With just two weeks before the NCAA official letter-of-intent period begins, Utah's football team has picked up four more verbal commitments, three from players who took their recruiting trips to the U. last weekend.
Coach Urban Meyer was looking for one more junior-college player, and he received a commitment Monday night from 6-foot-7, 260-pound offensive lineman David Dirkmaat of Fresno City College. Dirkmaat is rated with three stars by both Rivals.com and Insiders.com, websites that rate players from no stars to a best of five.
Also giving Utah their word that they'll sign on or after Feb. 5 are Evanston (Wyo.) linebacker Bryce Scanlon, Sherman Oaks (Calif.) Notre Dame High defensive lineman Alex Puccinelli, the Los Angeles Daily News player of the year and All-CIF and all-state selection; and Tustin (Calif.) Foothill High All-Orange County first-team receiver Quincy Lever, who had 81 catches for 1,301 yards and 10 touchdowns in 14 games last season. He led Orange County in receiving yards per game at 92.90.
Dirkmaat, of San Jose, Calif., went to Fresno City College with the idea of transferring to Fresno State, but he changed his mind. He visited Louisiana State and Washington and had thoughts about South Carolina and West Virginia. Dirkmaat was a defensive player but switched to offense for the past season and averaged about four pancake blocks a game to earn all-conference honors.
Scanlon is 6-2, 220 pounds, but his coach, Roger Schrad, who also sent the Poppinga brothers to BYU and Utah State, told the Deseret News Scanlon is at a low weight now because he is wrestling and could put on enough to play defensive end in college. Scanlon "runs real well, sideline-to-sideline," said Schrad. Scanlon was going to commit to Utah last week but wanted to visit Hawaii last weekend first, partly to see his father, who came up from Samoa.
Puccinnelli is a 6-2, 215-pounder expected to play rush end or outside linebacker, his father, Patrick, told PacWestFootball.com. "Alex said Utah was everything he was looking for," the elder Puccinelli said. "He said that in his heart he felt Utah was the place for him."
Lever is 6-1 and 175 pounds. His team was 11-3. His best game was 13 catches for 216 yards in a 30-20 loss to San Clemente.
Members of NCAA coaching staffs may not comment on recruits until after they have received signed letters-of-intent. Verbal commitments are non-binding.
Utah has two junior-college transfers who signed in the early December period and are already on campus, Palomar punter Matt Kovacevich and Antelope Valley receiver Jerome Wright. It has verbal commitments from Dirkmaat, Puccinelli, Lever, Tooele running back Kyle Brady and Californians Kyle Gunther, offensive guard, Camarillo; Joe Jianonni, linebacker, LaQuinta; Joseph Johnson, defensive back/returner, Palm Desert; Ryan Smith, cornerback, La Puente; and Eric Weddle, safety, Alta Loma. Additionally, tight end Jan Jorgensen, younger brother of current Ute tight end J.D. Jorgensen, committed to the Ron McBride staff but is looking around and may not have been offered a scholarship by the Meyer staff.
E-mail: lham@desnews.com