A signing-day commitment from four-star running back Raycine Guillory headlined Utah’s 21-player recruiting class on Wednesday.
Guillory chose Utah over Ole Miss and a lengthy offer sheet that included Texas, TCU, Miami, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, Ohio State and USC, among others, in a Wednesday evening commitment ceremony in front of friends and family at Aledo High in Texas.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound running back, who rushed for 1,299 yards and 24 touchdowns this year, certainly has a chance to compete for playing time right away in a running back room that lost the vast majority of its production with Micah Bernard graduating.
Coach Kyle Whittingham and the Utes inked three four-star prospects, including Guillory, to head up their latest class, which currently ranks No. 38 in the nation and is No. 5 in the Big 12 Conference, per 247Sports. That’s a slight improvement from the 2023 class, which ranked No. 40 in the nation. When sorted by average recruit ranking (87.27), Utah ranks third in the conference, per 247Sports, behind only Colorado (89.22) and TCU (87.72).
Aside from Guillory, the other 247Sports composite four-stars that Utah signed are Las Vegas linebacker Christian Thatcher and Desert Hills linebacker Cyrus Polu.
Thatcher, who is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 6 player in Nevada and the No. 41 linebacker in the nation, recently became the state’s all-time tackles leader with 443 career tackles. This season, Thatcher recorded 116 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, a sack, an interception and three forced fumbles for Arbor View High.
The four-star prospect had offers from Colorado, Arizona State, Cal, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas A&M, Tennessee, USC and Washington, among others, but decided to stick with Utah.
Polu, the No. 3 recruit from the state of Utah according to 247Sports, stayed home, choosing the Utes over UCLA, Washington, BYU, Arizona State, Cal, Michigan State and Stanford. He recently received a ratings bump, garnering four-star status on 247Sports, On3 and ESPN. This season, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound linebacker had 46 tackles, two interceptions and a forced fumble for Desert Hills.
Nevada WR/LB JJ Buchanan, though not a composite four-star, garnered a four-star rating on 247Sports and is an intriguing prospect. A two-way star at Coronado High, he had 58 receptions for 1,009 yards and 11 touchdowns, plus 61 tackles, two sacks, one interception and two pass breakups. Utah is open to him playing both sides of the ball, he told 247Sports’ Blair Angulo, but the plan is to start him on offense.
Other players that have a four-star rating on at least one major recruiting service are cornerback Jason Stokes, quarterback Wyatt Becker, defensive lineman Karson Kaufusi, safety Shelton Fuller, safety Nathan Tilmon and offensive tackle Soren Shinofield.
For the first time since 2022, Utah signed two quarterbacks in the same class — three-star Wyatt Becker and three-star Jamarian Ficklin.
Becker, from Sierra Canyon High in California, threw for 1,833 yards, 13 touchdowns with six interceptions on a 60% completion rate, while adding 358 yards and two scores on the ground. He led his team to the playoff quarterfinals, where they were beat by powerhouse Mater Dei.
Ficklin, who flipped his commitment from Texas State to start the week off, threw for 2,218 yards and 28 touchdowns with four interceptions on 62% accuracy this year. After leading his school to the state championship a year ago — Muskogee’s first title since 1986 — he has them right back in the 6A-II championship game, which will be played on Friday.
In a rare move, Utah offered a full-ride scholarship to a kicker — Murray’s Dillon Curtis, who chose the Utes over Washington. Curtis set the Utah state record for made field goals in a game (six) and the longest made field goal in Utah history (63 yards), and can kick the ball through the end zone — something the Utes have been needing during the last few years.
Curtis is one of the top kickers in the nation and one of only two to receive an invite to the high school All-American Bowl.
With kicker Cole Becker graduating, Curtis is in prime position to win the starting job next season.
Though there were a few decommitments this cycle — most notably from four-star Spanish Fork offensive tackle Aaron Dunn and three-star defensive end Nela Tupou, both of whom flipped to USC in October and November, respectively — the Utes kept the vast majority of this class together despite a 5-7 season, the program’s first since 2013.
The only surprises on signing day were good ones.
Aside from Guillory’s pledge, other signing day commitments came from three-star Hawaii defensive end Pupualii Sepulona and three-star Bingham offensive lineman Nick Hallock. Sepulona — a multi-sport athlete who was named MaxPreps’ Hawaii High School Basketball Player of the Year two years in a row — was ranked as the No. 8 prospect in Hawaii by 247Sports and chose Utah over Boise State. Hallock, the No. 13 prospect in Utah, chose the Utes over an offer list that included Washington State and Utah State.
Other than those three signing-day surprises, it was business as usual for the Utes, who officially signed all but two of their commits on Wednesday. The only outstanding players left to be signed, as of Wednesday night, are three-star receiver Tavian McNair and three-star linebacker Max Fonoimoana.
For the first time in recent memory, Utah — which is in the midst of an offensive coordinator search — did not hold a signing day press conference. The team did release a social media video featuring Whittingham working the phones as the team’s signings came rolling in.
Utah’s 2025 high school signing class (as of Dec. 4)
- Christian Thatcher, LB, 247Sports composite four-star, 6-2, 205 pounds, Arbor View High, Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Raycine Guillory, RB, 247Sports composite four-star, 5-10, 180 pounds, Aledo High, Aledo, Texas.
- Cyrus Polu, LB, 247Sports composite four-star, 6-2, 205 pounds, Desert Hills High, St. George, Utah.
- Wyatt Becker, QB, 247Sports composite three-star, 6-1, 180 pounds, Sierra Canyon High, Chatsworth, California.
- JJ Buchanan, S and WR, 247Sports composite three-star, 6-4, 200 pounds, Coronado High, Henderson, Nevada.
- Deon Mays, CB, 247Sports composite three-star, 6-1, 175 pounds, Arlington High, Arlington, Texas.
- Karson Kaufusi, DL, 247Sports composite three-star, 6-4, 252 pounds, Skyline High, Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Jason Stokes Jr., CB, 247Sports composite three-star, 6-1, 175 pounds, Weiss High, Pflugerville, Texas.
- Shelton Fuller, CB, 247Sports composite three-star, 6-0, 185 pounds, Del Valle High, El Paso, Texas.
- Daniel Bray, RB, 247Sports composite three-star, 5-9, 165 pounds, North Crowley High, Fort Worth, Texas.
- Nathan Tilmon, S, 247Sports composite three-star, 6-0, 185 pounds, Mansfield Timberview High, Arlington, Texas.
- Jamarian Ficklin, QB, 247Sports composite three-star, 6-1, 185 pounds, Muskogee High, Muskogee, Oklahoma.
- Soren Shinofield, OT, 247Sports composite three-star, 6-6, 275 pounds, Cherry Creek High, Englewood, Colorado.
- Mana Carvalho, S, 247Sports composite three-star, 5-11, 165 pounds, Kahuku High, Kahuku, Hawaii.
- Drew Clemens, TE, 247Sports composite three-star, 6-4, 215 pounds, Oak Park High, Kansas City, Missouri.
- Malili Asiata, DL, 247Sports composite three-star, 6-5, 330 pounds, Aquinas High, San Bernardino, California.
- Semi Taulanga, DL, 247Sports composite three-star, 5-11, 300 pounds, Mater Dei High, Santa Ana, California.
- Dillon Curtis, K, 6-2, 185 pounds, Murray High, Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Pupualii Sepulona, DE, 247Sports three-star, 6-2, 260 pounds, St. Louis High, Honolulu, Hawaii.
- Nick Hallock, OT, 247Sports three-star, 6-5, 250 pounds, Bingham High, South Jordan, Utah.
- Sione Motuapuaka, DL, 247Sports three-star, 6-1, 280 pounds, Bishop Gorman High, Las Vegas, Nevada.