Local highly-rated recruits

[Ghost of the HEB]

This annual tradition of watching local big time recruits commit to outside programs is getting really old. Noah Sewell committed to Oregon last night after winning the state championship. He stood on the field at Rice-Eccles and whipped out an Oregon jersey on TV to announce his commitment. Slap in the face? Little bit. He joins these other highly sought after Utah HS players to pack up and go elsewhere:
Puka Nacua — Washington
Siaki Ika — LSU
Penei Sewell — Oregon
Cameron Latu — Alabama
Junior Angilau — Texas
Sam Taimani — Washington
Jay Tufele — USC
Simi Fehoko — Stanford

And the list goes on. If we had a fraction of these kids, we’d be year in and out national contender. Hopefully we can lock up Carlton.

[PlainsUte]

Utes are not going to get them all and a lot of times kids are looking for more from their college experience such as getting away from home, trying new things, etc — I was. And sometimes they’re thinking the grass is always greener… you know.  I think now that Utes have won the Pac-12 South once, likely a seocnd time (knock on wood) and possibly going further this time, it wlll take away any arguments from the competition that the Utes can’t win Championships at the P5 level.  Beyond that I don’t know how much more they can, legally, do.  Finally, if each of these top guys has 9 other P5 schools offering, the Utes are statistically only going to land one-in-ten.   So measure success on that scale.

[Utahute72]

Moss gave an interview where he said he chose to go to Utah because it forced him to be on his own and not rely on his parents. We brought another kid in who told the coaches Utah was too far away from home. These are young guys who commit for any number of reasons. The good thing is Utah has options. This year for example we have a lot of really good players from Texas.

[Trailgoat]

Don’t forget to mention Coach Dennis Erickson. I highly doubt any of the Florida kids blink at Utah without his recruiting work in Florida. The offensive recruiting has dropped off significantly since he departed.

[Central Coast Ute]

So Tuttle, Wilmore, Enis, and the O line haul from last year is a drop off? I know Tuttle left be Utah got Rising instead. What am I missing? How is this a drop off?

[Sweetness]

Can anyone recall the last national/all American recruit to stay home?

Was it Harvey Langi? I seriously can’t recall.
Maxs Tupai? He had big offers, but can’t remember if he was all American type in high school or not.

I get kids want to go elsewhere, but would be nice to land the top recruit on the state at least every 3-4 years.

[dystopiamembrane]

I promise not to wish bad luck on anyone in this list. I’ve learned my lesson. 😉

[Utesbyfive]

There is no possible way to keep all highly rated recruits in-state. Face it, kids like to go away to school and it’s hard to turn down a legendary program when they offer. We pull recruits from Cali, Texas, Florida, etc. how many teams down south care about us poaching their local kids? I’ve never understood this obsession with keeping everyone in state. It’s impossible.

[EutawStreet]

247sports’ state rankings.

Of the top ten Oregon high school recruits, 4 received offers from UofO and 1, 3 third on the list, committed. (the top 2 committed to Cal and Stanford)

Of the top ten Utah high school recruits, 8 received offers from the U and the Utes are in the mix for 5 of them. (the top 2 committed to Oregon and Texas)

USC is in the mix for 2 of the state’s top ten players and the rest have committed out of state. UCLA, Cal and Stanford have no top ten California recruits.
None of the top ten players in Ariz have committed to an Ariz school.
Colorado has 1 commit (#7) out of the top ten.
Washington has 4 of the top ten in their state, Wash State has none.

[PhillyUte]

It seems like the west in general is suffering in recruiting. Not only do SEC teams, Ohio State and Clemson have the ability to recruit the talent rich south and midwest, they are also picking off highly rated recruits in California and Arizona. 

[gUrthBrooks]

No. This is a nationwide trend. Except maybe Alabama or LSU. Kids want to spread there wings and go out of state, especially top talent.

[EastCoastUte]

idk about you guys but if you told me 10 years ago that UCLA & Stanford wasn’t going to be getting top commits in California in 2020, i would have called bs.

[EutawStreet]

Appreciate the kids we do get.  In 2016 we got one 4* high school recruit, Maxs Tupai.

The 3* players that committed:  Tyler Huntley, Leki Fotu, Samson Nacua, Demari Simpkins, Julian Blackmon, Cole Fotheringham, Terrell Burgess, Zack Moss, Bradlee Anae and several more that could end up higher stars in college than high school.

And we did get transfers Garrett Bolles, David Luafatasaga, Troy Williams and Armand Shyne. Also a 2* punter named Mitch Wishnowsky.

[shakeitsugaree]

Who would downvote this?

[EagleMountainUte]

Me it shows a general lack of understanding about recruiting. Even blue bloods lose out on a local talent to out of state programs. Hell Utah snipes guys, Wilmore being the best example. 

[shakeitsugaree]

Sorry – my comment was meant as a reply to @eutawstreet and his list of 3 star recruits that are largely going to the NFL – not a reply to the OP

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