Once upon a time in college football, it was considered almost immoral to overtly recruit a high school player to play at a major university.
Un-pure.
Oh, they could send out letters, telegrams, make a pitch for a talented kid, but to beg, sell and lower one's self into an act of what was nicknamed "ivory hunting," was viewed by some purists as a condescension in the 1920s, the era of Michigan's Feilding Yost, Bub Zuppke of Illinois, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Knute Rockne.
In 1920, only 17 percent of Americans graduated from high school.
Back in the day, the act of recruiting was a relic that could be carbon dated.
Today, recruiting high school players is an applied science, the lifeblood of the game, where research is high tech, cell phone text messaging is a major communication ploy and internet bios featuring the athletes 40 times and vertical leaps are a keystroke away.
By all measures, Utah's three big universities will have solid recruiting classes when prospects sign official Letters of Intent on Wednesday. Coaches will say they are happy and pleased. For fans who live and die by the star rating system that supposedly tells you how good a player is, there is plenty of fodder to mull over.
The fact is, nobody knows how good these players will be until about their sophomore year of college.
Looking at a highly regarded prospect, who might be on the upper scale of maturity for his age group, you have to be careful when you review film of him bowling over opposing kids that are some times undersized, under-coached and overmatched.
That doesn't happen at the Division I level. The truth comes out.
I'd wager BYU, Utah and Utah State have done more this decade with two and three star recruits than they have with the ones they've landed tabled four stars.
What tends to make the difference is if a kid is simply a gamer; a real football player that understands the game, regardless of how many stars is associated with his talent.
And, coaches tell you, they'd prefer a guy who comes out and competes like a vampire after a swollen neck vein.
In that regard, nothing's changed about football prospects and the gamble of landing them.
Scout.com just released its final Northwest Top 100 prospects, a list ranking the top players from Hawaii, Utah, Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
Two of those top players are No. 1 Manti Teo, who is likely headed to the Pac-10 or Notre Dame after dabbling with BYU as part of his final five, and Timpview offensive tackle Xavier Su'a-Filo. Both are expected to announce their college choice on Wednesday.
Of the Top 15 on that Top 100 list, comprised by national recruiting editor Chris Fetters, Utah produced more than half. Eight to be exact.
If the science has credibility, this is easily the best year in Utah high school history for talent deemed good enough to play college football.
On that list, Su'a-Filo is ranked No. 2, followed by Cottonwood's USC-bound OG John Martinez and Sua' Filo's Thunderbird teammate, safety Craig Bills, who will sign at BYU.
That's the top four.
In at No. 6 and 7 are Spanish Fork tight end Richard Wilson and Snow Canyon running back Adam Hine, who will both sign with the Cougars.
Cottonwood running back Isi Sofele, ranked No. 12, is headed for Cal, while No. 13 Vyncent Jones, a lineman from Jordan and No. 14 Latu Heimuli, a defensive lineman at Highland are expected to sign with the Utes.
The No. 15 player on the list is Kahuku (Hawaii) safety J'ray Galeai, who will sign with the Cougars.
The state of Hawaii produced more players on that list of 100 than any other state with 27, followed by Utah (25) and Washington (23).
If you scour the lists, you see two footprints in recruiting by Utah State, BYU and Utah. There are a lot of local products. And there are many players with Polynesian blood.
According to ESPN's national recruiting editor for Scout.com, Tom Luginbill, the Cougars and Utes should land the top class in the Mountain West and the Ute diversity in California and Texas have proved key.
"One of the things that Utah has going for them, similar to BYU, is that they can get over to the islands because there is a Mormon contingency with the Polynesian kids," Luginbill said.
"You've got Texas, which they've always really been strong in and California they're going to be strong in and then, obviously, the state of Utah. So that gives them some advantages. I think they, BYU and TCU out of the Mountain West, are the strongest (recruiters) right now."
Hunting ivory.
What would Zuppke, Yost and Stagg think come Wednesday if we poked their faces in front of ESPN to witness the announcement by some star players?
Scout.com Northwest Top 15
1. Manti Teo, LB, Punahou (Hawaii)
2. Xavier Su'a-Filo, OT, Timpview (undeclared)
3. John Martinez, OG, Cottonwood (USC)
4. Craig Bills, S, Timpview (BYU)
5. Bo Lokombo, LB, Abbotsford, B.C. (Oregon)
6. Richard Wilson, TE, Spanish Fork (BYU)
7. Adam Hines, RB, Snow Canyon (BYU)
8. Stan Hasiak, OT, Kapolei, Haw. (Cal)
9. Simione Vehikite, LB, Kapolei, Haw. (USC)
10. Charles Siddowway, OT, Eugene, Ore. (Cal)
11. Malcom Johnson, RB, Greshman, Ore. (Boise State)
12. Isi Sofele, RB, Cottonwood (Cal)
13. Vyncent Jones, OG, Jordan (Utah)
14. Latu Heimuli, DT, Highland (Utah)
15. J'ray Galeai, S, Kahuku, Haw. (BYU).
E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com