PROVO — May and June are traditionally packed with college football recruiting news, as prospects make official and unofficial campus visits, participate in recruiting-focused camps and 7-on-7 competitions and, more often than not, make early commitments to the schools of their choice.
But the coronavirus pandemic has changed all that in 2020, making the past few months perhaps the most quiet, in terms of recruiting, in recent memory. That’s because the emergency recruiting dead period instigated by the NCAA in March when COVID-19 hit has been extended twice.
“Once the pandemic hit, the recruiting never stopped. In fact, it just got amped up. We just do it differently.” — Jasen Ah You, BYU executive coordinator of recruiting and player personnel
On May 13, it was pushed through June 30. On May 27, it was extended through July 31.
Coaches are still contacting recruits via text messages and social media channels, but in-person meetings aren’t taking place.
“Once the pandemic hit, the recruiting never stopped. In fact, it just got amped up. We just do it differently,” Jasen Ah You, BYU’s new executive coordinator of recruiting and player personnel, said at his introductory news conference on May 11.
“It’s been a lot different,” BYU tight ends coach Steve Clark said in mid-May, noting that he would usually be on the road recruiting in late spring and early summer, rather than conduct Zoom meetings with his guys. “But we are making it work.”
For those reasons, and because it faces a scholarship crunch with a lot of players currently on missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expected to reclaim scholarships when they return, BYU has commitments from only four members of the class of 2021 — next year’s signing class. That’s a low number at this juncture of the process, especially after the NCAA went to a December early signing period for football a few years ago.
“Part of my responsibility at BYU as personnel director is to handle the roster,” Ah You said. “We have to be able to manage missionaries coming and going, but also (limit) who we have committed. So we have a very finite number of people we can commit. As a matter of fact, this class is going to be a smaller class, and just being able to manage it properly (is difficult).”
Weston Jones, a 6-foot-5, 260-pound offensive lineman from Romeo, Michigan, committed to the Cougars last week, joining previous commits Raider Damuni (athlete, Timpview), Kyson Hall (receiver, Maple Mountain) and Ricky Wolfgramm (linebacker, East). Tevita Mafileo, an athlete from Jordan High who committed in February, withdrew his pledge last week, according to the Cougar Sports Insider site on the 247sports.com network.
Jones, a three-star prospect who also reported offers from Air Force, Army, Buffalo and Eastern Michigan, is expected to serve a two-year church mission before enrolling. Damuni, Hall and Wolfgramm have also said they plan to go on missions first.
“We tried to flip the roster in the last four years, trying to get (head coach) Kalani Sitake’s recruits, and getting those guys in here,” said Ah You, who was part of the support staff before May’s promotion. “We’ve done a great job of that, sending guys on missions and so forth.”
Despite that emphasis on selectivity, the Cougars recently offered their first quarterback in the 2021 recruiting class, Roy High’s Jaxson Dart, a 6-3, 210-pound athlete who also excels at baseball. Dart, the son of former University of Utah player Brandon Dart, will play for Corner Canyon High in Draper this fall.
“We are going to be very selective of who not only are we offering, but who we are committing to and who we are going to accept those commits from,” said Ah You, which must mean the coaching staff is high on Dart, because the Cougars have quarterback Sol-Jay Maiava joining a talented QBs room this fall and highly touted returned missionary Jacob Conover joining in 2021.
According to BYU recruiting expert Jeff Hansen of CSI, the Cougars’ top remaining instate targets are Orem offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia, Timpview defensive end Logan Fano and Pleasant Grove athlete Isaac Vaha. They are considered long shots for all three.
Fano committed to BYU last year, but withdrew that commitment in January despite being best friends with Damuni. Fano has offers from Washington, Utah, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arizona, Virginia and several other Power Five programs.
BYU really wants Corner Canyon offensive lineman Jackson Light, but the four-star center remains an Oregon commit. Still, OL coach Eric Mateos has developed a strong relationship with Light, whose grandfather was a BYU swim coach, and the Cougars haven’t given up.
“We are going to swing big,” Ah You said. “We are going to go after all the top guys in the state, but not all the top guys are great fits for us. So we gotta find the top (Latter-day Saint) kids. … We are not going to be one of those programs that is going to extend offers all over the place. We are not that guy, because we need to do our homework and make sure we have the right people representing and carrying the banner of Brigham Young University.”
BYU’s Class of 2021 football commitments
- Raider Damuni ATH 6-2, 190 Provo, Utah (Timpview High School)
- Kyson Hall WR 5-11, 175 Spanish Fork, Utah (Maple Mountain High School)
- Ricky Wolfgramm OLB 6-1, 235 Salt Lake City, Utah (East High School)
- Weston Jones OL 6-5, 260 Romeo, Michigan (Romeo High School)
Decommitments
- Tevita Mafileo ATH 6-5, 175 Sandy, Utah (Jordan High School)
- Logan Fano DE, 6-4, 230 Spanish Fork, Utah (Timpview High School)