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July 22, 2014
BYU's Subtle Shift in Recruiting for 2015
The state of Utah is poised to have one of the most talented classes of recruits in Utah history and some feel that it may be the best class ever. However; the Cougars recruiting strategy has taken a slightly different turn over the last few years as some of the prized recruits from the state are heading to big time programs.
In 2013, BYU offered 19 players from the state of Utah and 9 of those committed to BYU, in 2014 there were 9 players from the state of Utah who received offers and 4 of those committed. Currently there are 15 players in the 2015 class with offers and 4 of those have committed to BYU. There are 3-4 others from this class who BYU has a good shot at landing as well.
Bronco Mendenhall likes players committed to the program who want to be at BYU. Gabe Reid from Timpview could end up at BYU and there's a chance that James Empey joins the 2015 class as well. Empey's father played at BYU, but James has received at least 7 offers and is still making his decision. Britain Covey is another recruit the Cougars would love to get. This speedy Timpview product has performed well in summer camps. Hopefully BYU can land some of these recruits in the next few months.
It's well known that Bronco Mendenhall doesn't believe in star ratings and many recruits with no ranking have had great success at BYU. However; the star rating is the best objective measure that we have to compare the state recruits.
According to Rivals, there are 28 players who have 2 stars or more in the state of Utah. As noted, 4 of those players have committed to BYU. Dayan Lake is the highest rated of that group and is listed as a three star prospect out of Northridge. Lake committed last year to BYU and is eager to play for the Cougars. The other three are Rilery Burt from Northridge, Devin Kaufusi from Timpview and Kody Wilstead from Pine View in St. George.
With only 4 commits from the state of Utah thus far, the "scholly bombs", according to Geoff Martzen director of player personnel, are dropping all over the country. Currently, BYU has offered 11 recruits from the state of California and has 22 players from that state on the roster. California has traditionally been fertile recruiting ground for BYU with the high LDS population and will continue to be one in the future.
The real surprise is the increase in offers for players in the state of Texas. Guy Holliday, the wide receivers coach for BYU, has been traversing the state in hopes of bringing more speed to Provo. Holliday was largely responsible for getting Jordan Leslie to Provo, who he knew when he was a coach at UTEP, and is continuing to do great work as evidenced by the increased offers to that area.
BYU's current roster shows 8 players from the state of Texas. For 2015, BYU has offered 12 players from Texas. 4 of those players have committed to other schools, but BYU is showing a renewed focus on the state. Two years ago BYU offered only 3 players from the Lone Star state and increased that to 8 players last year with Trey Dye and Tejan Koroma committing.
Hopefully this continues and BYU starts to land more of these Texas players while maintaining a firm footing in the state of Utah.