Prep & College Recruiting

As many followers of this blog know, Wednesday marks the beginning of the NCAA’s early signing period for basketball, volleyball, baseball and several other sports.
We’ve already reported many of the commitments from around the state of Utah -- and commitments to the state’s college sports programs -- in this space.
Colleges start sending out announcements once they have received the national letters of intent, but some programs wait several days until they have received all their letters, etc.
So, high school student athletes, if you would like your signing reporting here, send off an email to either Jay (drew@sltrib.com) or Lya (lwodraska@sltrib.com) and we will post it within hours of getting it.

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Just today, we received news that a few Spanish Fork High athletes will be signing their letters of intent at their high school tomorrow.
Adam Duke will sign to play baseball for Oregon State at 10:15 a.m. in the school’s main foyer.
Erin Redd will sign to play volleyball for the University of Utah, while Kylie Schofield will sign to play volleyball for Southern Utah University.

Watching the Wyoming Cowboys get obliterated by BYU on Saturday didn’t deter Snow College receiver Mazi Ogbonna.
The sophomore from New York committed to the Cowboys on Monday, just a few days after visiting Laramie to watch the BYU-Wyoming game. Another Snow receiver, DeJay Lester, also visited Wyoming over the weekend, but has not committed yet.
Ogbonna, a 6-foot-1, 190-pounder, has 32 receptions for 678 yards and eight TDs for the Badgers, who are 9-1 heading into this week’s rematch with the only team that has defeated them this season.

Ogbonna's parents are Nigerian, but have emigrated to Westbury, N.Y., where the receiver played high school football.

We met up with Snow College football coach Steve Coburn on the sidelines of the Alta-Cottonwood prep game on Friday afternoon, and Coburn had a little bit of recruiting news to pass along.
Snow’s quarterback, Quinn Mecham, has a scholarship offer from Kansas. Mecham, who has thrown 34 touchdowns passes this season for the 9-1 Badgers, is a Timpview High product who waited his turn last year behind Jon Eastman.
Eastman, a Hillcrest product, is seeing more and more time with Colorado State as the Rams continue on their seven-game losing streak.

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BYU really needs a juco safety, but the Cougars are too late on Snow safety Gavin Jones, an Orem High product. Jones has committed to Utah State, Coburn said.
Another Snow player who is drawing heavy interest is receiver Mazi Ogbonna, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound speedster from Westbury, N.Y.
Ogbonna, who has 32 catches for 678 yards and eight TDs for the Badgers, recently received an offer from Wyoming and was in Laramie on Saturday to watch the Cowboys play BYU.
Rutgers, Utah State and Utah are also expressing interest.

Chatted briefly with BYU football recruiting coordinator Paul Tidwell the other day to see if there have been any developments on the recruiting front recently.
The answer: not really.
Tidwell said the Cougars still have three scholarship offers on the table for members of the class of 2010.
“Those aren’t spots to find and give, those are offers that are already out there,” he said. “So the offers are out there, but we don’t really have three extras, is what I am saying. But if they don’t commit to us, then we would have some different options.
Tidwell confirmed that the Cougars are looking hard for a junior college safety to transfer to the school midyear (in time for winter semester) and be able to participate in spring ball. They especially need one now that safety Shiloah Te’o has been kicked off the team.
“That’s one of our possibilities, yes, a mid-year safety that could come in and be ready to go right away,” he said.
It’s tougher than it sounds, though.
“Mid-year JC transfers, if they are legitimate D-I talents, are always tough to get because you are competiting with other schools for them,” Tidwell said. “Other schools are also looking for that good JC transfer that can come in mid-year. And a safety or a corner makes it even more high demand, because of the position.”

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You don’t often see swimming news here, but we have some for you today.
Chad Sorensen, who swims breaststroke at The Woodlands High in Texas, has committed to swim for BYU.
Sorensen will be signing with the Cougars next week.

BYU basketball coach Dave Rose received a commitment the past few days from Anson Winder, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas.

I've got more information on Winder, who joins Provo's Kyle Collinsworth in committing to BYU from the class of 2010, on my BYU sports blog here.