Jul 30 2007
Recruiting
Listed below are the known commitments to BYU. I say “known” because BYU is unable to talk about the players until signing day in February, so these are the commitments reported by the players. Please send in any information on these great finds for BYU if you have any to morethantwocents@gmail.com . Thanks!
Austin Holt- TE (****) Bingham HS, UT- Has caught 21 passes for 5 touchdowns and 394 yards. Will play in Army All-American game with fellow BYU recruit Justin Sorensen.
Tevita Hola- DT (****) Snow JC, UT- Has played 6 games with 19 tackles including 4 tackles for loss and 2 sacks for the #1 team in the NJCAA.
Jerry Bruner- RB (***) Evergreen HS, WA- He scored on a 3 yard touchdown, but I am beginning to get the feeling he is a short yardage guy and specializes on defense. He has great size for ILB and the speed of a OLB.
Cameron Comer- CB (***) Springville HS, UT- Another guy I can’t find much on besides that Springville is having a bad season.
Jake Murphy- WR (***) American Fork HS, UT- Has scored a team-leading 7 touchdowns on offense with 22 receptions for 364 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, he has 2 interceptions and 1 defensive touchdown. He also has 22 tackles on the season.
Daniel Sorensen- S (***) Colton HS, CA- Has thrown for 266 yards (1 TD), rushed for 206 (1 TD), had 2 receptions for 93 yards (1 TD), and average 8.4 tackles a game (T-1st on the team). On defense, Sorensen has 9 pass deflections, 2 QB hurries, and 1 INT returned 73 yards. Did I forget to mention he is the punter as well? He averages 42 yard punts and 5 of his 9 kick offs resulted in a touch back.
Jesse Taufi- OL (***)
Shiloah Te’o- S (***) Kahuku HS, HI- His team clinched the Eastern Division title last weekend with a win. Te’o is a team captain and helped seal the victory by intercepting a pass in the end zone. He was a pre-season All-state defensive back.
Michael Alisa- LB/RB (**) Timpview HS, UT- I can’t find stats for Timpview, but they are dominating 7-0 right now, with the defense getting most of the credit for their success.
Kevin Bills- DE/LB (**) Timpview HS, UT- I can’t find stats for Timpview, but they are dominating 7-0 right now, with the defense getting most of the credit for their success.
Atem Bol- WR (**) L.D. Bell HS, TX- Through five games, he has 12 catches for 129 yards and 5 touchdowns. Not a bad ratio of catches to TDs.
Tolu Moala- LB (**) El Camino JC, CA- Is 5th in tackles on his highly ranked team with 17 tackles including 2 for loss and 1 fumble recovery.
Garrett Nicholson- CB (**) West HS, UT- Hard to find exact stats for him, but it sounds like he has explosive speed and is running for over 100 yards per game.
Seta Pohahau -RB (**) Aragon HS, CA- Hard to find stats for him, but looks like he is averaging 10 ypc and sitting out second half’s of blow outs. He is averaging 10 yards a carry through the first part of the season from news reports. Last weekend he ran for 180 yards on 23 carries (and a touchdown.)
Iona Pritchard- LB/FB (**) Bringham HS, UT- Most recent recruit. Hard hitting linebacker will be considered for both linebacker and fullback at BYU.
Justin Sorensen- K (**) Bingham HS, UT - Having a great year, including setting the state record by hitting a 63-yard field goal and setting the career record with 24 FG, and the season is just starting. This season he has hit 11 FGs and 31 PATs. Of his 53 kickoffs, 48 have been touch backs. He is averaging 40 yards a punt as well, with 9 of 19 inside the 20. Will play in the Army All-American game.
Brock Stringham- OT(**) Mountain Vista HS, CO- Was the offensive player of the week on his team recently, they have won all their games (6) this season.
Masi Tuitama -LB (**) Graduated last year, is either at a JC catching up with school work or at BYU.
Michael Yeck- OT (**) Keller HS, TX-Anchors the line in a very strong conference.
Coleby Clawson- DE/OLB (*) Snow College, UT- Plays DE at the #1 JC alongside BYU recruit Tevita Hola. Leads the team in sacks, projects to OLB at BYU.
Spencer Hadley - LB (*) Connell HS, WA- Perhaps an unsung recruit, this kid is on fire: He plays H-back and gets a few carries a game, to the tune of 422 yards on 33 carries (12.8 average). He was an all-state wide receiver last year and lines up all over the field. So far this season, he has 12 touchdowns (6 rush, 3 receiving and 3 punt returns.) He scored 5 touchdowns against a team 2 weeks ago…in the first half. He is also a long-snapper and kick holder. He broke his wrist in the first series of the game last week but still managed to rush for 25 yards, have 3 receptions for 38 yards and score a touchdown. He only played defense last week but will be back on both sides of the ball next week.
Magnum Mauga, Grossmont JC, who will be here in January, has 26 tackles (5 for loss) in 5 games and 1 interception this year.
(Note: All rankings are according to Scout.com. Players with one star have not yet been rated.)
2009 Commits:
Craig Bills- S (****) Timpview HS, UT
Jray Galea’i- S(*) Kahuku, HI
Adam Timo- RB (****) Snow Canyon HS, UT- leads the state in scoring as a junior (108 points.) He is averaging 7.6 yards per carry and has 940 yards in 7 games. He has scored 22 touchdowns and averages 134 yards a game. He also has 7 catches for 113 yards. He also has 5 kick off returns and averages 30 yards per return.
2010 Commits:
Bronson Kafusi- DE/TE (*) Timpview HS, UT- Son of BYU defensive line coach Steve Kafusi
Updated 10/10/07
Has Manti Te’o committed yet? I thought he had, but he’s not on this list…
Manti has not. Manti is only a sophomore (to be a Junior this coming season) but will be a 5 star when he is recruitable. If BYU can get Manti, it will be huge.
Peter,
I thought BYU offered a scholarship to a sophomore wide receiver at Oak Ridge High School, in El Dorado Hill, CA (He would be a junior now). IRCC, he was dating Austin Collie’s younger sister. Seems like TBS had an article about him last spring. Any news on him?
Why has BYU not offered Cody Raymond from Jordan High and Adam Franden from Snow a scholarship offer? I know Cody is short for a wide out at 5-9 but he is one of the leading receivers in Utah this year. Adam is 6-1 and runs a 4.44 40. Pretty good number, not great but good. Is there any word on either of these two wide outs.
Cruiser, I think you are referring to William Jenkins. BYU had asked him to get his grades up and he did so BYU is definitetly in the running for him. He is 6′1 and runs a 4.55 and comes from the same high school as Collie. His last interview said he was planning on coming to see BYU in person sometime this fall. He and O’Neill Chambers are the two WR’s with scholarships still on the table.
a1247: Good question. I see Raymond as a Meikle type player and you can’t argue with his production this season. Why Adam Frandsen, the son of a former BYU WR, doesn’t have an offer I’m not entirely sure. His tangibles, 6′1 with a great 40, are definitely D1 material and he plays for the top ranked JC in the country that BYU heavily recruits out of. My guess is that the coaches see something they don’t like or feel that the WR talent they already have is better (Atem Bol and Jake Murphy.) Also, remember that the recruits are all self reported. Its entirely possible he is talking to BYU and we just don’t know about it.
Thanks for the info Peter.
Peter,
Thanks for the help, but I think I finally tracked this wide receiver down. His name is Brett Thompson. He’s a junior, 6-3, 210, from Oak Ridge High School, in El Dorado Hills, California (the Collies’ high school). I went to his game last Friday and saw him put on a show. His overall numbers weren’t great, because two of his long receptions (one for a touchdown) were called back due to penalties. He also ran the opening kickoff back about 60 yards. He is very fast for a big man. In fact, he is very fast, period, and has great hands. People close to his family told me that BYU coaches have been to at least three of his games this year and that Coach Doman REALLY wants this kid. After watching him, I can see why. I guess my only concern would be his attitude. After one of his touchdowns, he turned and bowed to the players on the field. I don’t know what that was about, but that’s how you get 15 yards tacked on the ensuing kickoff. Anyway, he looked like a very special athlete. The fact that he is a member of the Church will hopefully help the Y’s chances of landing him.
Cruiser,
I could have sworn that Jenkins went to Collie’s high school, but the more I look the more I realize I was wrong. BYU has had some scholarships open up (Sam Doman, Ryan Kessman) so we might see more players get offers. Again, Its hard to know exactly who BYU has on their recruiting radar as the coaches aren’t allowed to talk about them by name until after signing day (early February.) This means that the information we get about who really has a scholarship offer, and who doesn’t, is filtered through 17 and 18 year old boys.
Peter,
Why is BYU no longer going after Oneill Chambers very hard (according to Oneill in the TBS)? Apparently BYU is no longer his #1 because the Y hasn’t been contacting him much lately.
Any info on this guy?
I read that same thing yesterday. I have no idea why the coaches haven’t been in contact with Chambers much lately, but it doesn’t surprise me that he would put Purdue at #1 right after taking a visit there and getting all pumped up about what Purdue was selling.
He takes a visit to Provo in January, so BYU will have the last crack at him. If he’s serious about liking BYU without having visited yet, I think BYU will definitely get him once he sees the facilities and gets to know some of the players. I wonder how he’ll like using the snowmobiles…
If I understand it right, didn’t he come this past summer for a camp?
Yeah, he came to a camp last summer. I meant to say that he hasn’t taken an official recruiting visit to BYU yet. He hasn’t been wined and dined (maybe just dined) and given the red carpet treatment like he will in January.
ZShaners: He came to camp with Kedron Paul and was a stand-out. He became good friends during his time at BYU with BYU recruit Garrett Nicholson who soon after committed. It is good for non-LDS kids coming to BYU to have a support system, and I think Nicholson will be that for him. Let’s hope he can hold out on commitments until January and he will be blown away all over again by BYU’s facilities.
Isn’t Magnum Mauga part of the 2008 class?
Yes… Not sure how he ended up there. I will fix it. He will be here in January.
Just added Coleby Clawson, looks to be a great addition to BYU’s recruiting class.
now that the high school/jc season is over, what are the chances of an update?
Jerry,
Just saw your question, I’ll get to it as soon as I can. Post bowl games I would guess most of my posts will be about recruits.
Magnum Mauga was recruited by BYU last year as a 4 star defensive end and he committed to the Y. Now scouts.com is showing him as a 1 star defensive tackle that again has committed to the Y. Why did he not go to the Y last year and why is he now a DT instead of a DE when he was more highly touted as a DE?
Sorry I didn’t see your question until now. Magnum did not qualify AND was not prepared physically (had been injured) so he didn’t sign a letter of intent back in January. He formally signed one in December and will be here for fall. He is probably listed as a DT because of his size, not due to position he will play. One star is actually Scout’s way of saying he hasn’t been ranked. My guess is because he was guaranteed to head to BYU they didn’t bother.
Update on Mauga: He did sign a letter of intent in December,
but did not enroll at BYU in January. According to Mauga, BYU told him to wait till fall when there would be room on the roster. He is now looking at other schools.
Russ, that is the latest news. Mauga has decommited from BYU. They couldn’t take him until Fall camp and he wants to be somewhere immediately. It was a mutual decision between him and BYU coaches and I wish him the best of luck wherever he lands.
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