As his fellow Bingham athletes announced their college choices one by one — all already well-publicized — during an assembly Wednesday, Jay Tufele sat at the end of the stage bouncing his feet under the table with nervous excitement.
With a Utah, BYU, USC and Michigan hat all placed in front of him, Utah’s top recruit simply couldn’t sit still as he waited to share the news with family, friends and the throngs of media on hand.
When his turn finally arrived, Tufele had his little brother Taumualasi come on stage and end the suspense.
“The school that I will be attending and calling home for the next four years, the University of Southern California. Fight on,” said Tufele.
The 6-foot-2, 306-pound defensive tackle had narrowed his choices to Utah, BYU, Michigan, Ohio State and USC, but Monday night the state’s top recruit told his family he’d decided to sign with USC.
“All five of those schools run really good programs, I really felt it was the place for me, best fit, I really fell in love when I was there,” said Tufele. “It’s an unbelievable feeling. I’m just really blessed.”
Tufele was one of four top in-state recruits who waited until National Letter of Intent Day to announce his college choice, and Tufele’s decision to head to USC made it a 50-50 split for the day.
Heading out of state along with Tufele is East defensive end Jordan Lolohea, who chose Washington over Utah and BYU.
BYU nabbed the other two undecideds. West Jordan defensive end Alden Tofa picked the Cougars over BYU, Utah, Oregon and UCLA during a Wednesday morning assembly in front of a good portion of West Jordan’s student body.
Timpview’s Chaz Ah You used a helicopter to announce his decision to sign with BYU in a video posted on Bleacher Report. The helicopter dropped him off at the 50-yard line of LaVvell Edward’s Stadium, where he unzipped his hoodie to reveal a BYU jersey.
The decisions by Ah You and Tofa to stay in-state made it a 50-50 split for Rivals.com’s top 10 instate recruits, with five leaving and five staying.
Tufele was the marquee athlete both BYU and Utah were hoping to land, but the mystique of USC ultimately won out.
“They’ve got really something special going down there and I want to be a part of it,” said Tufele. “They’re old coaching staff, I didn’t really know that much about them, but the new coaching staff, I’ll tell you one thing, coach (Clay) Helton is an amazing coach, he really loves his players and he really knows everything about them.”
Tufele missed most of his senior season with Bingham because of a foot injury but returned late to play in three games and help the Miners capture the 5A state championship. He recorded six tackles in Bingham’s semifinal win over Fremont and championship game win over Lone Peak.
Utah appeared to be the favorite throughout January, but USC moved to the top of Tufele’s list after a recruiting visit there two weeks ago.
Lolohea’s decision to choose Washington over Utah and BYU came as a big surprise, but Lolohea said he felt at home on the UW campus.
“I took a visit there, and it was amazing. I really felt their love for me, for the recruits and for their own players,” said Lolohea, who will serve an LDS Church mission before enrolling at Washington.
Lolohea’s father passed away unexpectedly last month, but he paid tribute to his father during the ceremony in front of 200 students, faculty and family members before school on Wednesday.
“Without him, I don’t think I would be here today. …(The decision) was stressful, it was nerve-wracking, but I’m glad it’s done. I feel good about the decision. A lot of relief,” said Lolohea.
Like Lolohea, Tofa will serve an LDS Church mission before playing for BYU.
He echoed the sentiment that signing day was exciting, but also a relief.
“All the schools were relentless, which made it so hard," he said. "I don't think 'stressful' is a big enough word to explain how hard it was ... but as soon as I got down on my knees in prayer I found comfort and it's when I figured out BYU was where I needed to go."