The journey from a humble home in Salt Lake City's Glendale neighborhood to a spot in the backfield playing football for what may be the premier college football team in America has been a long one for Stanley Havili.
The Cottonwood High running back announced Sunday in a televised decision that he would attend Southern California.
That decision came after a night sharing dinner with USC coach Pete Carroll in the Havili home.
"It wasn't anything he said," Havili said of Carroll's last-minute sales pitch. "It was a feeling I had."
That feeling, however, wasn't always as strong as it was when he slipped the Trojans hat on his head in front of the television cameras. In fact, when Havili woke up Sunday morning he was prepared to take his 6-foot-1, 220-pound body to Arizona State.
ASU coach Dirk Koetter had told Havili serving an LDS mission was fine and that a scholarship to play for the Sun Devils would be waiting for him when he returned.
Southern Cal, on the other hand, was not willing to make that promise.
Serving a mission — a lifelong goal for Havili and his family — simply wasn't something Carroll wanted to incorporate into his recruiting strategy.
BYU, of course, had no problems whatsoever with Havili's desires to serve his church.
Still, the departures of two all-star running backs and the allure of playing for the Trojans proved too strong a temptation for Havili to pass up.
"I've grown up wanting to serve a mission," Havili said. "It's really very important to me. But I've had some long talks with my parents and we've decided that, for now, I'm not going to go on a mission. But I do want to have that option."
For some, it might be easy to say Havili gave up on one dream to chase another.
The talented, but spiritual, running back sees it a different way.
"I still want to spread the word," he said Sunday night after his public announcement. "But right now I'm going to try to spread the word with my actions on the field and try to spread the word with my teammates."
Havili is part of an amazing recruiting class Carroll is putting together. With Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush leaving school and school touchdown record holder LenDale White following him to the NFL, Havili is one of three running backs Carroll has received commitments from. The other two, however, are smaller runners in the mold of Bush. Havili is the rugged, bruising back more similar to White.
Many observers compared the Trojans' backfield to Thunder and Lightning. Havili is more than happy to be the Thunder of that scenario.
"They told me I'm going to get to play as a freshman," Havili said. "I didn't want to redshirt, and they said if I'm not playing on offense very much that I'll be in there on special teams."
Havili leaves behind a stellar run with the Colts. He was a two-time all-state player for Cottonwood and played in a state championship game.
Now, as part of the USC machine, he'll certainly have a chance to play in another championship game or two. These, however, will be on a grander scale and a national stage.
E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com