The race to land one of the top high school basketball players in Utah just got a little less crowded.
Provo High's 6-foot-9 Brandon Davies told a reporter from the Oakland Tribune, Jeff Faraudo, on Tuesday that he has eliminated Gonzaga from the list of schools he is interested in attending. Oddly, Davies visited Gonzaga last weekend.
"It is just a matter of deciding whether I am going to stay home or go out of state," Davies told Faraudo, who covers Cal basketball. "If I go out of state, [California] is where I am going."
That means the three schools left in the picture for Davies are BYU, Utah State and Cal. Davies will make his official campus visit to BYU the weekend of Oct. 10-11. He has already visited Utah State and Cal and has received home visits from BYU's Dave Rose, USU's Stew Morrill and Cal's Mike Montgomery.

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Check out my BYU blog to learn what BYU quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman says the Cougars are looking for when they go out to scout high school quarterbacks.
As part of my conversation about quarterbacking with Doman, a former Skyline High wishbone quarterback and BYU QB, we talked about why it seems that the state of Utah doesn't produce many college caliber quarterbacks.

Here's what he said:

"I think there are some good young quarterbacks. I believe there are a couple up and coming guys that have a chance. And there are a couple seniors this year that have a chance, that are doing a good job. I would say that they don't receive as much coaching in Utah. There is not as much time placed in these guys in all of the technical aspects of quarterbacking.

"On the West Coast, they are spending hours a day and they are spending bundles of money to get better. They are just more sound in their quarterbacking skills."

-- Jay Drew

With only a couple of scholarships left that have not been spoken for by members of the Class of 2009, BYU football coaches are clearly starting to target players from the Class of 2010.

One of those players is Algernon Brown, a running back from Skyline High in Salt Lake City. The Cougars offered a scholarship to the junior over the weekend, a source confirmed on Monday.

Brown rushed for more than 400 yards as a sophomore last year, but has been hampered by an injury this season. He did rush for 85 yards on 17 carries in a loss to Highland a few weeks ago.

Brown as listed at 6-foot-1, 205 pounds on Skyline's roster. He is also the team's punter.

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Also, BYU recently offered Kona Schwenke, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound defensive end from Kahuku High in Hawaii, according to the same source.

The other juniors that have offers in hand from the Cougars include Jake Heaps, a quarterback from Issaquah, Wash., Gifford Timothy, an offensive tackle from Delaware; Zac Stout, a linebacker from Westlake Village, Calif., and V.J. Fehoko, a defensive end from Hawaii.

Timpview's Bronson Kaufusi, a junior and the son of BYU defensive line coach Steve Kaufusi, has committed to BYU.

-- Jay Drew

Logan High quarterback Jeff Manning received his first Division I offer on Wednesday night -- from Utah State.
Then he went out and celebrated with perhaps the best performance of his prep career, completing 21 of 24 passes for 325 yards and six touchdowns in a 59-0 rout of Grantsville.
According to the Logan Herald Journal, Manning was 15-for-16 in the first half for 256 yards and five TDs. He now has thrown for 21 TDs, rushed for six TDs and thrown for 1,589 yards.
A source close to Manning said although the Aggies are the only school yet to offer the 6-foot-4, 185-pound quarterback, several schools continue to monitor his progress and express interest, including Oregon, Utah, Arizona State, Colorado State and BYU.
Manning has said he will go on an LDS Church mission when he graduates from Logan and before he enrolls at any college.

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Speaking of quarterbacks, one of the best QBs in the West, 6-foot-4 Josh Nunes of Upland, Calif., recently withdrew his commitment from Tennessee and committed to Stanford.
Nunes' decision has local implications because Stanford already has a commitment from Taysom Hill, the quarterback from Pocatello, Idaho (Highland High) who had an offer from BYU before he committed to the Cardinal.
However, Nunes' commitment may not effect Hill that much because Hill will also go on a church mission when he graduates from high school. He turns 19 in August, 2009. After a two-year mission and a redshirt year, he could be a freshman when Nunes is a senior.

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Interesting column in the Honolulu Advertiser today by Ferd Lewis suggesting that BYU playing Hawaii in 2012 and 2013 could help the Cougars land all-everything linebacker Manti Te'o.

BYU quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman attended Thursday night's West Jordan-Bingham prep football game, but he probably wasn't there to watch a quarterback, although Bingham's Jake Soffe is a pretty good one.
Bingham has a couple Division I prospects, most notably senior linebacker L.T. Filiaga, who already has an offer from the Cougars.
However, a source told The Recruiting Trail that on Friday BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall made another scholarship offer to a Bingham player. Mendenhall met with running back Harvey Langi, a sophomore, and Langi's parents and made the offer to the prospect many believe will be the state's top player in 2010 (2011 signee).
Langi received an offer from the University of Utah during the summer. Both offers are oral offers only because recruits are not allowed to receive written offers prior to the first day of school of their junior years.
Langi, 6-foot-1, 208, has been named one of the top 100 prospects in the nation in the Class of 2011 by maxpreps.com. His brother, Sam, signed with Snow College last spring.

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An interesting note in a recruiting blog out of Hawaii says that USC coach Pete Carroll, sill smarting after Thursday night's loss at Oregon State, will be at Friday night's prep football game in Hawaii featuring Punahou and Kamehameha high schools. Punahou, of course, is the school attended by superstar linebacker Manti Te'o, the top-five-in-the-country recruit who has narrowed his choices to five schools, including BYU and USC. Notre Dame, Stanford and UCLA are also still in the mix for Te'o.

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Snow College sent out a news release today reminding us that the Badgers have tne No. 1 junior college player in the country, defensive end James Aiono, according to a recent list released by Rivals.com. Aiono, of course, has committed to Utah.
Snow College's other defensive end, Mike Laloni, is also on the top-100 list, landing at No. 79.
No. 3 Snow has a big test on Saturday, traveling to No. 9 Glendale (Ariz.) for a battle of unbeatens.

-- Jay Drew

The big recruiting news of the day, obviously, is that Lone Peak High shooting guard Tyler Haws has committed to BYU.

We've got more on that on our BYU sports blog. Haws' commitment, naturally, has people wondering about the status of the other top uncommitted basketball player in the state, Provo's 6-9 Brandon Davies.

Coincidentally, Davies is scheduled to visit Gonzaga this weekend, and has offers in hand from Cal, Gonzaga, BYU, Utah, Utah State and Santa Clara. He has pretty much eliminated Utah, and the Utes are quite possibly out of scholarships, anyway.

Some BYU fans are saying that Davies has been waiting for Haws to decide and will now follow him to Provo.

Frankly, I've talked to Davies probably six or seven times about his recruitment and he has never -- never -- mentioned Haws. I think Davies will decide for himself where he goes, and he is more concerned about who he will be competing with for playing time than he is about going somewhere just because someone he knows is going there, too.

I'm not saying Davies won't end up at BYU; I'm just saying if he does or doesn't, it will have very little to do with Tyler Haws.

In my opinion, it is not quite as important for BYU's coaching staff to land Davies as it was for them to land Haws, although Davies could very well end up being the better player. Haws is a legacy recruit -- with a father (Marty) who played for the Cougars and was a star, while Davies lives a stone's throw from the Marriott Center, but really doesn't have strong ties to the school, aside from being LDS.

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One last thing about Haws. His father told me a few weeks ago, and Haws mentioned it again tonight -- the player and his family were very impressed with Utah coach Jim Boylen. They said Utah's new coach took it extremely well a few weeks ago when he was told Haws wouldn't be heading his way.

"I have no doubt that he would have made me a better basketball player," Tyler Haws said.

Tyler Haws walked into BYU coach Dave Rose's office on Wednesday afternoon as one of the most recruited basketball players in state history.

He walked out a Cougar.

Haws, the 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Lone Peak High, orally committed to BYU, his father, Marty, confirmed a few minutes ago. Haws is rated as one of the top 100 high school seniors in the country and is a two-time Tribune Class 5A MVP.

Haws recently narrowed his choices to Stanford and BYU after receiving offers from a half-dozen or so schools.

Marty Haws, who played point guard for BYU, said his son called Stanford coaches to inform them of his decision shortly after he committed to the Cougars.

-- Jay Drew

Cydne Mason, a 5-foot-6 point guard from American Fork High School, has orally committed to play college basketball for Utah Valley University.

Mason, who gave her word to the Wolverines after a weekend recruiting visit, will sign when the NCAA early signing period begins on Nov. 10.

Mason helped her high school team finish second at the 5A state tournament last spring and has played two club seasons for the Utah Flight.

    BYU football coaches will be out in force at selected high school football games on Friday night, mostly because the Cougars have a bye on Saturday and the coaches have some free time on their hands.

    NCAA rules allow seven coaches to be out recruiting at any one time, and BYU recruiting coordinator Paul Tidwell said Monday that all the coaches except Bronco Mendenhall, Steve Kaufusi and Lance Reynolds will be at high school games on Friday. Some coaches will be at junior college games on Saturday.

    "We are going to try and hit all of our in-state kids [who have committed to BYU or been offered by BYU]," Tidwell said. "Because of geography, we might not be able to get all of them this time, but we will before the evaluation period is up. We will get all our in-state kids, and all our commits, during that time."

    He said coaches make an extra effort to see the players they've offered and the players they have commitments from. Although coaches can't talk face-to-face with recruits, they can visit with coaches.

    "We will just go to the games and observe," he said. "The [recruits] will know we are there."

    Tidwell said the Cougars currently have only 6-8 offers on the table to high school seniors. BYU has only about three scholarships left to give, although he acknowledged they could get up to five more commitments because some recruits will immediately leave on LDS Church missions after their senior years of high school.

    Coaches cannot discuss specific recruits until they have signed. However, it is believed that BYU has offers on the table to the following players:

    * Manti Te'o, a linebacker from Laie, Haw., and Punahou High School.

    * Richard Wilson, a tight end from Spanish Fork High.

    * Xavier Su'a-Filo, a lineman from Timpview High.

    * Kyle Van Noy, a linebacker/tight end from Reno, Nev., and McQueen High School.

    * Latu Heimuli, a defensive tackle from Highland High.

    * Steven Fanua, a linebacker from Milpitas, Calif.

    * L.T. Filiaga, a linebacker from Bingham High.

    * Brad Wilcox, a lineman from Edmond, Okla., and North High School.
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    Much has been written and said about the in-state recruits, and Tidwell acknowledged that this is one of the strongest crops of Utah prep football players in recent memory.

    "It is a real strong class, and we are kind of strapped because we don't have as many scholarships as we normally have because of returned missionaries," he said."I wish we could get involved with a few more in-state kids, but yes, this is a strong in-state recruiting class."
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    A source close to the BYU coaching staff (not Tidwell) acknowledged Monday that the Cougars learned late Sunday that Northridge safety Chris Washington had committed to the University of Utah. BYU had also offered Washington.

    The Cougars wanted Washington, there's no question about that. However, because of the aformentioned scholarship crunch, and the fact that they already have commitments from two other safeties (Jray Galea'i of Hawaii and Craig Bills of Timpview), there was not bitter disappointment.

    Quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman has said that BYU has offered a quarterback who will sign in February. Obviously, that QB is unknown to us and most of the national recruiting Web sites and is not on the aforementioned list.

    It is looking more and more like the QB Doman has referenced is Riley Nelson, the quarterback who is currently on a mission and is transferring to BYU from Utah State.
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    Fanua, the linebacker from Milpitas (Calif.) High, recently told Scout.com that California is his favorite, although he remains uncommitted. He said the Bears lead slightly over BYU, Colorado, Arizona State, Hawaii and Fresno State.

-- Jay Drew

The Utah Utes earned a recruiting victory over rival BYU on Sunday when Northridge senior Chris Washington, one of the top-rated safeties in the west, committed to Utah. Washington, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound receiver and safety for the Knights, was highly sought after by both programs but ultimately decided to go with the Utes because he was more comfortable with Utah.
"My sister [Kelli] already goes to school there and it just felt like a better fit," he said.
Washington said Utah's recent defensive success also played a part in his decision. He was recruited by Utah defensive coordinator Gary Andersen.
"They're nationally ranked right now and the safeties are always a strong part of the team and that is my position," he said. "I'm definitely excited."
Washington said his commitment was solid.
"It would have to take a lot to pull me away," he said.
Washington is the ninth commitment for the Utes' 2009 recruiting class. Two other Utahns who have committed to the Utes are Jordan offensive lineman Vyncent Jones and defensive end James Aiono, who is at Snow College after attending Murray High.

Here is the list of oral commitments for 2009 so far. It doesn't include receiver Travis Cobb, who gave the Utes an oral commitment then decided to keep looking.
Vyncent Jones, 6-3, 270-pound offensive lineman out of Jordan High
Jarrad Stewart, 5-10, 180-pound safety out of Pearland, Texas
Chris Brown, 6-1, 185-pound running back out of Newbury Park, Calif.
C.J. Porter, 6-1, 185-pound receiver out of Concord, Calif.
Jamal Smith, Oxford, Calif., 6-2, 185-pound receiver out of Oxford, Calif.
Eric Dago, 6-foot-4, 210-pound defensive end out of Houston, Texas
James Aiono, Snow College, 6-3, 275-pound defensive end out of Murray High, now at Snow College
Colby Goodwin, a 6-foot-5, 202-pound tight end out of Cypress, Texas
Chris Washington, 6-foot-2, 195-pound safety out of Northridge High

- Lya Wodraska

The recruiting Web sites have been buzzing the past few days with great stuff about high school football prospects that Utah and BYU are both interested in.

Here's a quick rundown with what is going on with several standouts:

* Punahou (Haw.) linebacker Manti Te'o: The superstar sat down with his father Monday night and narrowed his choices to five schools, one of which is BYU. He eliminated Utah, something he said was difficult because of the relationship he has built with Utah coaches, most notably Kalani Sitake. Here's more from an article in Friday's Honolulu Advertiser.
Also, I have just been informed that an article on the Web site totalbluesports.com about Te'o's top five is free. Here's the link.

* Spanish Fork tight end Richard Wilson: The Dons' senior has 19 catches for 350 yards and three touchdowns as teams work to double- and triple-team Wilson to limit his touches.
Wilson recently told an LSU-based Web site that LSU and BYU are still at the top of his list.
"After that it would be Stanford and Miami. I am talking with the Hurricanes every week now, but it is definitely a long way from home. Still, I want to keep all my options open." He plans to attend the Arizona-Stanford game in Palo Alto on Oct. 11 and has "tentative" plans to visit LSU on Oct. 25 when the Tigers play host to Georgia.

* Bingham linebacker L.T. Filiaga: The 6-foot, 235-pound senior told Allen Wallace of Superprep.com that BYU is recruiting him harder than any other school. He also has offers from Utah, Arizona, UNLV, Washington and Stanford.
Filiaga says his favorite two are BYU and Utah, but that Arizona, Stanford and LSU are close. LSU has not offered yet, but has talked to him about being a fullback in its system.
A fine student with a 3.8 GPA and 19 score on the ACT, Filiaga is trying to graduate early so he can participate in spring ball with his chosen school.

* Bingham receiver Michael Edmunds: The 6-4 senior recently received a scholarship offer from Southern Utah, but is still waiting for his first Division I offer. Some schools are starting to talk to him about bulking up and becoming a tight end.
Edmunds was at BYU's 59-0 win over UCLA and said the Cougars are still showing some interest, along with Washington, Stanford, UNLV and Utah State. He has carried a 4.0 GPA throughout high school and is fully qualified, with a 25 on the ACT.

* Timpview receiver Travis Van Leeuwen: The 6-3 senior has offers from Southern Utah and Weber State, but, like Edmunds, is still waiting for his first D-I invitation. A representative from Kansas State is expected to watch the Thunderbirds' game tonight at Payson; UCLA coaches stopped by practice last week when they were in town to face BYU.

Our Utah basketball beat writer, Michael C. Lewis, is still in China wrapping up a little relaxation time after covering the 2008 Summer Olympics every day for almost a month.

In the expert's absence, I am going to give a little Utes basketball recruiting update.

A source close to the team confirmed this afternoon that Utah has four solid commitments -- three from high school players and a fourth from a juco star -- and expects to sign all four in November.

The Utes have four scholarships to dole out, but coaches have still been out recruiting just in case of an academic casualty, or if another scholarship becomes available. Not saying one will, but you never know.

A lot of programs have been known to "over-sign" with that in mind.

So, Utah's four commitments are from: Shawn Glover, a 6-6 power forward from Cedar Hill, Texas; Marshall Henderson, a 6-1 shooting guard from Hurst, Texas; Jeremy Olsen,a 6-10 power forward from Lawrenceville, Ga., and Jay Watkins, a 6-7 small forward from Memphis who will play for the College of Southern Idaho this winter.

My source acknowledged that Utah has pretty much stopped recruiting Brandon Davies, the 6-8 big man from Provo High, especially after it got a commitment from Olsen, who is likely to go on an LDS Church mission after a year with the Utes.

I am assuming, then, that Utah also backed off months ago the recruitment of J.J. Richardson, a 6-7 combo forward from Hightower High, outside the Houston area. Richardson committed to Pittsburgh a few days ago, after receiving offers (he said) from Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Penn State and Utah.

Supposedly, the Utes are also in the running for Matt Read, another 6-9, 225-pound Texan who played last year for Collin County Community College in Plano. Several reports said the Utes were battling former Utah coach Rick Majerus and the St. Louis Billikens for Read.

Read told one recruiting Web site that he was planning to visit Utah the last weekend of September, but my source didn't mention that.

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The Utah women's basketball program already has a couple of strong commitments from players in the state of Colorado. But it apparently missed on Carly Noyes, a two-time Washington Player of the Year from Moses Lake High. Noyes, a towering 6-foot-5 senior, recently committed to Washington State and canceled a planned visit to Salt Lake City.

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BYU football fans who like to follow the exploits of the recruits who have committed to the Cougars are wondering why they've seen little about Mitch Matthews, the 6-foot-5 wide receiver from Southridge, Ore.

Here's why: Matthews suffered a broken leg in a 41-21 victory over West Linn a few weeks ago and will be sidelined for eight weeks.

-- Jay Drew

New BYU women's volleyball coach Shay Goulding is apparently going to be an excellent recruiter.

The BYU volleyball program has received a non-binding oral commitment from Kylin Munoz, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter who was recently listed as the sixth-best player at her position in the country by prepvolleyball.com.

Munoz is a senior at Monroe High in Washington, and is expected to sign with BYU when the signing period begins in November.

Munoz was also listed by Volleyball Magazine as one of the top 25 players in the country.

Last year, Munoz averaged five kills per game, and she entered the 2008 season with 412 kills in her high school career. She was recruited by more than 100 Division I schools.

Goulding replaced Jason Watkins, who resigned last January. The No. 24 Cougars (7-2) begin MWC play tonight at Wyoming and will play at No. 15 Colorado State on Saturday.

Jay Drew's sharp eyes picked up a note regarding Newbury Park, Calif., running back Chris Brown who is hurt. Brown, one of the first commitments the Utes picked up for 2009, hurt his back and is out for several weeks according to the LA Daily News. The injury hopefully won't turn into a long-term back problem such as the one Ute receiver John Peel has dealt with in recent seasons.
- Lya Wodraska

I will admit it: this one is killing me.

BYU didn't sign a high school quarterback last February, and quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman told me a month ago that the Cougars definitely would sign one this coming February.

I've made a bunch of phone calls, and no one seems to know who that high school senior quarterback will be. BYU coaches can't say, per NCAA rules.

Monday, I asked Doman if the Cougs are any closer to landing their guy.

"Yeah, I think we have one," he said. "I obviously can't comment on it or talk about it, but I think we have someone who will be with us next fall."

Does that mean you've offered a scholarship to a quarterback?

"Yes, absolutely," he said.

Trouble is, none of the Web sites that track this sort of thing know who the Cougars have offered, either.

It's a mystery.

C'mon Domanator, how about a hint?

"Nope. All I can say is we feel really confident about where we are. We feel like our future is pretty bright with the young men that we are recruiting."

What is known is that BYU has expressed some interest in three or four prep quarterbacks, most notably Jamie Jensen of Gilroy, Calif.; Andrew Pulsipher of Temecula Valley, Calif., Jeff Manning of Logan High and Nicolas Libonati of Green Valley High in Henderson, Nev.

Alta High quarterback Ammon Olsen has a scholarship offer from Southern Utah and is widely considered one of the top quarterbacks in Utah this fall (along with Manning), but coach Les Hamilton told me last week that BYU has not offered Olsen a scholarship.

All five were either at BYU's spring game or attended a BYU football camp over the summer. The one quarterback they are known to have offered, Taysom Hill of Pocatello, Idaho, has committed to Stanford.

There is also the possibility that the guy Doman is alluding to is Riley Nelson, the former Utah State QB who is transferring to BYU after his church mission. Nelson gets home in March, so he will technically be signing with BYU in February and will be with the team next fall.

But I'm fairly certain it was evident to him that I was asking about a current high school senior.

The mystery continues.....

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Pressing my luck, I asked the coach if the Cougars have received any feedback yet from a certain high school junior quarterback who was in Provo on Saturday to watch BYU dismantle UCLA.

Jake Heaps of Skyline High in Washington might be the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the country at this time next year.

"You will have to call him and ask him," Doman said. "I can't comment on any guys."

Yeah, I know.

-- Jay Drew

Rayes Gallegos, a 6-foot-2 senior guard from West Jordan High, has orally committed to Nebraska.

Gallegos will sign with the Cornhuskers and coach Doc Sadler next during November's early signing period. He will make his official visit to Lincoln on Sept. 26-27, but committed to Sadler on Monday night.

He chose Nebraska over Utah State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Weber State.

Gallegos played for the Utah Pump-N-Run White club team over the summer and his stock increased dramatically after a stellar junior season at West Jordan High.

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Just got a text message this morning from a member of Tyler Haws' family about the Lone Peak star's visit to BYU last weekend.

"We had a great weekend down at BYU! Coach Dawkins in town today," it read.

That would be Johnny Dawkins, Stanford's new head coach, who will make his in-home visit with the 6-4 guard and his family tonight.
-- Jay Drew

Here's a little bit of good news for Utah State fans: their team's horrible showing on the football field Saturday night didn't turn off their coveted basketball recruit.

Provo High's Brandon Davies, the 6-foot-8, 215-pound power forward who is a four-star recruit according to Scout.com, said Monday night that he visited Utah State over the weekend, and liked what he saw, "except for their football team, which is not good at all."

The Aggies were crushed by Utah, 58-10.

Davies said the visit was fun and the football team's performance will have no bearing on his final decision at all.

"I liked everything about it," he said. "They answered all my questions."

The weekend before his USU visit, Davies visited Cal. He also has offers from BYU, Gonzaga, Santa Clara and Utah. He thinks he has an offer from Arizona, but hasn't heard from them in a while.

A local source told me that Arizona is wary of signing Davies because it feels it was burned in the highly publicized case of Brandon Jennings, the Oak Hill Academy star who signed with Arizona but failed to qualify academically and will play professionally in Europe.

Asked to compare Cal and Utah State, Davies politely declined.

"I liked them both," he said.

Davies said he will visit Gonzaga the weekend of Sept. 26-27 and BYU a weekend or two after that.

He doesn't have any other visits scheduled, and doesn't think he will add any.

Does that mean the University of Utah is off his list?

"I don't know," he said. "I haven't narrowed it down and stuff."

Utah recently received a commitment from forward Shawn Glover of Cedar Hill High in Texas, and has four known commitments for its four known available scholarships.

Gonzaga got a commitment last week from another forward, 6-9 senior Sam Dower of Osseo, Minn., but Davies said he isn't concerned and was assured by a Gonzaga coach during a recent home visit that the Zags still want him and still have big plans for him.

He said he's also had home visits from Cal coach Mike Montgomery, BYU coach Dave Rose and USU coach Stew Morrill.

"I am pretty sure that I am going to decide before the [basketball] season starts," he said.

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While Davies was in Logan last weekend, the state's other top uncommitted basketball recruit, Lone Peak guard Tyler Haws, was taking his official campus visit to BYU, where the home team had an altogether different performance on the football field. The Cougars crushed UCLA 59-0, and Haws had a prime seat to watch the bloodbath.

A source close to the BYU coaching staff said the visit went well, but did not end with a commitment.

Haws, 6-foot-4, has narrowed his choices to BYU and Stanford.

-- Jay Drew

So I am walking past the BYU football locker room on the way to the media interview room on Saturday after the Cougars trashed UCLA 59-0, and I notice a half-dozen or so high school-age kids in street clothes walking into the locker room.

Wait a minute. That's Northridge safety Chris Washington, Bingham tight end Remington Peck, Spanish Fork tight end Richard Wilson and Jake Heaps, the junior quarterback from Washington who might be the most recruited quarterback in the nation at this time next year.

Wow. BYU picked a great game to have some of its most coveted recruits attend. There may have been more high schoolers there; those are just the ones I recognized.

Aside from saying hello to Heaps (that was me, Jake, in case you read this and are wondering), I didn't get a chance to talk to the recruits, unfortunately. Of course, Peck has already committed to BYU.

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Scout.com's Brandon Huffman recently came out with his list of top high school senior safeties in the West, with a note that either USC and BYU have commitments from the top six safeties in the West, in his opinion. That's not bad company for the Cougars to be in.

J'ray Galea'i of Kahuku, Hawaii and Timpview's Craig Bills are the top-six safeties who have committed to BYU. Galea'i is No. 4 and Bills is No. 5.

Washington, the aforementioned safety from Northridge, is ranked No. 7. He's uncommitted, but is having a solid senior season -- especially as a receiver.

Making the "Next 15" list was Cottonwood High safety Asi Hosea, who has offers from Hawaii, Washington State, SMU, Washington, Arizona State, Kansas State and UConn. Contrary to some published reports, Hosea does not have an offer from BYU, according to a source with a good grasp on the seniors that BYU has offered.

-- Jay Drew

I ran into Highland High football coach Brody Benson on Thursday night on the set of Alema Harrington's Powerhouse television show, and the coach gave me the latest on Highland defensive tackle Latu Heimuli, widely considered one of the top prep football players in the state.
Heimuli won't be making his official campus visit to Nebraska this weekend after all. Instead, the senior will be in Elko, Nevada, taking the ACT college admission test. Now he plans on visiting Nebraska the last weekend of September.
Heimuli, 6-foot-4, 305 pounds, is called a four-star recruit by Scout.com and has offers from the likes of BYU, Utah, Washington, Washington State, Arizona, Colorado and Nebraska. UCLA recently showed some interest, but has not offered.
Benson said Heimuli is a smart kid with a 3.5 GPA or better who should have no problem with the ACT. However, because recruits cannot take official visits (paid for by the host school) until they have taken at least one of the major college admission tests, Heimuli will be in Nevada this weekend, rather than in Lincoln.
None of the tests are being given in Utah this weekend, Benson said. He also said that Heimuli tried to take the test last spring, but was not allowed to take it because administrators would not accept his temporary driver's license as a form of identification.
The coach said Heimuli does not have a favorite school or a top fiive or anything of the sort. The Rams travel to neighboring East High toniight for a showdown with the Leopards.

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Alta High coach Les Hamilton has informed us that quarterback Ammon Olsen (6-4, 195) has received a written scholarship offer from Southern Utah. Also, Alta lineman Parker Erickson (6-3, 275) has received a written offer from Idaho State.
There was an internet rumor floating around that BYU had offered the quarterback Olsen, who has played three spectacular games for the Hawks to date in wins over Spanish Fork, Bingham and Kearns.
Not true, says Hamilton, though he wishes that were the case because he says Olsen is the top prep quarterback in Utah this season and "one of the best QBs in the country."
-- Jay Drew

The Utes didn't spend much time mourning the loss of Lone Peak star Tyler Haws, who a week ago narrowed his choices to Stanford and BYU.
Since then, the Utes have received commitments from Joseph "Jay" Watkins, a 6-foot-7 forward who is playing for the College of Southern Idaho, and forward Shawn Glover, a 6-foot-6, 180-pound forward out of Cedar Hill High in Texas.
Oklahoma State, Clemson, Colorado were among the other schools that had offered Glover.
Forward Jeremy Olsen out of Lawrenceville, Ga., and Marshall Henderson, a guard out of Hurst, Texas, committed earlier to the Utes for 2009.
All four are lanky, athletic guys - the kind of players coach Jim Boylen has said in the past he needs to be successful at Utah. It's shaping up to be another good class for Boylen.
- Lya Wodraska

Just got word that Cottonwood's John Martinez, one of the top uncommitted football players in the state, will be making an unofficial visit this weekend to USC, where he will be taking in the USC-Ohio State game.
Martinez is one of the best offensive linemen in the country and one of the reasons that the Colts have one of the most feared offenses in the state.
Martinez plans to visit LSU on Oct. 25 when the Tigers play host to Georgia as well.

-- Tony Jones

UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel talked about going head-to-head with BYU for high school football recruits earlier this week, and although the new coach didn't single out Hawaii prep linebacker Manti Te'o (NCAA rules forbid him from doing that) it was obvious that Te'o was the recruit he had in mind.

You can read more about what Neuheisel said here.

Te'o, in case you've been in a coma the last six months, is the Punahou High linebacker who is ranked as one of the top prep prospects in the country. Sources say that it is mostly a two-way battle between BYU and USC for Te'o, but that UCLA is making up ground because of the senior's relationship with UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow.

Te'o and Chow are both LDS.

Recently, Scout.com came out with its list of top linebackers in the West.

Te'o is the No. 1 strongside linebacker on the list, which is actually three lists -- for middle linebacker, strongside linebacker and weakside linebacker.

Bingham High's L.T. Filiaga is the only Utahn on the lists. He is the No. 7-ranked middle linebacker.

However, a couple of guys that BYU has offered, Milpitas (Calif) middle linebacker Steven Fanua (No. 5) and Reno (Nev.) weakside linebacker Kyle Van Noy (No. 2) made the list.

So did Darren Markle, a middle linebacker (No. 8) from Meridian, Idaho, who was very interested in BYU but didn't get an offer from the Cougars and instead committed to Washington State.

Among those Utahns who made the "players to watch" list were Lone Peak middle linebacker Kade Andrus and Grantsville weakside linebacker Austin Gumucio.

-- Jay Drew

Weber State's men's basketball program received oral commitments from a pair of Arizona high school teammates on Monday night, a source close to the Wildcat team has confirmed.

Byron Fulton and Blake Davis, seniors at St. Mary's High in Phoenix, pledged to sign with the Wildcats when the early signing period for basketball begins in November.

The teammates helped St. Mary's reach the Arizona Class 5A Division I final last spring.

Fulton, a 6-foot-7 center, averaged 13.1 points a game last year. Davis, a 6-5 wing player, averaged 12.5 points a game.

Their team could have four Division I basketball recruits this year. Guard Demetrius Walker has committed to USC and point guard Brandon Jenkins is getting some D-I offers.

-- Jay Drew

Highland High lineman Latu Heimuli, widely considered one of the top prospects in the state this year, will make his first official campus visit this weekend.

Heimuli will visit Nebraska, according the web site Bigredreport.com.

The 6-foot-4, 305-pound senior defensive tackle now has nine offers, adding Nebraska to a list that includes Utah, BYU, Colorado, Washington, Washington State, Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon State.

"Nebraska said they would offer if I come out there," Heimuli said last month.

Heimuli is rated as the No. 4 prospect in Utah by Rivals.com, behind only Cottonwood's John Martinez and Timpview's Xavier Su'a-Filo and Craig Bills.

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Jake Heaps, the highly recruited junior LDS quarterback from Skyline High in Washington was not able to take in BYU's 28-27 win over Washington on Saturday because he was in Portland, helping his team beat Sheldon High of Oregon 21-0 in the Les Schwab Best of the West event at PGE Park.

Heaps didn't play especially well, completing just 6 of 18 passes for 95 yards.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound QB recently received his 13th, 14th, and 15th scholarship offers, from North Carolina, Nebraska and Tennessee.

BYU was one of the first schools to orally offer Heaps, although schools could not submit written offers to juniors until they started their junior years, which for Heaps happened a few weeks ago.

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Another BYU recruit, linebacker Manti Te'o of Punahou High in Hawaii, was in Seattle on Saturday. Te'o helped lead Punahou to a 42-19 win over South Kitsap of Washington at Qwest Field. Te'o had 12 tackles and a pass deflection.

-- Jay Drew

Dave Telep of Scouthoops.com is reporting that the University of Utah's men's basketball program has landed Joseph "Jay" Watkins, a 6-foot-7 small forward who will play for the College of Southern Idaho this upcoming season.

Watkins made the West Coast Conference all-freshman team while at San Francisco in 2006-07 after averaging 6.2 points and 3.5 rebounds a game.

He sat out the 2007-08 season for academic reasons, then apparently chose to leave USF when it made a coaching change.

Watkins was a former three-star recruit out of Hamilton High in Memphis, Tenn.

-- Jay Drew

I haven't been able to confirm it with him yet, but word has it Colby Goodwin, a 6-foot-5, 202-pound tight end out of Cy-Fair in Cypress, Texas, gave Utah a verbal commitment Friday night.
Goodwin had recently narrowed his choices to Duke and the Utes. He also had offers from Kansas State, Arkansas and Houston.

Here is the list of verbal commitments for 2009 so far. It doesn't include receiver Travis Cobb, who gave the Utes a verbal commitment then decided to keep looking. A couple of the others have indicated their commitments are soft too, so you can be sure the Ute coaches are still working them to make sure they end up in Ute uniforms.

Vyncent Jones, 6-3, 270-pound offensive lineman out of Jordan High
Jarrad Stewart, 5-10, 180-pound safety out of Pearland, Texas
Chris Brown, 6-1, 185-pound running back out of Newbury Park, Calif.
C.J. Porter, 6-1, 185-pound receiver out of Concord, Calif.
Jamal Smith, Oxford, Calif., 6-2, 185-pound receiver out of Oxford, Calif.
Eric Dago, 6-foot-4, 210-pound defensive end out of Houston, Texas
James Aiono, Snow College, 6-3, 275-pound defensive end out of Murray High, then Snow College
Colby Goodwin, a 6-foot-5, 202-pound tight end out of Cypress, Texas

- Lya Wodraska

Utah's home opener with UNLV will be attended by a couple of recruits, including Josh Mauro, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound defensive end/tight end from L.D. Bell in Hurst, Texas.
Mauro, who has Boise State, Baylor, Oklahoma and TCU on his list, was here in the summer for a camp and is familiar with the area, but is eager to see the Utes in action.
He watched the Utes win over Michigan.
"It was awesome," he said. "I really like the campus, coaches and they have a good football program."
Mauro said he'll probably wait until the season is over to decide.
Working in Utah's favor is that another L.D. Bell athlete, basketball player Marshall Henderson, has committed to the Utes. He's making a visit this weekend as well, said his father and coach, Willie Henderson.
"My wife and I have been out before, but we're excited to see what it's like," he said.
So far the Utes have had fairly good luck in Texas. They have a commitment from Jarrad Stewart, a safety out of Pearland, Texas and another from Eric Dago, a defensive end out of Westside High in Houston, Texas. His commitment isn't solid as he said he is still looking at other schools.
A few of the many the Utes are after in Texas include a pair of receivers at Blinn College, Justin Jordan and Travis Cobb. Cobb committed earlier then changed his mind, wanting to leave his options open.
Colby Goodwin, another tight end out of Cypress Tex-Cy Fair, is reportedly close to deciding between Duke and the Utes.
The ones that got away category includes Steven Campbell, a safety who decided on Texas A&M and cornerback/quarterback Dustin Harris who also committed to A&M.
- Lya Wodraska

Utah high school basketball superstar Tyler Haws has narrowed his choices to two colleges and canceled scheduled visits to the other three, a source close to the Lone Peak High shooting guard confirmed earlier today.

Haws, the 6-foot-4 senior who is listed as one of the top 100 prep prospects in the country by several recruiting Web sites, will attend either BYU or Stanford.

After visiting Stanford last weekend, Haws called coaches at Utah, Davidson and Harvard and told them they were no longer in his plans, but if things changed he would let them know.

Haws "loved it" at Stanford, according to the source, and decided on the way back to Utah that if would be either the Cardinal or the Cougars.

He will visit BYU next weekend when the Cougar football team is playing host to UCLA. Haws' father, Marty, is a former BYU standout guard.

Tyler's high school coach, Quincy Lewis, has asked him to decide before Lone Peak's season starts in November, but has not demanded it.

Another source very close to the situation said it is a virtual toss-up now between Stanford and BYU.

"It is 50-50," the source said. "It could go either way."

Haws' plan is to play a year of college basketball and then go on an LDS Church mission. He turns 19 (mission age) in April of 2010.

-- Jay Drew

The 2008 Intermountain Hoops Fall Evaluation Showcase will be held Saturday, Oct. 4 at The Factory (formerly Open Court) in Lehi. The event is an NCAA-certified event being held during that weekend's open evaluation period for women's NCAA division I coaches to attend.
This is the fourth year for the event and it is considered one of the top regional events held during the period. More than 60 players who participated in the showcase have moved on to play collegiate basketball.
Registration for the camp is underway. The Showcase has sold out all three prior years. Registration is limited. Information regarding the Showcase is available at www.intermountainhoops.com.

The longer the recruitment of Provo High basketball star Brandon Davies goes on, the worse it seemingly gets for Utah, BYU and Utah State.

Davies, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-9 senior center, visited Cal over the weekend. He told Scout.com that he couldn't definitely see himself attending the Pac-10 school.

"It was a good trip," he said. "Very positive, and I learned a lot. We hung out with everyone there on the team, and our host was Jamal [Boykin]. He's really cool. Everyone was. The football game was awesome....What stood out the most was the atmosphere. I can definitely see myself there."

Davies said he is visiiting Gonzaga next weekend, and also has trips scheduled to Utah State and BYU. He also said that Cal coach Mike Montgomery is trying to set up an in-home visit wiith Davies in Provo.
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There's an interesting article in the Seattle Times today about Jake Heaps, the junior quarterback from Skyline High in Washington who has offers from more than 10 schools, including BYU.
College were able just recently to submit written scholarship offers to high school juniors because the school year has started.

Utah high school football teams usually produce more than their share of talented offensive linemen, which sort of makes up for the lack of skill position players that come out of the Beehive State.

This year, the state has some of the top offensive linemen in the country. That's the general feeling of Scout.com recruiting analyst Brandon Huffman, who has come out with his list of top offensive linemen in the West.

Not surprisingly, Cottonwood's John Martinez is the No. 1 offensive guard in the West, Huffman say. "A big, physical presence inside, one of the elite guards nationally," he writes. Martinez remains uncommitted, but has stated that UCLA, USC, Ohio State and LSU are among his final four.

As a sidenote, a friend of mine was going to the Layton-Cottonwood game last Friday so I asked him to keep an eye on Martinez and give me a report.

"Absolutely dominating," he said.

Somewhat surprising is the fact that Jordan's Vyncent Jones is the second-ranked offensive guard in the West. In case you missed it, Jordan recently traveled to Ohio and knocked off one of the winningest programs in the country, Massillon, 27-24 on a last-second field goal by Garrett Blaisdell.

Timpview's Tui Crichton is No. 4 among the offensive guards, while Jones' teammate at Jordan, Kyle Johnson, is on the list of "Guards to Watch," a long with Hunter's Ryan Mulitalo, who has committed to BYU.

Among the West's top offensive tackles is Timpview's Xavier Su'a-Filo, who is ranked No. 2 behind Kevin Graf of Agoura, Calif., a USC commit.

Cottonwood's Percy Taumoelau is on the list of top tackles to watch. He has an offer from Arkansas, among others.

No Utahns made the list of top centers.

-- Jay Drew