Kyle Luekenga, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound linebacker at Granger High, pledged to sign with BYU in February, although he will not take his official campus visit until Jan. 21.
"I gave my commitment to coach Steve Kaufusi Thursday, and I feel very good about where I'll be playing college football," Luekenga said. "I turned down offers from Utah and Utah State."
Luekenga was the most valuable player on defense for Region 3, runs a 4.7 time in the 40 and had also been recruited by UNLV and Harvard.
"I liked the idea of playing against some big-time schools on BYU's schedule," he said. "I also like the facilities at BYU, which is the best in the country. I think Bronco Mendenhall is a man of discipline and his word and is a coach players like to play for because he is straight up in what he says. What he says goes. I met him in my home on Sunday night and was impressed with him as a person and coach."
It also helped BYU's cause that Luekenga is a lifetime Cougar fan and is friends with former Granger players at BYU — Manaia Brown and Fahu Tahi.
"Kyle is a great kid, gets good grades and is an outstanding player," said Granger coach Rich Grosh. "I'm looking forward to him playing at BYU. He's very aggressive, which I love. We never had to discipline him, and he's strong and gets to the ball and hits. He's the total package and fun to work with. He got better every day."
E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com