Recruiting Utah high school talent has gotten a lot more crowded, and the pressure is coming from well beyond the state line.
Local staffs still have to defend their own ground, but now they’re also fighting off programs tied to I-35 through Texas and Oklahoma and I-94 from Detroit to Ann Arbor. That shift has shown up fast over the last six months, with Michigan and Oklahoma making louder, more aggressive plays for Utah prospects.
Oklahoma coach Brent Venables has pushed hard into the Utah-California pipeline and already landed the state’s No. 1 and No. 3 high school recruits. The Sooners also added a former BYU defensive lineman to their recruiting staff in Norman after a two-month stop at Fresno State, and that move came just days - if not hours - after Brown secured Corner Canyon offensive lineman Manase Brown, the No. 5-ranked player in Utah’s Class of 2027.
BYU answered late Wednesday night by holding off Oklahoma for the state’s No. 2-ranked player, edge rusher Uhila Wolfgramm of Spanish Fork. It was a big win for Kalani Sitake and defensive line coach Sione Pou’ha, who were in the Tongan islands when Wolfgramm made his call while Oklahoma kept pressing until the final hours.
“Coach Venables did a great job recruiting Uhila and built a relationship with him. He is very personable and is a Christian and cares about his players. He is known for building relationships.”
The Cougars also picked up the No. 6- and No. 8-ranked players in the state through Whittingham’s former Utah-connected staff: Kamden Lopati, a quarterback from West High, and Christian Hanshaw, a tight end from American Fork.
It’s a different recruiting battlefield than the one Utah programs used to face. Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington still matter, but Michigan and Oklahoma have become major players in the state’s talent hunt, and they’re selling the pull of the Big Ten and SEC with real success.
Oklahoma grabbed Utah’s No. 1-ranked player, Bode Sparrow, just over a week ago. He chose the SEC and followed the No. 3-ranked player, Orem’s Krew Jones, to Norman.
According to family members and Maple Mountain coach Harry Schwenke, Sparrow and Jones both worked to bring Wolfgramm into the fold. They weren’t especially close, but they had met at football camps, and the Sooners’ pitch started to stick.
Wolfgramm said his choice came down to the wire, with a BYU decision being made at 1 a.m. on the day of his public announcement online.
Oklahoma finished 6-2 in the SEC last season, went 10-3 overall and lost to Alabama in the first round of the CFP after the Tide rallied from a 17-0 deficit to score 34 of the next 41 points and win 34-24.
That context helps explain why the Sooners keep chasing defensive help from players like Jones and Sparrow.
The staff addition of Brown also fits the pattern. He brings a Polynesian connection and had been at Northeastern State as a defensive line coach in Tahlequah, Oklahoma after spending the previous season at Garden City Community College in Kansas.
Brown announced the move himself on X Thursday, posting photos in Oklahoma gear and writing about the grind, competing for championships, building relationships, and “Boomer Sooner.”
His new bio lists him as Scouting Coordinator in the recruiting department, with Polynesian flags and hashtags including #OUDNA and #HardToKill.
For BYU, Utah, Utah State, Weber State, SUU and Utah Tech, the hope has always been that local kids who leave the state to test themselves elsewhere might eventually come back. Brown did that after signing with Nebraska in 2001 out of Granger High School, then transferring to BYU, where he played three years and became an All-Mountain West Conference tackle.
BYU has seen that kind of return before, too. Projected Big 12 all-conference linebacker Cade Uluave transferred from Cal after leaving South Jordan out of high school, and Oregon transfer tight end Roger Saleapaga prepped at Orem High. Cougar basketball also has Kentucky transfer Collin Chandler.
For now, the recruiting fight is only getting louder. More options for local prospects. More work for the home-state staffs trying to keep them close.
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