BYU inks 10 local players on Signing Day

PROVO, Utah (ABC4 Sports) – BYU head football coach Kalani Sitake announced 25 signees Wednesday on the first day of the December early signing period for college football as part of the 2024 recruiting class.

“First of all, we want to officially welcome to the family our 2024 football recruiting class,” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “It’s been a lot of hard work from the recruits, their families and from our coaches and our staff. I just want to say thank you to our coaches, support staff and recruiting department for all the hard work they put into giving these young men the opportunity to understand more about our school, especially on the official visits. I also want to thank faculty and staff on upper campus. I want to thank our administration, President Shane Reese, Advancement Vice President Keith Vorkink and Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe for being available to connect with our recruits as well. Finally, I just want to give a great shoutout to the fans, to Cougar Nation for being involved in recruiting and for their support and definitely not least, the players on our team are great ambassadors of our program.”

BYU’s signees joining the program on Wednesday include 20 high school prospects and five transfers. The 2024 recruits announced feature 16 slated for the defensive side of the football, six on the offense and three on special teams.

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“We’re really excited about the talent and athleticism in this signing class, but more than anything, excited about the great young men we’re adding to our program and to our family,” Sitake said. “The recruits came here for the right reasons. We have a unique style of recruiting. It’s different from what everybody else is doing. This isn’t just a thing that happened just the last couple of weeks, this recruiting has gone on for years and our coaches have done a great job recruiting through some battles. Having the young men and their families on campus has been such a valuable asset and gamechanger for us. The retention rate we have of those that come on visits, then commit and sign is as high as ever.”

Transfers highlighting this year’s class are 6-foot-3-inch, 355-pound defensive tackle Danny Saili from Hutchinson Community College, first-team all-conference defensive tackle Luke To’omalatai from Long Beach City College and four-star, playmaking linebacker Jack Kelly from Weber State.

From the high school ranks BYU added highly sought after prospects, including four-star Californian tight end Ryner Swanson and cornerback Tre Alexander III from Georgia, along with in-state targets in four-star defensive end Devoux Tuataga, athletic defensive end Ephraim Asiata and wideout Tei Nacua, younger brother of current NFL record-setting wide receiver and BYU alum Puka Nacua.

BYU signed players from seven different states and Australia on Wednesday, including 10 in-state products. Four come from California, three from Texas, three from Arizona and one each from Georgia, Kansas and Nevada. Three players come to Provo from Australia.

On offense, the Cougars signed two quarterbacks, two receivers, one offensive lineman and a tight end on Wednesday, including one of the nation’s top prep tight ends in Swanson.

Swanson, at 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, is a four-star signee out of Laguna Beach, California that can do everything at tight end including block, catch and run routes at an elite level. Swanson is the No. 18 rated tight end in the nation by 247 Sports and the No. 25 overall prospect in California. He accounted for 2,255 receiving yards and 27 touchdowns in high school. He was also recruited by Arizona, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Colorado, Louisville, Utah, Duke, Purdue, Arizona State, Stanford, Florida, Pittsburgh, Washington, Texas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oregon State, Washington State and San Diego State.

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At quarterback, BYU picked up two high school products in Noah Lugo and Enoch Watson. Lugo, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound signal caller from Haslet, Texas combined for 4,756 yards of total offense and 53 touchdowns at Eaton High School, including 2,460 yards and 22 total touchdowns as a senior. Watson comes to the Cougars from American Leadership Academy in Queen Creek, Arizona where he was coached by BYU Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer and fellow former BYU quarterback Max Hall. Watson was a first-team all-region selection and first-team all-conference. He completed 189 of 298 passes for 2,581 yards and 29 yards as a senior.

Nacua, at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, totaled 139 catches for 2,121 yards and 20 touchdowns at Timpview High School. He was named to the Deseret News 5A All-State First Team in 2023. Tei is the fourth Nacua brother to play for the Cougars after Kai, Samson and Puka preceded him.

Also at wide receiver, the Cougars add 6-foot-5, 210-pound Jett Nelson. He posted 60 receptions for 960 yards and seven touchdowns as a senior at American Fork High School.

The Cougars also added one offensive lineman in Ikinasio Tupou. He appeared in 33 games at Palo Alto High School, posting 97 total pancake blocks. He also played some defensive line, totaling 13 tackles, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery.

On the defensive side, the Cougars loaded up on the defensive line with line with nine lineman signed. They also added two linebackers, two safeties, two corners and and one of the class’ top athletes in Carson Su’esu’e.

Up front, Saili, To’omalatai, Tuataga and Asiata are joined by other linemen Siosefa Brown, Dallin Johnson, Viliami Po’uha, Adney Reid and Sani Tuala.

Saili was also recruited by Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Arizona and Maryland among others. He played two seasons at Hutchinson Community College and had 21 tackles, four sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss last season. At 6-foot-3, 305 pounds, To’omalatai had 31 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks for Long Beach Community College in 2023.

Tuataga is a 6-foot-6, 245-pound defensive end who was also recruited by USC, Utah, Oregon, Tennessee, Nebraska, Cal, Arizona, Washington, Washington State and Oregon State. He played in just five games as a senior. As a junior he had 32 combined tackles, including 15 tackles for loss and 11 sacks in 10 games at Cedar Valley High School.

Asiata was named a first-team all-region selection in 2023 after a standout senior season at Herriman High School. He was also selected as a 2024 Polynesian Bowl All-Star. His father Matt played running back at the University of Utah and in the NFL. Ephraim was also recruited by USC, Utah, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

Brown was a 2023 all-region defensive MVP out of Highland High School in Salt Lake and can line up at outside linebacker as well as edge rusher. Johnson stands at 6-foot-3 and 290 pounds as a true freshman out of Springville High School where he was named an Army All-American. Po’uha is a returned missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who was a 6A all-state second-team selection at Bingham High School in 2020. Reid is the son of former BYU tight end Gabe Reid who joins the Cougars from Sydney, Australia, where he lived with his parents who are serving as mission leaders and played two years of rugby.

Another key transfer addition is Tuala, who also comes to BYU from Sydney, Australia, via Citrus College, where he totaled 13 tackles, three sacks and four tackles for loss in nine games.

At linebacker, Kelly is expected to make an immediate impact as a four-star transfer. He had 85 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, seven pass breakups and an interception in 28 games played for Weber State. He led the Big Sky Conference in multiple statistical categories. Blake Lowe will also join the linebacker room out of Chaparral High School in Temecula, California where he was defensive MVP and team MVP. He currently has a mission call to Mozambique.

Carson Su’ese’e also joins the Cougars as a high school quarterback originally from Oakley, California but played at Granger High School in Utah. He’ll join the roster on the defensive side when he returns from a mission and could end up at linebacker, defensive end or even safety.

At safety, Matthias Leach joins the Cougars from Forth Worth, Texas. He was a three-time academic all-district selection, had 17 tackles and six tackles for loss in 2023 and also competed in the high jump with the track and field team. Tommy Prassas also joins the defensive secondary at corner. Out of Chandler, Arizona, Prassas posted 197 total tackles in high school, including 90 solo takedowns. He also had six interceptions and 13 pass breakups.

At corner, Alexander signed with the Cougars after being recruited by Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, West Virginia, North Carolina State and Houston. He was first-team all-region and first-team all-county at Southwest Dekalb High School. He was a team captain on the football team and also ran track with an 11.1 as a junior in the 100-meter dash, and a 21.97 in the 200-meter as a junior. He won the state title in the 400-meter. Also joining the Cougars at the cornerback position is Jonathan Kabeya. At Byron Nelson High School in Richland Hills, Texas, he racked up 55 total tackles and 10 career interception. He was a 6A all-district first team selection as a senior.
On special teams, BYU added one kicker, one punter and one long snapper.

Brody Laga is a five-star kicker out of Mountain Ridge High School in Herriman, Utah. He’s a two-time region special teams MVP in 2022 and 2023 and connected on eight field goals of 50 yards or more, with a career long of 59 yards. He played on the US youth soccer national team in 2020.

Sam Vander Haar is a transfer from Pittsburgh where he played in 12 games as a rugby-style punter and punted 30 times, averaging 38.5 yards per punt. From Melbourne, Australia, he played semi professional Australian rules football.

Cannon Skidmore is rated the No. 2 long snapper nationally, out of Red Mountain High School in Mesa, Arizona. He was selected to the Under Armour All-America Game and was a 6A all-state first team selection.

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