Utah Football Extending Offers To Many Talented In-State Recruits

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – As the football talent at the high school level in the state of Utah continues to rise, the Utes are taking notice and trying to keep as many prospects as possible in-state.

Over the years, Kyle Whittingham has always put an emphasis on recruiting prospects from the state of Utah and turn them into “hometown heroes.”

In the 2021 class, Utah has offered 12 recruits that are playing high school or junior college football in the Beehive state. Of those 12, the Utes have received verbal commitments from two players. Three prospects have verbally committed to play at other schools including BYU.

Here are all of the in-state prospects that Utah has sent offers to, according to 247 Sports.

Kingsley Suamataia, OT, Orem

Suamataia is the No. 1 recruit in the state and the 10th offensive tackle in the country. The four-star prospect has received offers from many schools around the country, including Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, BYU, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawai’i, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Tennessee, UCLA, USC, Utah, Utah State, Virginia, Washington, Washington State, Wisconsin and Texas A&M.

Many believe that Suamataia will commit to either Georgia or Oregon. But, Utah isn’t giving up on the opportunity to snatch the top Utah prospect. They sent him 50 letters.

They had 50 different reasons on each card, numbered 😂 pic.twitter.com/FxNoHcYJt6

— L Suamataia (@Lsuamataia) June 30, 2020

Jackson Light, OC, Corner Canyon

Corner Canyon center Jackson Light is the No. 2 prospect in the state as a four-star recruit. The 6’3, 284-pound Draper, Utah native is the No. 5 center in the country. Light verbally committed to Oregon in October 2019.

He received offers from BYU, Liberty, Missouri, Nebraska, Utah, Utah State and Washington State.

COMMITTED 💚🦆 #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/AQ5JALOYYz

— Jackson Powers Light (@bigjax36) October 17, 2019

Voi Tunuufi, DT, East

Tunuufi is a 6’2, 280-pound defensive tackle from East High School. The three-star recruit is the No. 3 prospect in the state according to 247 Sports composite. He is the 26th ranked defensive tackle in the country.

Tunuufi verbally committed to Washington after receiving offers from Arizona State, Arkansas, BYU, California, Colorado, Hawai’i, Liberty, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, UNLV, Utah, Utah State, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Logan Fano, DE, Timpview

The Spanish Fork, Utah native is a three-star prospect that has a 0.8748 247 Sports composite rating. Along with that composite score, he is the No. 32 weak-side defensive end in the country and the No. 4 recruit in the state of Utah. 247 Sports updated their rating for Fano and put him as a four-star prospect, No. 22 weak-side defensive end and the No. 2 recruit in the state.

Fano narrowed his list down to the top 8 on his recruiting list. He listed Utah, BYU, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Washington and Virginia.

Alma 37:37 🙏🏽🖤 pic.twitter.com/6vMHxiod6S

— Logan Fano (@LoganFano) June 18, 2020

Raider Damuni, ATH, Timpview

Timpview’s Raider Damuni is the No. 1 athlete in the state and the fifth ranked recruit in the state. The three-star prospect verbally committed to BYU in the eighth grade in 2017. He has received offers from Arizona, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin, Oregon State, Utah State and Washington State.

Some clips from the Level Up camp last weekend! #LevelUp #BGOD @levelupelitesFB @T_BirdFootball pic.twitter.com/5tVaITg77o

— Raider Damuni 🇫🇯 (@raiderdamuni) July 5, 2020

Viliami Pouha, DE, Bingham

Viliami Pouha is a three-star defensive end from Bingham High School. He is the 59th ranked weak-side defensive end in the country and the No. 7 prospect in the state of Utah.

Pouha verbally committed to Utah on June 8 after receiving offers from UNLV and Washington state. He is the son of current Utes defensive tackles coach Sione Pouha.

⚪️🔴GO UTES⚪️🔴 pic.twitter.com/7wsa7TteRD

— Viliami Pouha (@VPouha) June 9, 2020

Isaac Vaha, ATH, Pleasant Grove

Isaac Vaha is a 6’7, 230-pound athlete from Pleasant Grove, Utah. He is a three-star prospect and is the No. 84 ranked athlete in the country and the eighth ranked prospect in the state of Utah.

He tweeted his top 7 schools that he will focus his recruitment process on which includes Utah, BYU, UCLA, Penn State, Arizona State, Washington and Oregon.

Other than the top 7 listed above, Vaha received offers from California, Colorado, Colorado State, Liberty, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon State, Texas Tech, Utah State, Virginia, Washington State and West Virginia.

Final 7! All glory to the man above🙌🏽 pic.twitter.com/HHkyTaOajH

— Isaac Vaha (@IsaacVaha) July 13, 2020

Jeffrey Bassa, S, Kearns

Bassa was originally being recruited as an athlete but has now been listed as a safety. The 6’3, 200-pound, three-star prospect from Kearns High School is the No. 95 safety in the country and the ninth ranked recruit in Utah.

Earlier in July, Bassa tweeted out a video of his top 6 choices. That list included Baylor, Oregon, Utah, Louisville, Oklahoma State and Arizona State. He received offers from Arizona, Hawai’i, Kansas, Oregon State, Syracuse, UNLV, Utah State and Washington State.

FINAL 6… pic.twitter.com/kBhu6XbtTE

— Jeffrey Bassa (@Bassa_21) July 4, 2020

Michael Mokofisi, DT, Woods Cross

Three-star defensive tackle Michael Mokofisi will likely commit to the Utes at some point but is the No. 63 defensive tackle in the nation and No. 10 recruit in the state. He has received offers from Arizona, BYU, Nebraska, USC and Utah.

Mokofisi is 6’3, 300-pounds.

Thank you @Utah_Football 🙌🏽 pic.twitter.com/XWOGjfmrMP

— Michael Mokofisi (@Moke_801) September 12, 2019

Omarion Fa’amoe, DE, West

West High School star defensive end Omarion Fa’amoe is a three-star recruit that is No. 12 in the state and the 78th ranked weak-side defensive end.

According to 247 Sports, Fa’amoe is “warm” to Utah. Fa’amoe has received offers from Utah, Arizona, LSU, Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah State, Washington State and Oregon State.

Huge thanks to coach @Pouha91 @Utah_Football and @CoachPowell99 for inviting me over and learning more about the program. 17 years blessed and still going, I’m blessed for the people that got me here and the lord above🙏🏽🔥 #RestoreTheRoar #MLUYFI #teampala #WestPanther pic.twitter.com/eB2qp24vMG

— Omarion Fa’amoe (@Faamoe72) January 19, 2020

Tevita Fotu, DT, Snow College

Fotu is a junior college transfer from Snow College. According to 247 Sports, he is a three-star JUCO prospect, No. 22 in the nation, No. 3 defensive tackle and the second ranked recruit in the state.

Dallin Havea, ATH, Provo

The 247 Sports composite does not have a rating for Dallin Havea but 247 Sports does. They ranked him as the No. 123 athlete in the nation and No. 12 in the state of Utah. The three-star prospect from Provo High School has received offers from Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, Idaho, Utah, Utah State and Yale.

Other In-State Prospects

Six prospects in the state in the top 16 were not offered by Utah but five have verbally committed to other schools.

Branson Yager, OT, Grantsville

Yager is a three-star, 6’7, 332-pound offensive tackle from Grantsville High School. He is the No. 6 ranked prospect in the state and No. 72 offensive tackle in the country.

Yager has verbally committed to Nebraska after receiving offers from BYU, California, Iowa State, Vanderbilt and Virginia.

Tevita Mafileo, ATH, Jordan

Three-star recruit Tevita Mafileo committed verbally to BYU as a 6’5, 175-pound athlete. He is the No. 11 ranked recruit in Utah.

Christian Hilborn, OT, Highland

Hilborn is a three-star offensive tackle from Highland High School. The 6’5, 280-pound lineman is ranked No. 13 in the state. He has verbally committed to Washington State.

Kyson Hall, WR, Maple Mountain

Three-star wide receiver Kyson Hall is No. 14 in the state rankings and No. 220 wideout in the country. He has verbally committed to BYU.

Ricky Wolfgramm, OLB, East

East High star linebacker Ricky Wolfgramm is the 15th ranked recruit in the state and No. 118 outside linebacker. Wolfgramm has verbally committed to BYU.

Parker Buchanan, ATH, Box Elder

Three-star athlete Parker Buchanan is No. 16 in the state. The 6’6, 215-pound athlete has verbally committed to Utah State.

2022 Prospects

The early look at the 2022 prospects is show to be a very talented class full of four-star recruits.

247 Sports has ranked the top 12 prospects in the state in the 2022 class. Utah has extended offers to six of those recruits. (These are all ranked off of just 247 Sports and not the composite).

Lander Barton, OLB, Brighton

The younger brother of former Utah offensive lineman Jackson and linebacker Cody, Lander Barton is a four-star prospect from Brighton High School. He is currently ranked No. 1 in state and the 18th ranked outside linebacker in the country. So far, Barton has received offers from Arizona State, Nebraska, Oregon, Stanford, Utah and Washington.

Excited to announce my first football offer from the University Utah! Thankyou to coach Whitt and the rest of the coaching staff 🙌 @UtahCoachWhitt @RBlechen @Utah_Football pic.twitter.com/QZ8Y2dX3p6

— Lander Barton (@BanderLarton) January 7, 2020

George Maile, OG, Bingham

Maile is a four-star offensive lineman according to 247 Sports. His first division I offer came from the Utes. To this point, Maile has received offers from USC, Nebraska, Oregon and Utah State.

Truly blessed to receive my first Division 1 offer from the University Of Utah pic.twitter.com/eGeT3r3Be6

— George Maile (@GeorgeMaile1) June 19, 2019

Other in-state players to have received offers from Utah in the 2022 class includes the following:

• Aisea Moa, ATH, Weber
• Noah Moeaki, OLB, American Fork
• Luke Hyde, WR, Woods Cross
• Weylin Lapuaho, OG, Bingham

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.