Four-star Skyridge cornerback Smith Snowden announced his commitment to Utah on Monday afternoon, continuing a hot streak for the Utes’ recruiting.
Snowden announced his pledge live on the “Hans and Scotty G Show” on the KSL Sports Zone.
He told the “Hans and Scotty G Show” that Utah cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah was a big factor in his decision.
“He kind of was the main reason of this decision, honestly. Him coming in my house and him kind of telling me the plan for me and having coach (Kyle) Whittingham there and Morgan Scalley there was just awesome. It was a really special moment for me,” Snowden said.
Snowden said his decision to pick Utah has been in the back of his mind since Utah won the Pac-12 championship against USC.
“It’s definitely been in the back of my head probably since that Pac-12 championship win. I felt like they played a hard USC team, the Heisman winner (Caleb Williams),” Snowden said.
“I think the way they just showed the defense. In my opinion, defense wins games and I think they take a lot of pride in defense.”
Snowden, 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, helped lead Skyridge to its first state championship in school history this year.
This season, Snowden had 28 tackles, six interceptions, and scored two defensive touchdowns, per the Deseret News stats database. He also added two kick return touchdowns.
“He is a really versatile player. He can play inside corner and outside corner. He can play man and zone. A lot of the man technique stuff is really hard and Smith’s a technician. He really loves to work on it. His feet are elite,” Skyridge head coach Jon Lehman said.
“You can put him all over a defense and he can help make it better. Outside of that, he’s got a great mindset.
Snowden is rated as a four-star prospect by both 247 Sports and Rivals. Rivals rates him as the fifth-best overall prospect from the state of Utah, while 247 Sports ranks him as the sixth-best.
Nationally, he’s the 45th-best cornerback in the 2023 class, according to Rivals and the 47th-best according to 247Sports.
Snowden held offers from 22 schools and chose Utah over offers from BYU, Tennessee Northwestern, Colorado and Stanford, among others.
Snowden’s commitment is the fifth the Utes have picked up since winning the Pac-12 championship. They have also added pledges from four-star offensive tackle Spencer Fano, Stanford transfer linebacker Levani Damuni, BYU transfer edge rusher Logan Fano and four-star edge rusher Hunter Clegg.
“At at the end of the day, I think Utah was the best opportunity for myself,” Snowden said.