostlund of West High in Torrance, Calif., and Nathan Bunch of Hazen High in Renton, Wash., have signed with the Cougars.
Ostlund was 8-0 last season and also played quarterback for West's football team. Bunch was 4-1 with a 1.15 ERA and was his league's MVP.