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Per a tweet from Trevor Phibbs of the Salt Lake Tribune crediting 247Sports Director of Scouting Barton Simmons, the top 2017 recruit in the state of Utah, Bingham HS (South Jordan, Utah) four-star defensive tackle has Utah among his final three along with Ohio State and Michigan. Tufele holds offers from 10 of the 12 schools in the Pac-12 (only the Bay Area schools have not offered him), in addition to offers from many other Power 5 schools including Nebraska, Notre Dame, and Ole Miss among others. He is currently rated the No. 51 overall prospect and No. 3 defensive tackle in the nation.
According to @bartonsimmons, Bingham DT Jay Tufele (@tufele123) said Michigan, Ohio State and #Utah are his top three schools. #TribPreps
— Trevor Phibbs (@trevorphibbs) July 9, 2016
It seems like Ohio State is in the lead right now for Tufele, according to Simmons, based on the tweet below (which also shows how dominant Tufele is).
Jay Tufele at DT. Love this guy. #OSU in good shape. pic.twitter.com/2wididmfgF
— Barton Simmons (@bartonsimmons) July 8, 2016
I would not count out the hometown Utes for the Bingham standout. Both former Utah All-American Star Lotulelei and current Ute Lowell Lotulelei were standouts at Bingham before excelling at Utah. Many scouts have said Tufele is better than both of them in high school, which illustrates just how good he could be at the next level.
Here is one final video from Simmons of Tufele at the Opening going on now in Beaverton, Ore.
Another nice Jay Tufele rep pic.twitter.com/xTJwbg5zfQ
— Barton Simmons (@bartonsimmons) July 8, 2016