Boilermaker wrote:

Just in case someone missed this from last year....... I thought it sounded like Manti was really impressed.

http://byu.scout.com/2/652713.html

And the most important quote from Manti

[quote]

...Coach Mendenhall doesnt care what others say. He wants fine young men that believe in the same things and it doesnt matter what religions they belong to. BYU is definitely a school I could see myself at.

The other main factor in selecting a college is being able to serve my mission without any obstacles. I want to know for a fact that colleges will let me accomplish my spiritual goal. I want to help my school also achieve our football team goals. Im definitely also looking for a college that will help me get drafted early.

Manti only coming to two camps that are one day apart in the same state does not mean he's committing to BYU.It probably means he could kill two birds with one stone. It's not cheap to fly from Hawaii. Plus there's the mormon connection. When I lived in New Mexico I never got visitors. Now that I'm in utah I'm surprised with how many out of towners visit. So I guess I'm with the earlier poster that posted, What your missing is that if he was ready to come to BYU he would have committed already and not making comments about going to a team that will get him drafted higher.

craigoscarson wrote:

Personally I think we're neck and neck with USC for Manti. He knows what it means to play linebacker there, but this is also a kid with a big heart and lot's of family supporting a decision to go to the Y.

In the end, I think that our fabulous season this year combined with a face to face with Bronco (and hopefully a prayer or two) will sell this kid o how special this place is.

USC is hardly a safe haven for LDS athletes... one of the best female LDS hoops players in a long time, Brynn Cameron got pregnant by Matt Leinart there.

There isn't a night that goes by that there aren't drugs sold and people shot, less than a miles radius of the campus.

Outside of the likelihood of Kaveinga going on a mission (I can't imagine that USC isn't coddling this kid to ensure that Manti knows that the mission thing is ok - - i.e. USC needs Kaveinga to go on a mission to convince the Teo family)

BYU happens to have 2 Teos targeted for scholarships and another potential schollie out to Levi Teo of Timpview.
Alema Teo (the ceo of the all poly camp) is a pro BYU guy at a pro BYU high school (Bountiful) and certainly will be a spiritual mentor to Manti. Last time I checkd Alema or Mantis family do not live in Southern California.

I say, let's beat Washington and UCLA and then see where we stand with Manti.

We're getting spoiled, it wasn't but 3-4 years ago that 90% of our recruiting classes commited in the last few weeks on the recruiting calender. Now we're getting 4-5 star athletes committing 2 years in advance.

Timo, Bills, Galeai all committed extremely early
then
Kaufusi, Badger, and Heaps have followed suit for the next class (I expect Badger and Heaps to commit before November of their junior years)

We're in great shape with or without Manti; it's not like we struggle to find guys qualified to play linebacker in our system. That being said, I expect to see him in blue in the future.

no offense but I got the impression that Kaviega didn't really want to do the mission thing. I could be wrong but he seemed like he was doing and saying a lot of things for his father and family who all wanted him to serve a mission and go to BYU. I am certian that slick pete offering him the chance to go on a mission was a ploy to get Manti but I am not so sure his ploy will go on a mission. that said I don't know if Kaviega will have the opurtunity to be leaving or have his papers in before Manti makes any committment.

Comparing Kaveinga and Manti choosing USC over BYU is quite different for two reasons.

First, Kaveinga is from Cali and all his friends, coaches, and neighbors had been putting pressure on him to go to USC, plus I believe he was a huge USC fan if I remember correctly. USC was the hometown school. Manti is from Hawaii and it seems that he has no desire to go there although I'm sure there's a lot of locals who tell him they want to see him stay home. Fact is, that's not going to happen. I would bet there are more people close to Manti pulling for him to go to BYU than USC which probably wasn't the case with Kaveinga.

Second, Manti will have 2 or 3 relatives already on BYU's team, not to mention all of his relatives that live here and help out with the team. Kaveinga didn't have that.

IMO Byu will be In Manti's top five, Along with USC, UCLA, ND, CAL.
The success Byu has this year will have EVERYTHING to do with what he does. He has NFL asperations and if he goes to a bad team or a team going down hill then his chances are less. Byu needs to prove itself and make a BCS bowl this year and then they will be the total package for Manti.
My gut feeling is that he goes to USC. He has mentioned that he thinks its cool how Pete C. will allow him to serve a mission. Manti has no reason to doubt Pete won't honer that.

PokyCoug wrote:

Sorry about last post. Technical difficulties.

So the article posted by Boilermaker says - Though he insists it's not a prediction for the future, Brian half-joked that 'it would be neat to see three cousins play in [BYU] blue and white.'

Those three cousins would be Manti, Shiloah Te'o(Brian's brother David's son, currently being recruited by BYU), and Levi Te'o (Brian's brother Ephraim's son, a junior prospect currently starting at Timpview High School).

That doesn't even include Malosi - a 4th cousin. Can you imagine four Te'o jerseys on the same team at the same time? Talk about legacy. It would be like the Reynolds brothers hitting all at the same time.

Hey so which of these Te'o kids, if any, has already committed to BYU?