Anson Winder
Speaking of clearing up items, in BYU's official announcement of football signees, they say that Collin Keoshian was the first player ever to sign with BYU from an eight-man program. Several subscribers reminded us that BYU had a defensive lineman from Montana years ago named Wayne Baker, who played eight-man football in high school. We can't remember exactly and it might have even been six-man football, but regardless, Keoshian isn't the first signee from a non eleven-man program to sign with the Cougars.
Bronco Mendenhall, in his presentation to Cougar fans while introducing the new recruits last Wednesday, made a point of defending himself for recruiting so many players from Utah. Eleven of the 26 signees were from the Beehive State. BYU wanted at least three more Utah prep prospects that they offered but Chris Badger, a safety, signed with Notre Dame. Dallas Lloyd, a qb/athlete, signed with Stanford and Ricky Heimuli, a defensive tackle, signed with Oregon.
Mendenhall said it made sense to recruit Utah so heavily because that is where the largest population of LDS Church members reside and the LDS Church is the sponsoring institution of the university and primary recruiting base for BYU football.
Percentage wise, he is correct. Utah, according to LDS Church membership statistics from Jan. 2009, has 1,857,667 members. That is 67.9% of the state's population. It is true that there are lots of LDS members in Utah, but there are more overall in the other Western states beyond Utah.
If you are willing to travel a short distance, you can find as many or more LDS Church members and consequently probably as many or more LDS football players.
For example, Idaho has 406,764 LDS members which is 26.7% of the state's population. BYU signed no players from Idaho this year.
California has 755,747 LDS members which is 2.06% of the state population. BYU signed five players from California, three of which were LDS.
Arizona has 374,870 members which is 5.77% of the state population. BYU signed one player from Arizona this year and he is not LDS. Hawaii has 68,128 LDS members. BYU signed one LDS player from the Aloha state.
Washington has an LDS population of 257,710 members, a 3.9 percentage of the population. One LDS player was signed from that state this year.
No LDS players were signed this year from Oregon, a state with 145,429 LDS members which is 4.84% of the population. The puzzler for us has always been Nevada. BYU again signed no players from that state, despite an LDS population of 173,639 members which is 6.68% of the population. Texas has 278,492 LDS members, a 1.14 percentage of the population. BYU signed two LDS players from the Lone Star State this year.
If you add up the total LDS populations of Arizona, California, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Hawaii, Washington, and Wyoming, there are 2,6593,314 LDS members compared to the 1,857,667 LDS members in Utah. BYU signed 11 LDS players from Utah and only 7 LDS players from the other Western states where the LDS population overall is greater than it is in Utah.
Mendenhall's assertion that it is logical for more players to come from Utah, may be true, but it doesn't sound right to us. We are as big a homer and honk as there is when it comes to Utah high school football, but based on LDS demographics, something doesn't add up.
There is no question that it easier to sell a Utah prospect on BYU and it is easier to contact a player and easier to have a recruiting relationship with his coach and family, but while Utah high school football is good, in our opinion, it certainly isn't head and shoulders above high school football in the surrounding states.
Of course the ultimate test is winning. BYU, under Mendenhall, has been extremely successful, and maybe the Utah high school scene really is a new fountain of football talent just like Texas, Florida and California. That is how we look at it with our heart, but our head says there is some home-grown religious nepotism in play for Utah LDS prospects and some real neglect if you are an LDS prospect that doesn't live within 250 miles of the BYU campus.
Below is a short video of BYU basketball signee, Anson Winder, a 6-3 guard from Bishop Gorman HS in Las Vegas.
