Utah Recruiting

[LA Ute]

The comments to G-Man's article are great snapshots of the current state of the rivalry. Examples:

A really high quality kid and a great "get" for the Utes. I predict that if Chase goes on his mission, there will be a strong "pull" to transfer to BYU. It is hard to devote your entire life for two years and then not "think" about going to your faith's flagship school. It is just the nature of a mission. Besides, you meet many more missionaries that are bound for BYU. Spiritual connections are made and lifelong relationships cultivated.

As a person, Chase will change on his mission. He will become more humble, and the rough edges will be buffed away. Coming home, he will again need to make a choice on which school to attend. I feel confident that the lure of BYU in addition to his family ties will offer Chase another choice in the near future.

Good luck to you Chase wherever you serve or play.

Good thing there's an unwritten rule that BYU won't try to recruit him while he's out!

And this from a Ute fan blowhard:

Memo to byu fans: Why don't you all just accept reality and come to grips with the fact that kids want to play in the Pac-12. You can tout your ESPN contract but who is really going to watch your games vs. Logan State and Hawai'i? Yes, the games will be available, but Utah offers both stiff competition in the Pac-12 and television partners in ESPN and FOX. Looks like Bronco's statement of "We will never lose out on the best local recruits" continues to blow up in his face. The Utes are now gaining traction in Utah Co., which has long been byu's most fertile recruiting territory.

A classy BYU fan:

Hansen is a great pick up for the Utes. I'm disappointed that he didn't choose to come to the Y but if he feels he has a better choice at the U - then I'm glad he'll be going there.

Good luck kid!

A Ute fan who doesn't like mission kids:

There are 100's of Hansen type players in Cali. Guess what, all of them are willing to committ to football out of the gate ( not 3 years later).

Again, I'm all for fullfilling a mission but if a kid must do it before or during college....go to bYu.

The objective observer:

He has Uncles who have played at both BYU and UTAH.

He has looked at both programs from all angles.

He could still change his mind while on his mission.

If he stays with his commitment, he could end up as a possible "game changer" in the recruiting "wars" between the two schools.

Whether it's BYU or UTAH, he will be a game changer on the field as well.

Good stuff.

[cougjunkie]

Hansen is a good athlete but he is not a quarterback. BYU did not recruit him as a QB. The difference was Utah was willing to give him a shot at QB, while BYU is loaded at QB right now and was recruiting him strictly as an athlete.

I think he ends up being an average college player at best no matter which school he attended.

[LA Ute]

Darnell Dickson, in the Provo () Daily Herald:

Does Hansen's commitment to Utah mark a change in the recruiting winds?

Let's look a little closer at this PAC 12 thing.

Last July at the Mountain West Conference media days in Las Vegas BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall was asked about Utah's move to the PAC 12 and if recruits asked him about conference affiliation.

"Not once, not a single time in six years," Mendenhall said. "I've been asked that a lot (by the media), and I don't think our recruiting will be affected one bit. I don't think we'll lose a single player that wants BYU to any other school in the country."

At first glance, this may look like Mendenhall is saying that BYU won't lose any recruits to Utah. But what he's really saying is that if a player wants the BYU experience, they won't go anywhere else.

So according to this logic Hansen didn't want the BYU experience, ergo, the Cougars didn't really lose him to Utah.

Um, OK.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I was watching ESPN and they were reporting on how Terrel Pryor is going into the supplemental draft. Drew Rosenhaus is talking him up as a 1st round pick (btw, all the teams will have an opportunity to draft Pryor but whatever pick they use-- they have a 1st round but few teams ever actually pick someone in the supplemental 1st round-- they have to forfeit it in the upcoming draft).

Pryor is one of those guys who is the best athlete, bar none, growing up who naturally is considered to play QB because the coaches at the Junior High level want to win and that means letting your little freak of nature run over everyone else.

But Pryor should have been placed at Defensive End, Outside LB or something else by the time he reached high school. He's still a good enough athlete to excel at the high school and even college levels. But as we've seen with Vince Young and others, these kids hit the wall when they get in the pros. Michael Vick's success (BTW, Vick was a significantly more accomplished passer in college than either Vince Young and Pryor) will probably cause some team to use a 3rd round pick -- 2nd round pick tops -- for Pryor.

Chase Hansen is a four star recruit. His measurements make it appear like he could excel on defense. Because he was always the best athlete growing up he settled into the QB role. CJ indicates that he won't be a good QB in college. Utah may have very well told him that he can play QB at the U, maybe not. BYU may have told him something different. Nothing in the kid's statistics so far indicate that he's going to be solid Div. 1 QB prospect. If what CJ says and what the statistics say are true, somebody soon needs to steer the kid towards the position that he can truly excel and the position that will allow him to have a shot at the NFL.

The best athlete in my school played both ways in Junior High -- an outside LB on defense and QB on offense. At my high school and at the level we played, two-way players were exceptionally rare. This guy was a marginal QB at best. He could have been a Div. 1 prospect had the coaches put him on defense.

The one exception I can think of from my personal experience with high school ball was Brad Martin who played QB and strong safety in high school. He was a freak on defense while also being a very good high school QB. I believe his team finished in the top 10 nationally when he was a senior in high school. Martin was most definitely not a college QB, but it was clear to me that he was very good defensive prospect.

[woot]

I was watching ESPN and they were reporting on how Terrel Pryor is going into the supplemental draft. Drew Rosenhaus is talking him up as a 1st round pick (btw, all the teams will have an opportunity to draft Pryor but whatever pick they use-- they have a 1st round but few teams ever actually pick someone in the supplemental 1st round-- they have to forfeit it in the upcoming draft).

Pryor is one of those guys who is the best athlete, bar none, growing up who naturally is considered to play QB because the coaches at the Junior High level want to win and that means letting your little freak of nature run over everyone else.

But Pryor should have been placed at Defensive End, Outside LB or something else by the time he reached high school. He's still a good enough athlete to excel at the high school and even college levels. But as we've seen with Vince Young and others, these kids hit the wall when they get in the pros. Michael Vick's success (BTW, Vick was a significantly more accomplished passer in college than either Vince Young and Pryor) will probably cause some team to use a 3rd round pick -- 2nd round pick tops -- for Pryor.

Chase Hansen is a four star recruit. His measurements make it appear like he could excel on defense. Because he was always the best athlete growing up he settled into the QB role. CJ indicates that he won't be a good QB in college. Utah may have very well told him that he can play QB at the U, maybe not. BYU may have told him something different. Nothing in the kid's statistics so far indicate that he's going to be solid Div. 1 QB prospect. If what CJ says and what the statistics say are true, somebody soon needs to steer the kid towards the position that he can truly excel and the position that will allow him to have a shot at the NFL.

The best athlete in my school played both ways in Junior High -- an outside LB on defense and QB on offense. At my high school and at the level we played, two-way players were exceptionally rare. This guy was a marginal QB at best. He could have been a Div. 1 prospect had the coaches put him on defense.

The one exception I can think of from my personal experience with high school ball was Brad Martin who played QB and strong safety in high school. He was a freak on defense while also being a very good high school QB. I believe his team finished in the top 10 nationally when he was a senior in high school. Martin was most definitely not a college QB, but it was clear to me that he was very good defensive prospect.

Michigan's defense is full of HS QBs. It creates a scouting issue but I imagine that TP could be decent at TE or possibly as a big WR. I sure wouldn't want any team I was a fan of to spend a pick higher than the 4th round or so on him. He's a wildcard in more ways than one.

[Hot Lunch]

Chase Hansen is a four star recruit. His measurements make it appear like he could excel on defense. Because he was always the best athlete growing up he settled into the QB role. CJ indicates that he won't be a good QB in college. Utah may have very well told him that he can play QB at the U, maybe not. BYU may have told him something different. Nothing in the kid's statistics so far indicate that he's going to be solid Div. 1 QB prospect. If what CJ says and what the statistics say are true, somebody soon needs to steer the kid towards the position that he can truly excel and the position that will allow him to have a shot at the NFL.

Utah was very clear with Hansen that they thought his future was on the defensive side of the ball. They didn't hide the fact that they thought that he could excel there. Hansen asked to be given a shot at q.b. because he felt like he has the ability to play that position at the next level and the U told him they would give him a chance. I don't think there is anything wrong with this. I also don't think that this is the only reason he decided to go to the U over the Y. It might have played a small part but there were many other things that made him choose the U.

[kccougar]

It's amazing that every single recruit marks some momentous shift in recruiting changes one way or the other.

[HBCoug]

Hunter Dimick verbals to Utah:

http://www.deseretnews.com/blog/20/10012013/Utah-Utes-Syracuse-lineman-chooses-Utah.html

Had offers from BYU and SDSU. Utah and BYU now 2-2 in head-to-head recuiting.

[Hot Lunch]

Hunter Dimick verbals to Utah:

http://www.deseretnews.com/blog/20/10012013/Utah-Utes-Syracuse-lineman-chooses-Utah.html

Had offers from BYU and SDSU. Utah and BYU now 2-2 in head-to-head recuiting.

Magnum is one of the guys Utah lost to BYU, who is the other?

[HBCoug]

Magnum is one of the guys Utah lost to BYU, who is the other?

Austin Hoyt. Hansen and Dimick for Utah.

[BoylenOver]

Utah gets two more commits: Moses Folauhola from Hunter, and Nua Poteki from Bingham. They performed well at recent camps, I guess.

I've never heard of them before, honestly.

[TripletDaddy]

Utah gets two more commits: Moses Folauhola from Hunter, and Nua Poteki from Bingham. They performed well at recent camps, I guess.

I've never heard of them before, honestly.

Both classes have been underwhelming overall so far. I'm waiting for the NoCho effect to kick in. I think it definitely will.

[BoylenOver]

Both classes have been underwhelming overall so far. I'm waiting for the NoCho effect to kick in. I think it definitely will.

Hopefully Utah's getting the "under-the-radar" kids this summer, and the blue-chippers will come in January/on signing day.

I don't think Utah gets kids like Travis Wilson and Chase Hansen without Chow, so that's a nice start.

[TripletDaddy]

Hopefully Utah's getting the "under-the-radar" kids this summer, and the blue-chippers will come in January/on signing day.

I don't think Utah gets kids like Travis Wilson and Chase Hansen without Chow, so that's a nice start.

Agreed. What I think will happen to Utah is that this year they will nab some solid recruits later in the season and on signing day as maybe some of the kids' first choices fill up. By next season with an entire year under is belt, you will see Utah become the first choice for more of these upper echelon kids and the commitments will come earlier in the season. I dont mean this as a dis. It takes awhile to build the recruiting pipe but I think ute fans will start to see dividends this season and then much bigger payout by next season.

[Hot Lunch]

Utah gets two more commits: Moses Folauhola from Hunter, and Nua Poteki from Bingham. They performed well at recent camps, I guess.

I've never heard of them before, honestly.

Boo! These are the types of kids I was worried that Whit would continue to go after. I am not impressed. Hopefully these kids prove me wrong.