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Two is better than one, and Utah football got commitments from not one but two talented athletes late yesterday, Davir Hamilton and Daevon Vigilant. Hamilton is a 6'3" 202 pound (with a 4.25 shuttle) wide receiver and defensive back from Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles, Calif. Vigilant is a 5'10" 180 pound running back from Downey High School in Downey, Calif. This continues a trend of strong recruiting in California for the Utes. Beating four California schools last year and winning a total of nine games has certainly helped recruiting in the Golden State.
I love the Hamilton pick up. Guys with his size and speed are necessary to have to compete in the Pac-12. He wears No. 9 in high school and seems to have a bit of Tevin Carter in him. On defense, Hamilton had an eye popping 13.0 sacks along with two interceptions. Hamilton is big and fast. He hits hard and has a nose for the football. I could see him as another great Utah cornerback if he ends up on defense. However, there is no guarantee he plays defense. He also had 1,200 all-purpose yards and 15 touchdowns last season. He moves well in the open field and adjusts well to the ball in the air. He catches the ball well and uses his size to go up and get passes. In his film*, you can see Hamilton does it all, including playing on defense, running back, wide receiver, and he even throws a touchdown pass.
Hamilton was just offered by hometown UCLA, so it could be hard for Utah to hold onto him. He also has offers from other Pac-12 programs, Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon State, and Washington State. He is listed as a soft verbal to Utah. If Utah can hold onto the talented athlete, they will get a versatile player who could provide an immediate impact on either side of the ball.
Vigilant is smaller but faster than Hamilton. In his film* he has the speed to get to the edge and outrun defenders in the open field. He finds the hole well and is harder to bring down than his size would indicate. He is shifty in the open field as well. Utah likes their running backs to be a threat in the passing game, and Vigilant certainly is. He could be a nice change of pace back and be a good one-two punch with one of Utah's bigger running backs like Joe Williams or Marcel Brooks-Brown.
Like Hamilton, Vigilant is listed as a soft verbal to Utah. Besides Utah, his other Power 5 offers include Colorado, Michigan, and Washington State. His primary recruiter is Sharrieff Shah according to Rivals.
Landing two talented recruits in one day is huge. Utah will have their work cut out for them to hold onto both players, but they could both be serious playmakers for Utah. National Signing Day is over seven months away, but Utah has a great start to their 2016 class with these two athletes plus players like Micah Croom, Kahi Neves, and Tucker Scott among others.
UPDATE: It now sounds like Vigilant has actually not committed to Utah. As far as I can tell, the information was either reported prematurely or was not supposed to be reported. Hamilton has committed to Utah but will still take all five official visits and is not shutting down his recruiting.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm glad to say I have verbally committed to the University of Utah <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KiYi?src=hash">#KiYi</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LightTheU?src=hash">#LightTheU</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoUtes?src=hash">#GoUtes</a> <a href="http://t.co/E044IpOZtm">pic.twitter.com/E044IpOZtm</a></p>— Davir Hamilton (@EspnHam9) <a href="https://twitter.com/EspnHam9/status/614869140038246400">June 27, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm still open to other options and taking all 5 of my official visits you only get recruited once <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YORO?src=hash">#YORO</a></p>— Davir Hamilton (@EspnHam9) <a href="https://twitter.com/EspnHam9/status/614935072488099841">June 27, 2015</a></blockquote>
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*Film curtesy of Hudl