On national letter-of-intent eve, several more football recruits announced their intentions to sign with BYU.
Wednesday is the first day recruits can sign with a school, according to NCAA rules. But unlike in past years, when recruiters could be with a player when he signed, new rules forbid coaches to do that. The result is that letters of intent must be mailed or delivered in person.BYU's policy is to hold off on revealing a recruit's name until the letter of intent is in hand. This year, coach LaVell Edwards has decided to wait until all the letters are in hand and announce the names en masse, probably on Thursday afternoon, according to BYU sports information director Ralph Zobell.
But while coaches are forbidden to announce verbal commitments, players are under no such restriction. Tuesday, Hunter High coach Mike Fraser confirmed that his star running back, Tefua Bloomfield, had committed to play for BYU.
"They gave him an indication that they were thin at running back and he could make a contribution right away, and he committed," Fraser said.
Bloomfield, 6-foot, 200 pounds, rushed for 1,647 yards and 20 TDs while leading Hunter to the Class 4A semifinals last season. He was also recruited by Washington State, Utah State and Kansas State.
Fraser guessed that Bloomfield is a likely candidate to play fullback at BYU, saying he's a similar runner to Peter Tuipulotu.
Another promising running back reportedly headed to Provo is Kalin Hall of Dixie College, according to coach Greg Croshaw. Hall, 5-10, 195, rushed for 1,950 yards, averaging 7.3 yards per carry and earning National Junior College Athletic Association player of the year honors.
The Cougars got two more commitments from defensive backs, continuing their effort to beef up a depleted secondary, although one was primarily a quarterback in high school.
Tyler Nelson of Orem High made all-state honorable mention as a senior and all-state second team as a junior, both times at quarterback, but is expected to play safety at BYU, according to his coach, Paul Clark.
Nelson, 6-4, 205, narrowed his choices to Utah and BYU before choosing the Cougars. Last season, Nelson saw occasional duty on defense and, despite missing three games, led the team in interceptions.
"He's really got a good defensive mentality," Clark said. "He likes to hit."
The other defensive back is Rodney Sims, 5-10, 180, from Waco (Texas) High, the same school that produced former BYU cornerback Brian Mitchell (now with the Atlanta Falcons) and current Cougar cornerback Patrick Mitchell.
Sims was first-team all-district, runs the 40 in 4.5 and was recruited by Minnesota, TCU and New Mexico.
An unusual recruit for the Cougars is Dan Gerber, a 6-4, 210-pound linebacker from Olympus High who played just two games his senior season. A top prospect after an outstanding junior season, Gerber suffered a severely sprained knee and sat out the rest of the year, according to his coach, Tom Larson. Otherwise, the coach said, "He would have been an all-state player." Despite the injury, Larson was pursued by Utah and Weber State and, just recently, by BYU.
BYU added to a lengthy list of offensive line recruits with a commitment from Curtis Cannon, a 6-4, 240 pounder from Irvine (Calif.) High. Cannon was first-team all-league, all-Orange County and all-CIF, according to his coach. He was recruited by Washington, Arizona State, Cal and Oregon State.
A national recruiting service reported Tuesday that BYU had a commitment from David Howell, a 6-3, 210-pound linebacker from Asheville, N.C., but the Deseret News was unable to confirm that report.
The same service also disclosed that a recruit who earlier indicated he would attend BYU - offensive lineman Avery Nash of Poway, Calif. - has changed his mind and is headed for San Diego State.