Utah's 2011 recruiting class is in the books
by JazzyUte on Feb 2, 2011 8:19 PM MST
in Football
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PrintThere weren't many surprises in this year's recruiting class - as everything pretty much played out as planned.
If you were expecting some dramatic, last second surprises, you're probably disappointed. The Utes missed out on Andrew Peterson, Devin Lucien, Floyd Raven, Junior Pomee, Michael Eubank and Ryan Henderson - all potential commits who, outside of Andrew Peterson, I really didn't anticipate getting.
Which is unfortunate, but typical. These kids were all entertaining offers from some impressive programs and, even though Utah is now just easing into its BCS status, those battles are often lost.
Andrew Peterson went to Arkansas, even though it appeared they didn't have room for him.
Devin Lucien decided to play for UCLA.
Floyd Raven, whose mother actually forged his signature to Ole Miss, is now on his way to Texas A&M.
Junior Pomee & Ryan Henderson, a packaged deal, both signed with SC tonight.
Michael Eubank, who had entertained offers from both Utah and Pitt, even though he was still committed to Arizona State, eventually decided to stay with the Sun Devils.
But not all was lost. The Utes only lost one player who had committed to the program - and that was Henderson.
They also managed to steal Quinton Pedroza from the Sun Devils. So at least they got something out of Arizona State.
All in all, Utah's class ranks second of the non-BCS teams and 6th overall in the Pac-12, according to Rivals.
Obviously a good class, though had Utah been able to get even half of their wishlist, it certainly would have moved up a few notches.
Regardless, I'm excited. I think they brought in some great talent and I have no reason to doubt the coaching staff's ability to recruit.
You can view the entire list of Utah's new commits after the jump...
Name
Pos.
Hgt.
Wgt.
Yr.
Exp.
Hometown/Last School
Siaosi Aiono
OL
6-2
290
Fr.
HS
West Covina, Calif./South Hills HS
Isaac Asiata
OL
6-3
318
Fr.
HS
Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS
Tevita Bloomfield
LB
6-0
230
Fr.
HS
West Valley City, Utah/Hunter HS
Joseph Bryant
DB
6-4
194
Fr.
HS
Bryan, Texas/Bryan HS
Anthony Denham
WR
6-4
231
Jr.
JC
Monterey Park, Calif./East L.A. College
Nate Fakahafua
DL
6-3
196
Fr.
HS
Salt Lake City/Highland HS
Seni Fauonuku
DL
6-0
290
Fr.
HS
West Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS
Charles Henderson
WR
5-9
172
Fr.
HS
New Orleans, La./McDonogh 35 HS
Daniel Kristensen
OL
6-5
257
Fr.
HS
Salt Lake City/Cottonwood HS
Harvey Langi
RB
6-1
216
Fr.
HS
South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS
Keith McGill
DB
6-3
200
Jr.
JC
La Mirada, Calif./Cerritos College
Daniel Nielson
OL
6-6
321
Fr.
HS
Hurricane, Utah/Hurricane HS
Jared Norris
LB
6-1
232
Fr.
HS
Bakersfield, Calif./Centennial HS
Jarrell Oliver
RB
5-9
210
Fr.
HS
Sugar Land, Texas/Dulles HS
Quinton Pedroza
WR/DB
6-2
211
Fr.
HS
Chino, Calif./Chino HS
Jordan Robles
OL
6-5
257
Fr.
HS
Woodland Hills, Utah/Salem Hills HS
Eric Rowe
DB
6-1
177
Fr.
HS
Spring, Texas/Klein HS
Travis Still
WR
6-1
194
Fr.
HS
Spanish Fork, Utah/Spanish Fork HS
John White IV
RB
5-9
190
Jr.
JC
Torrance, Calif./L.A. Harbor College
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Comments
Utah may not have gotten those surprises.
But one thing I did notice this year, that I don’t ever remember, is Utah was there for a lot of them. I don’t remember seeing that many Utah hats on tables, even if they weren’t selected, or were selected as part of a fake. Nor do I remember seeing so many recruits have Utah in their lists as they are talking about their visits to these schools.
Utah may not have gotten the fishes this year, but they were there till the end, and got a lot of pub.
Also need to be added to this class...
Are those who greyshirted last season. Tyler Schreve QB out of California, and Zach Bolton an OL out of Texas.
Great class
Of course, I would have liked to get a couple of the guys we lost out on today, but I think Utah’s class held up well against their conference counterparts. Going through an archive on Scout.com from 2007, it’s actually the first time Utah would rank above 10th in a PAC12 recruiting class.
I think it will continue to improve, especially if USC’s sanction hold up. Then, future targets like Henderson and Pomee just might be more likely to play in Salt Lake. Despite the disappointments, overall it’s one of the best classes in Utah’s history.
I like the height
I’ve never seen any of these guys play, but I have to say I love the height on a couple of the WR pickups we landed. Denham was a huge pickup and Pedroza was a surprise that I had never heard of. We have a couple of 4-stars redshirting from last year too. That was an area that needed major upgrading.
I was happy to see
A couple of speedsters, short, fast guys selected as well as going for the “all world” 6-++ wide receivers. Looking to see how Henderson and White pan out. Mixing it up with a fast, small guy who hides behind linemen and Utah’s traditional power backs is something I’ve looked for them to do for some time. Henderson might be the sleeper in the bunch.
"Gentlemen, it is better to have died as a small boy than to fumble this football."--John Heisman
Overall I am happy
It is obvious the conference move had an affect. Whitt knows that he has every tool at his disposal to lure these kids in. If we can do that in a year that we are not “technically” in the PAC, imagine what we are able to do in the next few years.
Do not be surprised if....
While the “big day” is over letter of intents continue for another week or so. When the dust settles I would not be surprised if some of the wish list comes back around. The NCAA will allow recruits to rescind LOI’s where the universities have knowingly OVER SIGNED and do not want to “grey shirt” a year. Yes – I am referring to the University of Spoil Children (Stolen Championships) and others. It would be great if the NCAA would put some regs into place with real teeth , like a 1 for 1 loss of scholies for every over signed kid towards the following years class, but what do you expect from a do nothing bagmen. The next couple of weeks could still have some good thing come our way.
TAO
Things might continue to get worse for USC
http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2011/02/02/ncaa-to-smack-tennessee-lane-kiffin/
Kiffin to get slammed for Tennessee.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this also shows negatively in USC’s sanctions appeal, because hiring a coach who was under investigation just goes to show the lack of institutional control.
fatu moala?
Just a quick question. Southern Utah reports that Fatu Moala is one of their commitments for this recruiting class. I had not heard that he had transferred. This got me thinking though.
DANG! There is going to be a LOT of competition at the WR spots next year. And, with the spread probably being phased out, that means fewer 4-5 receiver sets. Here is who I came up with off the top of my head:
DeVonte Christopher
Luke Matthews
Dexter Ransom
Mo Lee
Kenneth Scott
Dres Anderson
Terrell Reese
Anthony Denham
Travis Still
Sean Fitzgerald
Griff McNabb
Derron Brown
That is just off the top of my head. Anyone know how they are going to work this out?
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@SportsInUtah
2nd among non BCS?
I’ve got some bad news, Jazzy… we’re not non-BCS any more. No. 2 doesn’t mean much!
That said, has anyone else watched film on Anthony Denham? That guy has the potential to be great.
This class was still technically non-BCS, tho!
Since it’s officially the 2010 regular season class. Every kid recruited to it did so while Utah was playing in the Mountain West.
I know it doesn’t mean much, but I think it’s going to take a few seasons to get the full effect of being in the Pac-12!
Saw Denham's film
Watching it, the thing that I liked was that you always knew at the beginning of the play who he was, even though they never circled him or anything before hand. You just knew the ball was going to the really tall dude.
I keep accidentally eating my pets. Maybe I should get something less appetizing, like a cat instead of a Twinkie.
Sort-of-daily sort-of-funny sort-of-thoughts at danoftheday.com
Better than the rest of the Pac-12 South
Really happy to see that in our first recruiting year we already out-recruited everyone in the south division (except USC). Not only that, but we have a superior coaching staff to those programs. I think it bodes well.
by GodisBrianJohnson on Feb 4, 2011 1:14 PM MST reply actions
Jarrell Oliver
I loved watching the video of that kid. We could really be set at RB with him, Langi, John White and Lucky.
I think the real PAC 12 bump in recruiting won’t come until next year and beyond. Kids know we’re in the PAC now but they still may not really think of us as PAC 12 until they actually see the Utes in conference games week in and week out.
After Jordan Wynn and Griff Robles who do we got for QB's?
The University of Utah is off to the Pac-12 Conference and will be in the South Division. Hopefully we will get to the first ever Pac-12 Championship Game. Jon " Bones " Jones gets his chance for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title when he faces off against Shogun Rua.
by wolfmanshowlforever on Feb 6, 2011 12:56 PM MST up reply actions
Tyler Shreve
He’ll be a true freshman. He was pretty well recruited last year, committed to Utah and then allegedly violently attacked his baseball coach after being told he was kicked off the team for class attendance issues. Whittingham told him his scholarship would be available after the fall if he met certain criteria, which apparently he did, and he is effectively a grayshirt. He was also drafted as a MLB pitcher (although not as highly as expected, likely due to his legal problems), so the kid has an arm.
Hopefully he’s grown up a little and learned to channel his frustrations. And hopefully he ends up being a phenomenal quarterback for the U.
I keep accidentally eating my pets. Maybe I should get something less appetizing, like a cat instead of a Twinkie.
Sort-of-daily sort-of-funny sort-of-thoughts at danoftheday.com
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