Thursday, July 23, 2009

Star Lotulelei, a 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive lineman, envisioned his future as a BYU Cougar while prepping at Bingham H.S.

But the Cougars seemingly forgot about Lotulelei while he was at Snow College, a situation which has him now seeing red, Utah red.

The defensive end who originally signed with BYU before attending Snow College, is switching his allegiance to the Utes.

He is the program's 12th commitment toward the school's 2010 class.

"BYU didn't stay in touch with me," he said. "I heard from the Utah coaches, both coach (Jay) Hill and (Kalani) Sitake stayed in touch with me. I'm excited, Utah is close to home so my family will be able to see me a lot."

Lotulelei said his decision came down to Utah, BYU and Oregon State. He chose the Utes because they kept in touch with him, he feels Utah is the better program now and he is comfortable with Sitake, who is starting his first season as Utah's defensive coordinator.

"I respect him a lot as a coach," he said. "It all worked out for me."

Lotulelei said he doesn't plan to continue with the recruiting process.

"I'm going to focus on school and go to Utah next fall," he said.

Interestingly, Lotulelei is the second football player who has switched from BYU to Utah after BYU coaches backed off in their recruiting. The other was Matt Asiata. That switch has worked out fairly well for the Utes, don't you think? 

Unless the Utes get a commitment from a skill player they simply can't pass up, the rest of their recruiting focus is going to be on linemen and corners for the rest of the 2010 commitments. Seems like Lotulelei is a good way to start that emphasis.

2010 Utah commitments

Dres Anderson, 6-2, 170-pound receiver out of North H.S. in Riverside, Calif.

Matt Anderson, 6-1, 200-pound athlete out of Industrial H.S. in Vanderbilt, Texas

Brian Blechen, 6-3, 190-pound quarterback out of Moorpark, Calif.

Princeton Collins, 6-foot, 190-pound running back out of Westwood H.S. in Round Rock, Texas

Jacoby Hale, 6-1, 195-pound linebacker out of Central High in Beaumont Texas

Josh Huff, 5-10, 185-pound running back out of Aldine Nimitz in Houston, Texas

Joe Kruger, 6-8, 245-pound defensive end/tight end out of Timpanogos High

Darian Lazard, 6-0, 170-pound wide receiver out of Pearland, Texas 

Star Lotulelei, a 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive lineman out of Bingham H.S. then Snow College

Terrell Reese, 6-2, 190-pound WR/safety out of from Brenham H.S. in Texas

Kenneth Scott, 6-2, 198-pound receiver out of Colony H.S. in Ontario, Calif.

Joseph Smith, 5-11, 185-pound corner out of Norco, Calif.